Cambridge City Clerk’s Office Releases 85,000 Historical Records

The City of Cambridge Clerk's Office Records Management and Archives (RMA) team today announced the launch of a new online viewing platform that will enable users to review tens of thousands of historical City records that have yet to be readily accessible to the community. The new website, which is available at City Clerk's Office - Historical Records Collection, is the result of a significant undertaking over the past four years by the City Clerk's Office to preserve, prepare and digitize documents that date back to 1630, when Cambridge - or Newtowne as it was originally named -- was first established.

Community members, historians, researchers, students, and other interested users can now explore more than 85,000 of the City's historical records - many of which have not been viewed in over a century. Users can conduct general searches, search by category, and timeframes. Over the next year, more than 250,000 preserved historical records are expected to be made available.

Notable historical documents preserved and made available online thus far, include the evolution of Cambridge's roads and bridges. Users can learn more about the earliest stages of the City's borders and street infrastructure. Other records include documentation associated with the City's industrial development, public celebrations, memorials, inaugural ordinances, resolutions and other legislative records.

Future documents include the evolution of manuscripts, the original draft rules and regulations, a rare letter from Frederick Douglass, and even the original license for the sale of ice cream on Sundays.

"Funded by the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act, this important initiative is a result of extensive efforts in preservation, preparation, and digitization from the entire City Clerk staff," said Acting City Clerk Paula Crane. "It supports the continuing critical care of permanent and historical collections to ensure present-day and future Cantabrigians can learn and appreciate the many breakthroughs achieved in this City's history and the contributions it has made beyond its borders. We are particularly proud to making this treasure trove of records available this year as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary."

The City Clerk's Records Management and Archives team undertakes a series of archival processes to ensure records are ready for digitization. Since October 2024, the RMA team has carefully prepared documents by completing extensive cleaning of the oldest records found - some of which required additional care before scanning - and reviewing each document for significant information. Most importantly, the team devised an organizational scheme to help future researchers locate materials in less time. Planning out the organization of records includes reading through the documents, drawing out data for each record, and creating digital inventories, so the public can easily browse and locate the records on the new website.

As preservation work continues, more digitized records from this collection will be added to the website.

Direct support to either file or request historical and present-day records can be found in-person at the City Clerk's office at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, 1st Floor or via the City Clerk's website: https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/cityclerksoffice.