"The old families are still around, [and are] very much a part of the neighborhood," Petner says.
Guinness To Canoli
It was a much different story 100 years ago. The area was predominantly Irish, but since the end of World War II, the Irish were slowly replaced by a large Italian population.
And while the Italian population is graying, it still plays a central role in the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood.
"It thinks of itself as a sizable Italian-American neighborhood," says Pam R. Chamberlain, a lifelong Cantabrigian who has lived in the area since 1993.
She adds that Strawberry Hill's old Italian families tend to forget the era when they were not the most numerous segment of the population. A 1903 map in her home shows most of the neighborhood's residents had Irish names, Chamberlain says.
"Like most neighborhoods, this one has changed over time in terms of its ethnicity," she says.
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