historical information about the city-owned property at 105 Windsor Street

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL Quinton Y. Zondervan City Councillor To the Honorable, the City Council: July 28, 2022 Attached you will find some interesting historical documents and images related to the building at 105 Windsor Street, courtesy of the Cambridge Historical Commission. I hope you will find this information useful during our discussion of the proposed loan order. Special thanks to the helpful staff at the Historical Commission and to Aayan Ahmad and Ethan Maggio, two MYSEP students interning in my office this summer who helped put this communication together. Sincerely, Quinton Zondervan Cambridge City Councillor CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 Email: qzondervan@cambridgema.gov

This image circa 1950 depicts the building at 105 Windsor Street when it was in use as the Lawrence D. Mahoney Recreation Center and the Francis P. Sullivan American Legion Post No. 388. 2

This image from 1972 depicts the building at 105 Windsor Street near the end of its use as a recreation center and veterans hall. The building would soon become a neighborhood family care center. Photograph taken by Ed Pacheco of 291 Cambridge Street. 3

This is another 1972 image of the building at 105 Windsor Street. Photograph taken by Ed Pacheco of 291 Cambridge Street. 4

Daily Boston Globe article from November 6, 1939 announcing the dedication and grand opening of the Newtowne Recreation Center. The conversion of the old Boardman School into this facility cost about $60,000 (just upward of a million dollars in today’s money). The renovated space contained a branch of the Cambridge Public Library, a gymnasium, “special rooms” for adults and children, and large shower rooms. This was the only facility of its kind in the city at the time. 5

Image shows a ledger from the 1800’s documenting the building’s pre-1868 use as a single room schoolhouse known as the Alphabet School. The writing says “This is a one story building, 38 feet by 24, and was erected in 1802, on land which was presented to the town by Mr. Andrew Boardman. It cost about $600. It is the oldest schoolhouse in the second ward. It contains one schoolroom”. In 1868, the single room schoolhouse was demolished to make way for the building we still see on the property today. 6