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Margaret, Rose, Johnny, Tommy and Mary Murnane on the steps of 94 Foster Street, Cambridge, 1890's. 

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CambridgeMurnanes offers a unique insight into Cambridge history and heritage.

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Experience photos, oral histories, film  and documents that bring the past to life.

The first record of the Murnanes in Cambridge is in1857: Marinan, John, laborer, at Prof. Eustis's, Kirkland, followed in1859 by Marinan, John, laborer, h Mt. Auburn n Lowell.  The familly lived in this neighborhood, until 2019.

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Cambridge Directory

Margaret Murnane Daley with her daughters, Rose and Pauline, behind Mt. Auburn Hospital, 1920. 

OUR HERITAGE
 
 In 1859 John Murnane bought a piece of property in the Marsh neighborhood (7 Rice Place, becoming 7 Maynard Place in 1875) and lived in a house moved from North Cambridge.  He and his wife Rose ran an Irish boarding house where their children Thomas and Helen were born.   Bridget Finneran came to this house when she immigrated from Ireland, but  moved to Keene, NH, to work as a maid for a wealthy family.  Thomas Murnane, a stone cutter,  followed her and worked in the quarry pits in Marlboro, NH.  They were married and moved back to Cambridge where they raised their 13 children  at 94 Foster Place, eventually moving to 7 Maynard Place when John and Rose passed.     

7 Maynard Place

Rose McDonnell Murnane

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Thomas Murnane, Sr

Bridget Finneran Murnane

Half Crown-Marsh Neighborhood Conservation District

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The Half Crown-Marsh Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD) encompasses two neighborhoods, formerly each designated as separate districts. The district is located west of Harvard Square between Brattle Street and the river, with Hilliard Street on the east and Lowell Street on the west. The district is bisected by Longfellow Park, which is part of the Old Cambridge Historic District. The NCD contains approximately 200 buildings.

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