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Lechmere Canal

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1874–c. 1900, Cambridge Improvement Co. 1982–1987, Carol R. Johnson and Associates. Between 1st St. and Land Blvd.
  • Lechmere Canal (Peter Vanderwarker or Antonina Smith)

The renovated Lechmere Canal is a reminder of Cambridge's former industrial success and maritime aspirations. Most canals built in the first three quarters of the nineteenth century to stimulate the expansion of the commercial waterfront were a financial failure after the advent of the railroads. By the 1890s, the majority of these elaborate canal systems had been filled, but the Lechmere Canal is a piece of original shoreline and was preserved during this late-twentieth-century reclamation. Partially filled and extensively renovated to landscape designs by Carol R. Johnson and Associates in the 1980s, the canal is now a scenic amenity between the CambridgeSide Galleria (EC10) and Thomas Graves Landing (1989, Unihab), an eight-story condominium building named for the area's first settler.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

CambridgeSide Galleria
East Cambridge Riverfront Redevelopment
A. H. Davenport Co. (Irving & Casson)
36–46 2nd Street
Museum of Science, Hayden Planetarium, and Mugar Omni Theater

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "Lechmere Canal", [Cambridge, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-EC11.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 285-285.

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