The Cambridge of eighteen hundred and ninety-six: a picture of the city and its industries fifty years after its incorporation
Arthur Gilman, Ed.

The parallel growth of three distinct centres within the limits of one town could not take place without raising questions as to the expenditure of the public money in the development of the different sections. Jealousies were inevitable, and the interests of the different sections seemed on the whole to be so marked and distinct in 1842, that the residents of Old Cambridge petitioned to be set off as a separate town. This movement was successfully opposed by the town as a whole, but it doubtless led to the suggestion of a city charter as a remedy. It is true that another attempt was made to divide the town while action on the city charter was pending, but the act to establish the City of Cambridge became a law March 17, 1846. Under this act Cambridge could not become a city, unless a majority of the inhabitants of the town should vote to adopt the act at a town meeting called for the purpose. Such a meeting was held March 30, 1846. A majority vote was cast in favor of adopting the city charter, and Cambridge became a city.

With this event the period to be treated in this sketch closes. It has not been possible to enter into any details as to the growth of our schools and our churches, nor could the attention of the reader be drawn to individuals of prominence whose names are associated with Cambridge as a town. These facts are all to be found in Paige's ‘Cambridge,’ a volume which must stand for all time as the authority for the history of the town of Cambridge. Upon it the writer of this sketch has depended for the greater part of the facts which he has selected to illustrate the career of the town.