Site of the Courthouse 1758-1816

The Cambridge Courthouse 1758-1816 was the site of a significant event leading up to The Revolutionary War.

As punishment for the Boston Tea Party, British Parliament established the Intolerable Acts. Most notably of the Intolerable Acts was the Regulatory Act, which abolished Massachusetts, elected councils and replaced them with the Mandamus Council, a council of men appointed by the King. Three Cambridge men, Judge Danforth, Judge Lee, and Lieutenant Governor Oliver, were appointed to this council.

On September 1, 1774 British General Gage sent his troops to seize gunpowder from a Provincial Powder House in Somerville. The following day in response, thousands of people from all over New England marched to the Cambridge Common and Harvard Square to protest the seizure of gunpowder and the creation of the Mandamus Council. The crowd demanded that Cambridge appointees resign from the Council. Judge Lee and Judge Danforth stood on the steps of the Cambridge Courthouse in front of the thousands of protestors and resigned. 

Although the courthouse is no longer standing, the site still remains hallowed ground for American patriotism, the Harvard Coop is at the site today.

 

Back to Interactive Map