The Red HouseBuilt in 1802, this delicious restaurant now serves $0.50 oysters on their patio in summer months. This insane deal seems to be in keeping with the house’s original use. It was built as low-income housing.
Originally, the house was occupied by a widow of the Revolution, Elizabeth Hicks. Her biggest claim to fame was her marriage to John Hicks. John Hicks was 48 at the time of the Boston Tea Party. The journey to Boston, which involved 8 miles of walking, was not too much, it seems, for John Hicks. On December 16th, 1773, he was one of two known Cantabrigians to be present in the dumping of the tea. Two years later, in 1775, he would die in Battle Road, shooting at the British as they retreated from Lexington and Concord. After his death, Elizabeth Hicks fell on hard times. Apparently her daughter did as well, as both seem to have lived in the house simultaneously. The Red House was later occupied by yet another widow named Susannah Cox, giving this old house the nickname “the Cox-Hicks House,” which seems like a good place for a Chiropractor. Look out for the retention wall under the Red House. It used to hold back the Charles River during floods and storms, and is thought to date to 1634. This would make it the oldest man-made structure in Cambridge. |