Harvard Yard’s brick lawns at the heart of Cambridge

Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a broad sweep of lawn framed by red-brick buildings and iron fencing, forming the historic heart of Harvard University and a daily crossroads between classrooms, libraries and student housing.

From colonial college green to enclosed campus core

The story of Harvard Yard begins with the founding of Harvard College in the seventeenth century, when the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony authorised a college in 1636 and the institution secured its first parcel of land the following year.the college’s first piece of real estate This early tract, bought from Goodman Peyntree in 1637, became known as the College Yard and forms the nucleus of what is now Harvard Yard.became the nucleus of present-day Harvard Yard

Over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Harvard acquired adjoining parcels of pasture and town land, enlarging the original College Yard into a defined precinct set between Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Street, Broadway and Quincy Street.bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Street, Broadway and Quincy Street The installation of the wrought-iron perimeter fence and brick piers, designed by the New York firm McKim, Mead & White and erected between about 1890 and 1930, completed the shift from open town green to an enclosed campus landscape.the decorative wrought-iron Memorial Fence

Brick, elm and gates: the physical character of the Yard

Harvard Yard reads as a large rectangular park, roughly twenty acres in extent, carpeted with grass and planted with trees, and encircled by brick academic and residential buildings in Georgian and Colonial Revival styles.approximately 21 acres Paths thread the lawn between the buildings, while the Memorial Fence and its brick piers frame views out towards Harvard Square and the surrounding streets.enclosed the campus

The perimeter is punctuated by numerous gates, with Johnston Gate on Massachusetts Avenue the grandest point of entry to the Old Yard.Johnston Gate was built in 1890 Inside the fence, the Yard is informally divided into the Old Yard to the west and the area now known as Tercentenary Theatre to the east, where the open space between Widener Library and Memorial Church is used for large academic ceremonies.Old Yard and Tercentenary Theatre

Living among the Yard’s historic buildings

Several of Harvard’s most historically significant buildings line the lawns of the Yard and remain in active use. Massachusetts Hall, completed in 1720, stands near Johnston Gate and is the oldest surviving building at Harvard University, long combining student rooms with senior administrative offices including that of the president.Massachusetts Hall, built in 1720 Nearby Harvard Hall, rebuilt in 1766 after a fire, has housed both the college library and teaching rooms at different points in its history.Harvard Hall, rebuilt in 1766

At the eastern side of the Yard, the massive steps and facade of Widener Memorial Library face the pale stone of Memorial Church across a paved and lawned open space that functions as an outdoor ceremonial hall.Widener Library Scattered across the Old Yard stand first-year dormitories, University Hall and the bronze statue of John Harvard in front of its granite facade, knitting daily undergraduate life directly into this centuries-old setting.the famous statue of John Harvard

Visiting Harvard Yard: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Harvard Yard lies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, immediately adjoining Harvard Square on the north bank of the Charles River, opposite central Boston.
• The area is level and largely grassed, with paved paths and a scattering of steps at building entrances rather than long staircases or steep gradients.
• The Yard sits within the wider Harvard University campus, and academic buildings, libraries and student residences surround the lawns on every side.
• The official language is English and the currency is the United States dollar.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Harvard Yard

Where is Harvard Yard?

Harvard Yard is a fenced campus green in Cambridge, Massachusetts, bordered by city streets including Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Street, Broadway and Quincy Street.

What should visitors expect inside the Yard?

Visitors step into an expanse of lawn, trees and intersecting paths, surrounded by red-brick academic buildings, libraries, dormitories and Memorial Church, with gates connecting to Harvard Square.

What makes Harvard Yard distinctive among university campuses?

Harvard Yard combines seventeenth- and eighteenth-century origins, buildings such as Massachusetts Hall and Widener Library, and a role as both historic precinct and everyday thoroughfare for students.