The Square's growth has been fueled largely by the presence of Harvard College, founded in 1636. Cattle ran through the Square during the 17th century, and Harvard Yard got that name because it was where cows and sheep were kept.

Horse-drawn coaches brought Bostonians to the Square in the years after the American Revolution, and a flourishing business district quickly sprung up.

Store owners soon clashed with the government over efforts to extend transportation to the Square. The state proposed an elevated railway during the 1870s, but local entrepreneurs fought the plan. Eventually, the entrepreneurs won a compromise, and an underground subway system, which had the principal advantage of not being an eyesore, was built between 1909 and 1912, according to the Cambridge Historical Commission.

The Square rose to national prominence in the 1960s, as Western Cambridge became a hotbed of street entertainment, coffee houses and, of course, radical political activity.

But the bad feelings on Harvard's politically charged campus frequently spilled over into the Square. Crime rose. Pictures from the late '60s and early '70s frequently show bars over the windows of shops and restaurants.

"It was scary," Kramer says. "The anger students felt was taken out against retailers."

"My most vivid memory from the period is one night in 1970 when there was almost a riot in the Square," Kramer adds. "I can remember watching three busloads of police marching in close formation down Mass Ave. I could not believe it."

The increasingly run-down condition of the Square sparked new activism among local residents. That, along with the building of the MBTA's Red Line, created a Renaissance of sorts in the area.

The past two decades of Square history have seen intermittent fights between residents and the University over Harvard's expansion into the city. Many residents have complained that the University grew at the expense of local neighborhoods.

In 1972, residents secured the establishment of a "red line" boundary that the University was not allowed to cross. The line's restrictions are believed to have expired in 1979, according to local officials.

It was in that year that the Harvard Square Defense Fund was founded by a group of city residents. The fund's charter says the group is dedicated to preventing the "further environmental and ecological deterioration of the Harvard Square area."

During its short history, the group has eclipsed two other local groups--the Harvard Square Business Association and the Harvard Square Advisory Committee--in influence by using strong-armed, confrontational tactics. Most prospective developments and businesses in the Square are likely to contend with the non-profit group's legal challenges and zoning appeals.

Gifford says such tactics are necessary to counter-balance the greed of developers. The advantage that the fund, which is supported by private contributions, holds over developers is that its only significant expense is legal fees.

"What the developers are seeking is a package that maximizes their financial return," Gifford says. "We believe we should get something back. We go in and fight for the public sector."

The defense fund won several early victories. A neighborhood group whose members eventually helped form the defense fund defeated a proposal to build the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in the Square. And the fund itself successfully fought for changes in the design of the Carpenter development, just west of the Kennedy School of Government.