Porter Square is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares. The Porter Square station is one of the stops on the Red Line, and of the Commuter Rail, both part of the MBTA. The station is approximately 200 yards from the border with Somerville, so "Porter Square" inhabitants include residents of both cities. Porter Square was named for the now-vanished Porter House Hotel, operated by Zachariah B. Porter, who also left his name to the hotel's specialty, the cut of steak now known as the porterhouse. The square, formerly surrounded by cattle yards that used the Porter rail head to transport their beef through the US, was an important center for commerce and light industry as early as the late 18th century. In 1984 when the Red Line was extended from Harvard through Porter and Davis Square to its present terminus at Alewife, a project that also left Porter with its most visible landmark, Susumu Shingu's 46-foot stainless steel kinetic sculpture entitled "Gift of the Wind." A prominent feature of the Porter Square skyline is the tower on the Art Deco-style Porter Exchange building, which was a Sears from 1928 to 1985. In 1991, Lesley University began leasing classroom space there, and in 1994 it bought the building. Porter Exchange now contains many (mostly Japanese) small shops and restaurants, including Bluefin (Japanese), Lesley facilities (including a bookstore, art and dance studios, and classrooms), and a Bally Total Fitness gym. The square's strip mall, the Porter Square Shopping Center, contains a Shaw's (formerly Star Market), Tags Hardware, CVS/pharmacy, an independent bookstore called Porter Square Books, a Mudflat Artisan's Pottery Gallery, Emack & Bolio's, and a parking lot known for its lack of parking and its strict two-hours-or-you're-towed policy. Restaurants in the area include Anna's Taqueria, Qdoba, Wok & Roll (Chinese), Tacos Lupita (Salvadorean), Sugar & Spice (Thai), Christopher's (American), and Elephant Walk (Cambodian). Porter Square is also home to Toad, a bar that features a live band every night. From 2004 to mid 2006 the intersection of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenue, including area in front of the strip mall, underwent extensive construction to improve access for pedestrians, bicyclists, and mass transit users, improve drainage and stormwater conditions. The artist Toshihiro Katayama of Harvard University in conjunction with the landscape architect Cynthia Smith designed a new visual look for the square including contrasting light and dark concrete paving, stone walls and boulders. The improved streetscape has created new public areas for people to mingle and eat ice cream from the nearby Emack & Bolio's.
External links
- Description of Porter Square design project from Cambridge community development site
- Article about Porter Exchange building in Lesley University magazine
- 1987 Porter Exchange renovation as briefly described by architecture firm
- PSNA Porter Square Neighbors Association
