Welcome to the Cambridge City Clerk’s Historical Legislative Records Collection
The City Clerk’s Office oversees two permanent record collections for the City of Cambridge: Vital Records beginning in the early 1800s and Legislative Records dating as far back as 1630 when Cambridge was first established as a town.
Direct support to either file or request vital records can be found in-person at the City Clerk’s office at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, 1st Floor or via electronic request on the City Clerk’s website: https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/cityclerksoffice
As the official record keeper for the City of Cambridge, the City Clerk developed the Records Management and Archives (RMA) program in 2024 to ensure that appropriate measures are taken for the long-term storage and preservation of the city’s permanent records collections. Per Chapter 2.24.010 of the Municipal Code, the Cambridge City Clerk “shall have the care and custody of all the records, documents, maps, plans and papers of the City. He shall attend and keep the records of all the meetings of the City Council.” * The RMA team consists of one permanent Records Manager/Archivist who supervises a rotating team of four student interns training for professional careers in Archival Sciences. This program supports the continuing critical care of the permanent and historical collections to ensure present-day and future Cantabrigians can learn and appreciate the many breakthroughs achieved in this city’s history and the contributions it has made beyond its borders.
The City Clerk’s Historical Records website is an offshoot of its primary service website and offers public access to historical records that remained hidden for many decades, and in some cases, over one hundred years. The collections require comprehensive maintenance and care, and this website is the result of extensive efforts in preservation, preparation, and digitization from the entire City Clerk staff. In this year, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Cambridge City Clerk’s Office proudly presents to the public and its many staff members access to the city’s historical records.
This website was developed in collaboration with the City of Cambridge Department of Information Technology to provide public access to these historical records. The City Clerk’s Office wishes to thank the public, the Cambridge City Council, and all our colleagues and supporters throughout all City of Cambridge departments for their generous support, patience, and enthusiasm towards this project. This work was made possible with funding from the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act. Digitization efforts are ongoing so please check back periodically as we continue to upload more records and information to this website.
*(Source: https://library.municode.com/ma/cambridge/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT2ADPE_CH2.24CICLDE).
