City of Cambridge

cambridgema.gov

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, a nexus of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Notably, Cambridge is home to two internationally prominent universities, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to a 2008 census estimate, the city population was 105,594. It is the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, Worcester, and Springfield. Cambridge is one of the two county seats of Middlesex County (Lowell is the other). The site for what would become Cambridge was chosen in December 1630 because it was located safely upriver from Boston Harbor, which made it easily defensible from attacks by enemy ships. The first houses were built in the spring of 1631. The settlement was initially referred to as "the Newe Towne." Official Massachusetts records show the name capitalized as Newe Towne by 1632.