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Harvard Yard is a grassy area of about 25 acres (100,000 m²), adjacent to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which constitutes the oldest part and the center of the campus of Harvard University. It contains thirteen of Harvard College's seventeen freshman dormitories, as well as three libraries, five buildings of classrooms and academic departments, and the central administrative offices of the university.The western third of Harvard Yard is known as the Old Yard, and around it cluster most of the freshman dormitories. Among these is Massachusetts Hall, which, having been constructed in 1720, is the oldest still-standing building on Harvard's campus and oldest academic building in the United States (Sometimes Wren Hall at College of William and Mary is cited as the oldest; however, it was rebuilt in several times after fire, the latest reconstruction occurring in 1865). The lower floors of Massachusetts Hall house the offices of the President of Harvard University.
The center of Harvard Yard is a wide grassy area known as Tercentenary Theater, framed by the monumental Widener Library and Memorial Church. Harvard's annual commencement exercises, as well as occasional special convocations, take place in Tercentenary Theater.
Harvard Yard is featured in a famous sentence that is used to illustrate the Boston accent's feature of dropping the sound r before consonants: "Park your car in Harvard Yard." However, motorists are not allowed to park in Harvard Yard.
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