Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Impressions
One emerged, as one still does, from the subway exit in the Square and faced
an old red-brick wall behind which stretched, to my fond eye, what remains
still the most beautiful campus in America, the Harvard Yard. If there is any
one place in all America that mirrors better all American history, I do not
know of it.
—Theodore H. White,
In Search of History
(1978)
Leave the T station by the main entrance (use
the ramp to the turnstiles, then take the escala-
tor) and emerge in the heart of:
1
Harvard Square
Town and gown meet at this lively inter-
section, where you'll get a taste of the
improbable mix of people drawn to the
crossroads of Cambridge. To your right is
the landmark
Out of Town News
kiosk
(
&
800/862-5678
). It stocks newspapers
and magazines from all over the world
and tons of souvenirs (beefed up when
the rise of the Internet cut into the
demand for non-virtual journalism). At
the colorful kiosk in front of you, you can
request information about the area. Step
close to it so that you're out of the flow of
pedestrian traffic and look around.
The store across Mass. Ave. is the
Har-
vard Coop.
It rhymes with
hoop
—say
“co-op” and risk being taken for a Yalie.
On the far side of the intersection, at the
corner of John F. Kennedy and Brattle
streets, is a sign reading
DEWEY CHEETHAM
&
HOWE
(say it out loud) on the third
floor of the brick building. National Pub-
lic Radio's “Car Talk” originates here.
Turn around so that the Coop is at your back
and walk half a block, crossing Dunster Street.
Across the way, at 1341 Massachusetts Ave.,
you'll see:
2
Wadsworth House
Most of the people waiting for the bus in
front of this yellow wood building proba-
bly don't know that it was built in 1726
as a residence for Harvard's fourth presi-
dent—but then, neither do most Harvard
students. Its biggest claim to fame is a
classic: George Washington slept here.
Cross the street, pass through the gate, and con-
tinue until you're at the edge of a sweeping
lawn crisscrossed with walking paths. This is:
3
Harvard Yard/Johnston Gate
You're standing in the oldest part of “the
Yard.” It was a patch of grass with animals
grazing on it when Harvard College was
established in 1636 to train young men
for the ministry, and it wasn't much
more when the Continental Army spent
the winter of 1775-76 here. Harvard is
the oldest college in the country, with the
most competitive admissions process, and
if you suggest aloud that it's not the best,
you might encounter the attitude that
inspired the saying “You can always tell a
Harvard man, but you can't tell him
much.”
Harvard, a private institution since
1865, includes the college and 10 gradu-
ate and professional schools. It owns
more than 400 buildings in Boston and
Cambridge; some of the most interesting
surround this quad.
Walk forward until you see majestic Johnston
Gate on your left and take in the classroom and
administration buildings and dormitories that
make up the:
4
Old Yard
Just inside the gate stands
Massachusetts
Hall.
Built in 1720, this National His-
toric Landmark is the university's oldest
surviving building. First-year students
share “Mass. Hall” with the first-floor
office of the university president (or per-
haps it's the other way around), whom
they traditionally invite upstairs for tea
once a year. Across the way is
Harvard
Hall,
a classroom building constructed in
