Porter Sqaure

Porter Square is located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares. The Porter Square station is one of the stops on the Red Line, and of the Commuter Rail, both part of the MBTA. The station is approximately 200 yards from the border with Somerville, so “Porter Square” inhabitants include residents of both cities.

Porter Square was named for the now-vanished Porter’s Hotel, operated by Zachariah B. Porter, who also left his name to the hotel’s specialty, the cut of steak now known as porterhouse. The square, formerly flanked by cattle yards that used the Porter rail head to transport their beef through the US, was an important center for commerce and light industry as early as the late 18th century. In 1984 the Red Line was extended from Harvard through Porter and Davis Square to its present terminus at Alewife, a project that also left Porter with its most visible landmark, Susumu Shingu’s 46-foot stainless steel kinetic sculpture entitled “Gift of the Wind.”

A prominent feature of the Porter Square skyline is the tower on the Art Deco-style University Hall building, which was a Sears, Roebuck from 1928 to 1985. In 1991, Lesley University began leasing classroom space there, and in 1994 it bought the building, known then as the Porter Exchange building, in which it now houses its bookstore and art and dance studios in addition to classrooms.

Lesley University continues to expand in the Porter Square neighborhood, with current plans to relocate the Art Institute of Boston to the site occupied by the North Prospect Church on Massachusetts Avenue across the street from University Hall.

Porter Square Real Estate

205 Richdale Ave Unit A-22 Cambridge

205 Richdale Ave Unit A-22 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $469000

MLS #:  71128145

Square Feet:  1244 sqft

Bedrooms:  2

Bathrooms:  1


63 Mount Vernon Unit 1 Cambridge

63 Mount Vernon Unit 1 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $449000

MLS #:  71117126

Square Feet:  1130 sqft

Bedrooms:  3

Bathrooms:  1


8 Russell St Unit 3 Cambridge

8 Russell St Unit 3 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $314900

MLS #:  71112319

Square Feet:  695 sqft

Bedrooms:  1

Bathrooms:  1


1 Newport Road Unit 5 Cambridge

1 Newport Road Unit 5 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $499000

MLS #:  71105495

Square Feet:  1142 sqft

Bedrooms:  2

Bathrooms:  1


29 Regent Unit 1R Cambridge

29 Regent Unit 1R Cambridge

Listing Price:  $389000

MLS #:  71089563

Square Feet:  780 sqft

Bedrooms:  2

Bathrooms:  1


153 Walden Street Unit 3 Cambridge

153 Walden Street Unit 3 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $339000

MLS #:  71085058

Square Feet:  848 sqft

Bedrooms:  2

Bathrooms:  1


8 Russell St Unit 2 Cambridge

8 Russell St Unit 2 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $565900

MLS #:  71083361

Square Feet:  1170 sqft

Bedrooms:  2

Bathrooms:  2


68 Orchard Cambridge

68 Orchard Cambridge

Listing Price:  $875000

MLS #:  71079797

Square Feet:  1879 sqft

Bedrooms:  3

Bathrooms:  1


148 Richdale Avenue Unit 3 Cambridge

148 Richdale Avenue Unit 3 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $798000

MLS #:  71075035

Square Feet:  2350 sqft

Bedrooms:  4

Bathrooms:  3


7 Meacham Rd Unit 7 Cambridge

7 Meacham Rd Unit 7 Cambridge

Listing Price:  $329000

MLS #:  71066565

Square Feet:  1208 sqft

Bedrooms:  2

Bathrooms:  1