Talk:Kendall Square

Major local businesses section
I've removed several entries (including a few that I originally added) which were redlinks. At this point, any company that doesn't already have an article probably isn't a "major business". I'm also not sure why Vertex is listed. Have they moved from Fort Washington? 121a0012 23:54, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the clean-up. I've slightly changed it to "Notable local entities" since some of the entries listed weren't true "businesses" in the sense. E.g. the Federal John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center just off Third Street. That isn't really a business. Nor was the W3C. CaribDigita (talk) 19:29, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Was "Cambridge Center" just a business marketing term?
Would it be fair to call Cambridge Center a subdivision of the current Kendall Square area? Overtime the area has change. Things used to be pretty wide open along Third Street, (where the Genzyme Building is), and the large open area around the Federal Transportation area. A few of the smaller 1-4 story buildings buildings that remain along Main Street are now being torn down and are being replaced by taller say ~8-10 story ones that take up larger footprints. So now these 'boundaries' that once existed have largely been erased. Even where the historic Kendal buildings are (Near the Kendal Cinema, and behind the Amgen Building), is now abutting "Cambridge Center" just across the train tracks and street. This boundary is indistinguishable unless you've been in Cambridge for a couple decades now and recall how it *used* to be. To me Cambridge appears now as a division of Kendall Square. So it made me wonder if Cambridge Center was just a marketing term that came about when that Marriott Hotel went up? The MBTA station in the area has also served to cloud this ideology of an actual "Cambridge Center" as well. Some trains say "MIT Cambridge Center" but the walls of the train station still say "Kendall Square". Plus there already was a "Central" square of Cambridge where the main city government offices were situated. CaribDigita (talk) 16:45, 27 October 2009 (UTC)
 * One Kendall Square is not "the historic Kendal [sic] buildings"; it's the historic American Woven Hose factory, and doesn't actually have anything to do with Kendall Square other than the developers wanting to mooch off an established name. The Kendall boiler factory was most recently at 275 Third Street, as seen in File:Kendall Boiler and Tank Company building.jpg (they have since moved to Chelmsford); they were originally located at the intersection of Main and Broadway (where a 1970s-era concrete office building, One Broadway, stands today).  Cambridge Center was the name dreamed up by either the property developers (not sure who that was originally) or the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority for the particular set of brownfields parcels north of Main Street, south of Binney Street, west of the NASA (later USDOT) facility, and east of the Grand Junction tracks.  (This land was under a variety of prior uses, all industrial, including a manufactured gas plant, several candy factories, a paint factory, and more -- check the old Sanborn fire insurance maps for the full details.)  121a0012 (talk) 02:50, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I've now had a chance to look at the relevant Sanborn maps for 1928, and here's what they reveal:
 * In the triangle formed by Main Street, Memorial Drive, and Wadsworth Street, we find a Filene's warehouse, the Arthur D. Little chemical research lab, Warren Bros. auto parts, Hub Wrecking Co.'s salvage yard, and Roberts Iron Works ("not in operation").
 * East of Third Street, between Main St. and the Broad Canal, Massachusetts Wharf Coal Company and Boston Sand & Gravel have storage facilities for their respective commodities; east of BS&G is Austin Ford & Son stone cutters.
 * East of 3rd St. and north of the Broad Canal is the Cambridge Gas Light Co. gas works, with two huge gasometers, the Carter's Ink Co. ink factory, and Ginn & Company's Atheneum Press. On the south side of Binney St. it's Peter Gray & Sons metal stamping and tool works and (in that triangle of land between 1st St. and what is now Land Blvd.) Viscol Co., manufacturers of waterproofing materials.
 * South of Main between Wadsworth St. and Dock St., the Kendall Square Building (238 Main IIRC) had in 1928 the same uses as it does today: the bank, the post office, and the restaurant on the Hayward St. corner were already there. South of that building were the Murray Printing Company and the F.S. Webster Co. (manufacturers of carbon paper and typewriter ribbons).  Between Hayward and Carleton were a number of parking garages and J.L. Hammett school supplies.  In Dock Square the map doesn't name any companies but notes a tile warehouse, a soap and dye works, and a restaurant.  West of the firehouse was the Daggett Chocolate Company factory, now MIT buildings E17, E18, and E19.
 * Between Main and Broadway, besides the Boston Elevated Railway rotary converter station, there were a number of gas stations, repair shops, and parking lots, plus a bus yard and a few restaurants.
 * West of 3rd St. between Broadway and the Broad Canal, there was a large parking lot (where the DOT building is now) and tire store, the Dance Company road equipment factory, and the Robert K. Sheldon Co. paint factory. On the north side of the canal, Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. (now Mobil) had a distribution and storage yard; Warren Bros. Roads Co. had a paving-equipment factory, Boston Blacking & Chemical Co. made leather-finishing products, and Cambridge Gas Light had two huge gasometers.  Just south of Binney St. in this block were two metal-working shops, belonging to Joseph T. Ryerson & Son Co. and to Austin Hastings Co.
 * East of the Grand Junction Branch and west of the chocolate facotry, the only buildings noted on the south side of Main were United-Carr Fastener (later TRW) on the site of today's building 68, and two candy factories.
 * North of Main, at this time Harvard St. still came east across the railroad tracks, and joined Main at an intersection with Ames St. and 6th St. called Smith Square. In the triangle between Main and Harvard, Sanborn notes Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Oscar G. Petterson's bakery, The Warren Publications (publishers of Banker & Tradesman), and Riverside Boiler Works.
 * Between Harvard St. and Broadway was J.P. O'Neil Coal Co., a huge pickle factory called Harvard Pickle Works, a Liquid Carbonic Co. distribution, several parking lots and garages, and a body shop. There appear also to be several private residences.
 * Between Broadway and the Broad Canal (the west end of which was at the hose factory just west of the railroad tracks), only two businesses are noted; R.H. Baker Co. appears to be a plumber, and Harvard Mfg. Co. appears to make things out of wood.
 * North of the Canal and south of Binney St., U.S. Rubber Co. has a large number of vacant buildings and a few still active; east of there is the Socony-Vacuum tank farm and tar plant.
 * 121a0012 (talk) 02:48, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Kendall Boiler and Tank Company
A few rumors about the history of that which would be interesting to track down: -- Beland (talk) 17:30, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

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Restaurants
Currently the article mentions a few specific restaurants in the Kendall Square area, but there are dozens of others. My feeling is that it would be better for the article to mention them all or else to mention none by name. Neighborhood force for good (talk) 12:54, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

Square itself
The current lede of the article says of Kendall Square that "the "square" itself at the intersection[dubious – discuss] of Main Street, Broadway, Wadsworth Street, and Third Street (immediately to the east of the secondary entrance to the Kendall/MIT subway station)."

This is unsupported and I think it is false. Point Park and the adjoining street intersection is not the "square" of Kendall Square. Kendall Square remains a broad area and there's no one spot in it that is central to the Square.

Any objection to removing it and crafting a better lede? jhawkinson (talk) 17:30, 16 June 2015 (UTC)


 * I agree, most people think of Kendall Square as a district, not centered on a specific identifiable spot. How does the City of Cambridge define it?  Reify-tech (talk) 18:59, 16 June 2015 (UTC)

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