Historic Boston: Historic Cambridge Collaborative - Tours and Events, August 8th and 15th

photo of the Longfellow House, tagged "Bostonist" by Flickr user AntyDiluvian

Bostonist has had a few too many close encounters with tourists on Segways (maybe they, not bikers, are the real danger in town) on the Charlestown Bridge. As you can tell, we’re into Boston history. But getting mowed over by tourists on Segways? Not so much. We love a good historic tour, but they can often be gimmicky and touristy.

Starting tomorrow, the Historic Cambridge Collaborative is offering a series of tours and events that is more what we’re into—no Segways and Minute Man-led tours. Just history and architecture, led by people active in the local historic preservation community. A collaboration between the Cambridge Arts Council, the Cambridge Office for Tourism, the Cambridge Historical Commission, the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, the Cambridge Historical Society, and the Longfellow National Historic Site, the Historic Cambridge Collaborative is hosting two Saturdays of historic walking tours and events—August 8th and 15th.

The tours and events are taking place all over Cambridge: Harvard Square, Central Square, Inman Square, Cambridgeport, Fresh Pond, and Mount Auburn Cemetery. Events will be taking place at historic houses associated with many notable Cambridge residents, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Margaret Fuller, and James Russell Lowell. Some tours are more thematic, with titles like “Cambridge and Heresy,” “Folk Music in Cambridge,” and “The Women of Central Square.”

All of these events are free, and they take place rain or shine. A full schedule (PDF) is available for download.

We’ll definitely be taking advantage of these events. We’re hoping they’ll help us forget about the Segway incidents.