| acres. | rods. | |
| The First Parish in Cambridge contains, | 2,851 | 60 |
| The Second Parish in Cambridge contains, | 4,345 | 118 |
| The Third Parish in Cambridge contains, | 2,660 | 81 |
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shorn of its already diminished proportions by the incorporation of its second and third parishes into separate towns.
Dr. Holmes, writing in 1800, says,1—
The original organization of these parishes will be mentioned elsewhere.
Their separation from the parent trunk occurred almost simultaneously.
The third parish was incorporated as the town of Brighton, Feb. 24, 1807, and became a part of the city of Boston, Jan. 1, 1874.
The second parish was incorporated as the town of West Cambridge, by an Act passed Feb. 27, 1807, but not to take effect until June 1, 1807; its corporate name was changed to Arlington, April 30, 1867.
By the incorporation of these two towns, Cambridge lost nearly three quarters of its territory, but probably somewhat less than half of its population.
The political disturbances in the country, at the commencement of the present century, were disastrous to its commercial prosperity.
The Embargo, proclaimed in December 1807, followed by other hostile measures, culminating in a declaration of war against Great Britain, in June 1812, paralyzed the commerce of the whole country.
Grass grew in the streets of the seaports, and ships rotted at the wharves.
Cambridge felt this calamity the more keenly, because it involved so many of her citizens in distress.
Merchants, mechanics, and laborers, mutually dependent on each other, were thrown out of business, and some were reduced to absolute want.
A general and rapid depreciation in the value of real estate followed, particularly in Cambridgeport;2 the owners ceased to erect houses and stores; those who had purchased on speculation were unable to effect sales, and some of them were financially ruined.
General stagnation ensued, from which the new village did not fully recover for many years, and the hope of making it a great commercial centre seems to have been utterly and forever abandoned.
In common with many towns in New England, Cambridge earnestly protested against the Embargo.
At a town-meeting, Aug. 25, 1808, an address, reported by a committee consisting of
1 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., VII. 6.
2 Lands, which had been worth in the market more than, twenty cents per square foot, were afterwards sold for less than one cent per foot. The settlement of East Cambridge had not been commenced when the Embargo was declared; but its growth was retarded by the hostilities which followed.
Boston. Houghton and Mifflin. 1877.
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