Historic Preservation in Cambridge, MA (2026)
1 verified historic preservation rules for Cambridge, Massachusetts, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Historic-Cultural Monuments
Cambridge designates individual landmarks under Code of Ordinances Chapter 2.78, Article III, protecting properties tied to the city's cultural, political or architectural history. The Historical Commission reviews petitions, and once a landmark is designated, exterior work needs a certificate of appropriateness before any permit issues.
Cambridge Landmark Designation Rules
Significant RestrictionsCambridge, MA Code of Ordinances § 2.78.180(A)
The Historical Commission by majority vote may recommend for designation as a landmark any property within the City being or containing a place, structure, feature or object which it determines to be either (1) importantly associated with one or more historic persons or events, or with the broad architectural, aesthetic, cultural, political, economic or social history of the City or the Commonw...