Harvard Square

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Harvard Square is a busy, historic area in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It sits where Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street meet, near Harvard Yard. The Square is the town’s main commercial and social hub for Harvard students, local residents, and visitors, and it’s part of the larger Harvard University neighborhood.

The heart of the Square is the pedestrian space at the intersection, with the MBTA Red Line’s Harvard station nearby and a major bus hub. A tunnel system helps buses and the subway move through the area without too much traffic. In the middle you’ll find a central subway headhouse, a former newsstand, a small outdoor performance space called “The Pit,” and nearby shops. Brattle Street and Winthrop Square host street performers for much of the year.

Nearby institutions include Harvard University and its libraries and museums, the Cambridge Public Library, Lesley University, the Longy School of Music, and the American Repertory Theater. The Brattle Theater is a well-known arthouse venue, and the area is also close to Cambridge Common and several historic houses and sites.

Harvard Square has long been a shopping and gathering place, but it has changed a lot over the years. Many longtime local shops closed or became part of national chains, while some beloved independents—such as the Harvard Book Store, Leavitt & Peirce tobacconists, Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, Club Passim, and the Brattle Theater—remain as features of the neighborhood. The Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society (The Coop) still operates in the area, now under Barnes & Noble management.

The Square is also famous in pop culture. It’s the setting for films like Goodbye, Columbus and Love Story, and the TV show Car Talk was based here, with offices in the Abbott Building and a famous “Dewey, Cheetham & Howe” sign kept as a local landmark. A plaque honors Tom Magliozzi, who died in 2014.

Harvard Square is a National Historic Place district, designated in 1982 with a boundary increase in 1988, recognized for its role as the historic center of Cambridge and its mix of university life, commerce, and culture. The area remains a livelyplace where students, locals, and visitors spend time, listen to music, eat, shop, and watch street performances.