New Balance Draws a Red Line with Diner

From Dave Brigham:

I can't be expected to know everything about the backside of America, nor of Massachusetts or even of Boston. But I'm flabbergasted that I didn't learn for more than a dozen years about a longtime Hub diner that's been sitting in a parking lot roughly four miles from my house, converted to new use by a major footwear company.

Thanks to a video shared by one of my favorite Instagram accounts, Chris Tanaka of Boston's WBZ-TV, I found out that the former Englewood Diner, which had previously been located in Dorchester, among other locations, sits on private property in Brighton. Tanaka posts regularly about walks he takes around the city, offering up lesser-known facts about streets, architecture and the city's history. Definitely check him out.

"The Englewood Diner stood in Peabody Square from the 1940s until the 1970s, when it was replaced by the Englewood Apartment building in the point between Dorchester Avenue and Talbot Avenue," according to this Dorchester Atheneum 2 blog post.

The diner over the years has moved to several Bay State towns. Per an article in the Diner Hotline Weblog, the old eatery relocated from Dorchester to Cambridge, Somerville, Fitchburg, Holden and Salisbury over the years. The diner, however, never operated in those locations. It was either stored or sat waiting for a plan to come to fruition.

The diner even went on a road trip.

"While in [Dan] Johnston’s possession, the diner ended up taking its longest round trip to be in a big budget Hollywood movie!" per the Diner Hotline article. "Johnston was approached by Dreamworks Production Company in 2001. Dreamworks wanted to use the diner in a scene of the movie 'Road to Perdition' starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. According to [Randy] Garbin as quoted from his book Diners of New England, Dreamworks reportedly paid Johnston nearly $40,000 giving Johnston the first option to purchase it back after the scenes in the movie were completed. The diner was transported to the Chicago area for the film and Johnston bought it back for less than half his original sale price."

I highly recommend reading the entire article to understand the full breadth of the old diner's life.

In 2012, I believe, the owner of New Balance, or perhaps the shoe company itself, acquired the diner and moved it to a private lot behind Boston Volvo. I accessed the site via a parking lot behind 38 Everett Street. I believe you can also check it out by walking to the rear of the car dealer's property and winding your way around to the rear of a low-slung building that is perpendicular to 38 Everett Street.

New Balance uses the old Englewood for corporate events.

A Saturday Skulk Through Southie

From Dave Brigham:

I've covered South Boston quite a bit on this blog (see the bottom of this post for links) yet somehow I found more to check out this past April. The impetus for visiting this Boston neighborhood yet again was a ghost sign that I didn't know about the last time I was there.

I forget where I learned about this old sign for Bay State Brewery located on the side of The Distillery North apartments on East 2nd Street at the intersection with H Street. "The large brick factory building that sits between East 1st and 2nd Street in South Boston was first constructed in the 1860s as the Bay State Brewery and Malt House for the production of beer," according to the Distillery North web site. A man named Henry Souther started the brewing operation, having "purchased the land from the Sound Boston Association, seeing it as well located beside the water for the delivery of barley from Canada. At the time, the harbor came right up to the property edge...."

"It wasn’t long before the Bay State Brewery was sold to a railroad magnate and Congressman from New Hampshire named Frank Jones." I haven't learned when Jones took over the facility, but I'm assuming no later than the 1890s. That means the ghost sign is likely at least 125 years old, which is pretty cool.

Jones, who during his political career also served as mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, started his brewing business in that small seacoast city. "The Frank Jones Brewery was one of the largest producers of ale in the United States of America," according to Wikipedia. "In 1896, Jones' Portsmouth brewery produced about 250,000 barrels a year."

Jones died in 1902, and the brewery complex was sold to the Felton family of Newton, Massachusetts, per the Distillery North web site. "The Feltons had arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1640, already with a background in ale brewing. In Boston they took up rum distilling under the names of Crystal Spring Rum and Pilgrim Rum. After purchasing the Bay State Brewery, it took the Feltons a year to reconfigure the facility as a rum distillery, a process that involved the installation of two dozen 10,000-gallon fermenting vats."

The Felton distillery closed in 1982. "In 1984...Frederick Gordon...purchased the property with its skeletons of disused machinery, molasses streaked walls, and malodorous scents," the Distillery North site continues. "The rough neighborhood and the curious layout of the 100,000 square foot factory, with spaces ranging from shoebox to gymnasium-sized, was a curious real estate puzzle. It was artists who naturally gravitated toward the atypical labyrinth, and word got around."

Currently, the development features both work and living spaces for more than 100 artists and creative professionals. The on-site Distillery Gallery "features rotating exhibitions that highlight the diverse talents of both resident and guest artists," per the web site for the community.

Whew! That was a lot of information. I'm always happy when companies that redevelop old buildings provide the history of the site.

Since I've made photos a lot around Southie, I wandered quite a bit to find new subject matter. I ended up on Silver Street, which runs parallel to the main thoroughfare, West Broadway, between Dorchester and D streets. You know I love back alleys and narrow streets where I can see the true backside.

The first thing to catch my eye was the old rear entrance to the Gorin's department store.

When I made this photo, I felt sure I had made a complementary image of the old tile entryway to the store a few years back. But in reviewing my archives, I realized that the entryway was for Pober's, another old department store. Then I thought perhaps Gorin's had been located in the same building, before of after Pober's. But I checked out Google Street View and realized the stores were located in different buildings along West Broadway.

Anyway, Gorin's was a local chain that started in Woburn, Mass., in 1900. Early on, there were stores in Everett, South Boston, Watertown Square, Central Square in Cambridge and Somerville's Union Square, according to this Bouseblog post. By the 1950s, the chain had grown to employ more than 3,000 people in at least 20 stores. Gorin's "purchase of the Almy, Bigelow and Washburn department store chain added locations in Salem, Danvers and Beverly. Later acquisitions and mergers expanded the company to New Bedford, Mass, Manchester, N.H., Waterbury, Conn. and Rochester, N.Y.," per the blog.

"In 1984, the Gorin family sold their company, by this time 32-stores strong and re-branded as 'Almy’s,' to an investment group. The Gorin’s business had been struggling to make a profit since 1978. By 1985, the new owners had sold most of the Almy’s chain to the Stop & Shop Companies," Bouseblog indicates.

Continuing west-northwest on Silver Street, I crossed over E Street and found a little bit of country in the middle of the city.

Located next to a new apartment building and across the street from the rear of the old Bigelow School, this cute little farmhouse-style duplex was built in 1890, per the Boston assessor. I dig the civic pride demonstrated by the SOUTH BOSTON sign.

I looped around some more side streets until I found myself in front of Boris Pest Control, at the corner of West Seventh and E streets (not where these guys got their name).

I love that whoever created the company's sign paid homage to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish mascot by using a mouse with boxing gloves. Of course, Southie was once a MAJOR Irish-American stronghold. Boris Pest Control has been in business since 1967.

As I stood in front of the pest-fighting mouse, I looked diagonally across West Seventh and saw a subtly unusual home.

This Odd House, as I dubbed it, has just under 660 square feet of living area, with one bedroom and one bathroom. Built in 1900 (perhaps; you know I'm always dubious of that date), it has seemingly been altered a bit over the last 125+ years. Maybe it was once two stories?

I made my way to D Street, then headed south-southwest into a more industrial/commercial section of the neighborhood. Then I turned south on Dorchester Ave. (aka Dot Ave. I'd walked this area outside Andrew Square a few times over the years, so once again, I sought out the nooks I had passed over previously.

On Alger Street, I found my quarry.

The ghost sign at the top says INDUSTRIAL and perhaps CO. I haven't found out what business was/is here. I just love the combination of the weathered bricks with fading paint, the heavy (leaded?) glass windows, the vent, the two doors - so many squares and rectangles.

In a large empty lot across Alger Street, running along Dorchester Ave., stands (or perhaps by this point, stood) a decomissioned Red Line subway car.

Car No. 1643 will be used by the developers of the On the Dot mixed-use project to "enhance the activity space," according to something I read somewhere online. The car was previously located in a parking lot abutting Cannonball Cafe, just up the street.

The Red Line runs underneath this area of the city, with a stop at nearby Andrew Square. The 1600 series Red Line cars came into MBTA service in the late '60s and early '70s.

Some buildings for the On the Dot project are already completed, while others in the planned 21-acre development of life-science, retail, and residential buildings will rise in the future.

To the south of the old subway car/soon-to-be social hangout stands a bit of old-school Boston: Andrew Square Liquors.

The Internet says this business opened in the late '90s. I'm guessing it took the place of a similar operation. I have a thing for packies, as they often have old signs that make for decent photos. Google Street View shows me that Andrew Square Liquors up until four years ago had a cooler sign than the current Budweiser one hanging over the awning.

I doubled back along Dorchester Avenue, cut down Damrell Street, went north-northwest on Old Colony Avenue and then headed onto E Street. After winding my way around, I ended up in front of some stunningly beautiful row houses on F Street.

These gorgeous homes date to the late 19th century.

I trekked up to Dorchester Street (not Ave.) and walked around the lovely and historic St. Augustine's Chapel grounds.

Founded in 1818, the chapel is the Boston Archdiocese's oldest Catholic church. It is open to the public only on holy days. The cemetery is the oldest Catholic burial ground in New England. There is a nice shrine that backs up to Tudor Street; it's obviously also used as a shed. Poor Mary!

I headed northeast along Dorchester Street, popping down West Fourth Street to check out a former fire house.

Completed in 1869, the station housed Ladder 5 until 1917, when the company moved next door to the much larger Engine 1 headquarters, which also served as a municipal district court. The building was converted to condos in recent years.

I headed next to East Broadway, about ready to finish my trip. At the intersection with Emerson Street, I was quite taken by the building housing M&T Oil Company / Metro Energy, which has been in business since 1929.

Upon getting back to my car, I remembered one more spot I wanted to document.

The Galley Diner is located on P Street, just off of East 1st Street. Established in 1995, the diner serves up breakfast seven days a week, and lunch Monday through Friday. Notice the sign also mentions Rumpy's, which is evidently is a brand of roast beef served at the diner.

For more on South Boston, check out the links below:

October 5, 2024, "Goin' ta Southie, Kehd"

August 27, 2020, "Circling Andrew Square"

January 25, 2020, "The Walk of Fame"

June 25, 2019, "Wool-d You Like to Join Me For a Walk?"

January 12, 2019, "Power Move in South Boston"

November 17, 2018, "Southie to Lose An Institution"

April 22, 2018, "Fort Point Channel - It's Electric!"

February 1, 2017, "Bon Voyage, Lady"

November 17, 2014, "Whitey Wuz Here"

Committing Myself to the City of Sin

From Dave Brigham:

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in

You ask for water, but they give you gin

The girls say no, yet they always give in

If you're not bad, they won’t let you in

It’s the damndest city I’ve ever lived in

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in.

Thanks to the blog of a guy named Jason Stadtlander, I learned the lyrics to this poem, of which I'd only ever known the first line. I don't recall at what point after moving to the Boston area in 1990 that I first heard the North Shore city of Lynn referred to as the City of Sin. As with so many former mill towns and cities, I've had the eighth-largest city in the Bay State on my mind for quite a while.

After stumbling across an Instagram reel mentioning Bobby from Boston, a vintage clothing store at 545 Washington Street, I finally made a plan to check out that part of the city. And when I learned that there's a cool old diner right around the corner from the store, I moved that plan up on my Backside agenda.

While this was my first trip to downtown Lynn, I'd been to the city once before (see October 21, 2016, "Rockin' in the Dungeon," for a description of a quick visit to Lynn Woods with my kids).

"Settled by Europeans in 1629, Lynn is the 5th oldest colonial settlement in the Commonwealth," according to Wikipedia. "An early industrial center, Lynn was long colloquially referred to as the 'City of Sin,' owing to its historical reputation for crime and vice."

I started my tour in front of Zimman's, a Lynn mainstay that's been selling fabrics, furniture and furnishings since 1909.

Morris Zimman founded a dry goods shop at 6 River Street in Lynn, about a mile and a half west of the store's current location. "Morris, who was always searching for GREAT BARGAINS, purchased the entire contents of a sunken ship, and [sold] slightly soggy muslin on the sidewalk for 15 cents a yard," according to the Zimman's web site. In 1948, Morris's son, Barry, opened a department store elsewhere on Market Street, moving it to the present location nine years later.

The store is located in the former Goddard Bros. Department Store.

"The firm of Goddard Brothers was founded in 1899 by Franklin L. and Wallace I. Goddard of Boston," according to MACRIS, "who purchased a business from T. E. Parker." I'm not sure of the fate of the Goddard Bros. store.

Around the corner on Andrew Street, I had to make a photo of #58. I figured it was "something."

Sure enough. This is the Grand Army of the Republic Hall and Museum, which "was erected in 1885 with funds raised by local Civil War veterans as a memorial to the Union Army veterans of the Civil War," per the organization's web site. "It soon became the largest G.A.R. post in the country with 1,847 members. Post 5 held a position of prominence in the City of Lynn, the Commonwealth and the Nation for many years.

"Its crowning glory is the enormous 56′ x 46′ main hall on the third floor, which retains the original furnishings and has walls filled with photos of Civil War veterans. Six more rooms have memorabilia from the Revolutionary War through the Korean War."

The hall is currently under renovation, as you can see in my photo. "The structure is in urgent need of repair, and the first phase of that reconstruction has begun with the installation of an elevator, handicapped accessible bathrooms, and updates to the first floor storefronts," per the web site. "These changes make the building compliant with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and will enable broader use of the building and access to funding for further efforts.

"In addition, the Trustees of the GAR Hall and Museum are working on finding new uses for space in the building, building on the wishes of the Civil War Union veterans, who gifted the building to the city in a Home Rule Petition in 1919. To that end a community engagement program is also being launched to discover needs of Lynn veterans and nonprofit community organizations."

From there I headed north, and then east on Central Avenue. Cal's News caught my eye.

Opened in 1937, Cal’s News is the city’s oldest family-owned news retailer and tobacconist, according to this Item Live article
.

Steps away, across an empty lot, is a work of stunning beauty.

Located on the side of The Oxford Lynn apartment building, this mural of a rhino and other animals was painted by Miami-based artist Ernesto Maranje. As with many old industrial cities I've visited, Lynn features loads of such work, some of which is featured below.

Nearby along Washington Street is a lovely pastel work by a Los Angeles-based artist who goes by Free Humanity.

Around the corner in Central Square, the teenage boy inside me demanded I make a photo of buildings labeled R.A.W. and GAS.

Raw Art Works is a creative youth development organization rooted in art therapy, per its web site. Great Art Studio "was born with one intent: to develop and support the relationships between local creatives, business owners and their communities," according to its Internet home page.

I continued under the commuter train tracks that cut across the southern portion of the city, headed southwest on Union Street and suddenly I was standing in front of a rare gem of a diner.

The Capitol Diner is one of a select group of early metal diners to survive intact on its original site, according to MACRIS. "The Capitol Diner is a [J.G.] Brill [Co.] from 1928. This is believed to be the last operating Brill diner in the country," according to this Roadside Architecture post (scroll down). "It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The diner was originally known as the 'Miss Lynn Diner.' When it changed hands in 1938, it was renamed to refer to the Capitol Theatre across the street which is now gone."

Around the corner, under the train bridge across Washington Street, is a cool mural painted by artist Anna Dugan, who goes by Annadidathing. A detail from the work of art is featured in the image below.

The Guardians | Mga Tagapagtanggol "represents her Filipino culture and serves as an image of power, femininity, and protection," according to this statement at the Beyond Walls web site.

Based in Lynn, Beyond Walls "introduce[s] public art, curated experiences and outdoor museums into the fabric of our communities by partnering with local community members and experts to design, produce and manage collaborative projects and programs," per the non-profit group's web site. "We serve cities and towns where there are changes due to the loss of industry, shifts in population, or where there is underutilized infrastructure."

The group brought its Retrolit program, in which it restored and installed vintage neon signs, to the Bobby from Boston building I mentioned at the top of this post. That building is located just steps from the above mural, on Washington Street.

For Retrolit, Beyond Walls partnered with Dave and Lynn Waller, well-known local collectors (and conservators) of neon signs (for coverage of the Wallers, see April 22, 2023, "Walking Around Belt-Bottom," August 9, 2018, "Backside, Out in the Open" and March 22, 2010, "Gettin' My Kicks").

I believe both of the above signs were once located on local businesses. Lynn was once known as the Shoe Capital of the World, "with dozens of factories producing millions of pairs of shoes each year," according to this blog post.

Bobby from Boston is located in the Frederick E. Abbott Building, a nicely restored Romanesque Revival building dated to 1890. In the late 1890s, the Munsey Shank Company occupied this building, manufacturing shanks, which are long, thin pieces of material between the insole and outsole intended to support the foot and provide structure, according to Wikipedia.

Munsey was in business here until 1938. In 1940, according to MACRIS, the Prime Company rented the building. Prime was "a shoe sole equipment manufacturer, remaining in operation through 2001 as the last shoe manufacturer in Lynn," MACRIS continues.

I'd like to return to this place when the vintage clothing store is open, which is only on Sundays.

I continued southwest on Union Street. In front of the parking garage for the commuter rail station is a statue that seems somewhat forgotten to the world.

The site is slightly overgrown, and there is no plaque providing passers-by with information about the statue's name, or who the artist is, or why it's on this spot. The man is bald and striated, and appears naked. He's sitting on a stack of books, staring into the middle distance. Perhaps he is attempting to absorb knowledge through his tuchus?

I've searched on Google and can't find anything about this work of art. Maybe this forlorn guy knows Worcester's Turtle Boy.

Anyway...moving on.

The statue of the nude bookworm stands across from one of the imposing Harbor Loft apartment buildings.

Known as the Vamp Building, this massive structure -- the south facade extends 400 feet along Broad Street -- rose in 1903 as part of a complex built by a syndicate of investors known as the Lynn Realty Company (the edifice is known alternately as Lynn Realty Building #4).

"Following a disastrous fire of 1887 when a 30-acre area employing over 7,000 employees burned to the ground, there was a short flurry of rebuilding activity," MACRIS indicates. "This slowed considerably by 1891 and the next decade saw little construction in downtown Lynn. By 1900, the shoe industry had re-emerged as a significant economic engine and Lynn was once again in a leadership position in that industry. The Lynn Realty Company, headed by one Edward Strout, financed major construction in the fire-zone by financing and constructing several large manufacturing structures."

I'm not sure when this old factory was converted to residential use.

From there, I headed northeast on Broad Street, as I saw something in the distance I wanted to check out.

This place turned out to be a two-fer. Located in what is known as Bank Square, the former Hotel Edison is an Art Deco building that looks pretty good. "The Hotel Edison...site had served as a prominent intersection with a previous hotel located after the Lynn Fire of 1889," per MACRIS. "The present Hotel Edison was constructed in 1931 by the Lincoln Reality Trust and served as a retail complex with street shops along Broad and Exchange Street. It was among the first buildings in Lynn to be air conditioned in 1937 and was...remodeled for commercial space in 1988."

This building is also the headquarters of The Daily Item newspaper, which was founded in 1877.

Next I cut west on Exchange Street, where I saw the fabulous sign below.

Unfortunately, Charlie's Junction Deli closed in the fall of 2019. This "classic old breakfast and lunch spot" was in business for more than 20 years, according to this Boston Restaurant Talk post.

I absolutely love the Charlie's sign. I'm surprised it's still there.

Around the corner, on Spring Street, is yet another of the many great murals of Lynn.

Painted on the side of the Breed Estate Building -- one of the few survivors of Spring Street's rebuilding between 1890 and 1908, according to MACRIS -- this work by Argentinean Mariela Ajras was completed in partnership with Beyond Walls. I've dubbed this one the UFO mural.

I wandered around and found myself at the Silsbee Street underpass, where I saw this dcool guitar painted on a pillar.

One of many paintings under and around the commuter train tracks, this one was done by that famous artist known as I Can't Find Information On the Internet.

Silsbee Street to the east, and Exchange Street to the west, are the end points of the old Eastern Railroad Station Viaduct. This structure, which runs along Mount Vernon Street, features more nice murals, but I'd like to know what's behind the facades.

When it was built in 1913, "it served as the passenger platform for the adjacent 1895 station (non-extant) located on the west side," according to MACRIS. "The station was left at grade, but the waiting room was extended under the viaduct and steps to the platform were provided." At that time, trains were operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

"Exterior stairs located at either end of the viaduct also service the platform which is sheltered by a flat-roofed concrete awning," MACRIS continues. "Space under the viaduct was utilized for the baggage room and shops on both the Central Square and Silsbee Street ends. Although the 1895 station has been demolished and many of the original/early storefronts have been removed or altered, the viaduct itself survives basically unaltered and in its original context."

Old photos show some of the viaduct's archways, seen in my photos above, open. I'd love it if this place could be opened up for retail/restaurants businesses at some point. The only indication of a former business here is the sign on a door for the National Fire Escape Association.

At 305 Union Street I spied a ghost sign of sorts for the old McLellan's department store.

I haven't been able to find out any history of this retailer.

At the corner of Washington and Oxford streets is A&S Pawn and Used Jewelry, which has been around for at least a quarter-century, from what I've been able to figure out.

I headed back toward my car, which I'd parked at the Lynn Marketplace mall along State Street, but then I decided to wander just a little bit more. Along the Lynnway, in front of the parking lot for Lynn Motor Sales, I spied this nice old clock.

A quick online search turned up a Facebook post in which somebody who had taken a photo of this clock asked for any background information. This guy said the names on each of the faces are "F.L. Conte" and "Chery Conte." I haven't found any information about the clock, the maker or the Contes.

Coincidentally, on the opposite side of the busy four-lane roadway is an old factory building with a clocktower.

My first thought when I saw this place was, "It looks like the Schrafft's building in Boston." The candy company building pre-dates this one by about 15 years and may have inspired the architect, Harold Field Kellogg. Kellogg's other local buildings include the Batterymarch Building in Boston; the Pierce-Arrow auto showroom (now a Star Market) in Boston's Packard Corner; and the Longwood Towers in Brookline, for which he was a consulting architect.

Built in 1922 as a shoe factory for Albert Creighton, this structure was seen as "a landmark of modern reinforced industrial design after the First World War," per MACRIS. "The corner clock tower highlights the Gothic profile of the Creighton-Champion Buildings along the Lynnway with vertical piered windows in the upper story, capped by a stepped copper roof with flagpole."

When Creighton's company cratered in 1928, the building "was purchased by the Consolidated Electric Company as the Champion Lamp Works, for light bulb manufacturing from secondary General Electric patents," MACRIS continues. "The Champion Works continued to expand with radio assembly by 1937 with a substantial addition to the original Creighton Building in 1948-1951....In 1969 the Champion works was acquired by International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) and again in 1975 by North American Philips Company (Norelco) with renovations of the original Creighton Building during 1987-1988."

It is now known as the Clocktower Business Center; tenants include a driving school and a law office.

Back across the Lynnway, at the corner of Blossom Street, there is an Enterprise car rental facility. It's located in a building that was previously home to Ron Costa's Auto World.

From what I've deduced online, Costa started that business in 1995. By 2011 this space was occupied by another business. I love that little reminder sign.

I next walked north-northwest on Blossom, then swung east on Alley Street. I had spotted a smokestack, and I needed to get closer.

I really love that image for Traditional Breads, which was established in 1999, a year after the founder, Fitzroy Alexander, sold his previous company, Signature Breads, to Hazelwood Farms, which is owned by Pillsbury.

Around the corner on Pleasant Street, I fought the sun to get a picture of Pudgy's Towing & Auto Repair.

I love the color combination, the slogan, the lettering - everything about this place. Unfortunately, Pudgy's closed down, evidently right around the time that I made this photo. The place was in business for 57 years.

The last shot I made was of a giant mural above the Jamaica's Flavor restaurant.

This work is by Wellington Naberezny, a Brazilian-born artist who goes by SIPROS. According to this Beyond Walls bio, the artist "started in the graffiti world in 1997 and was known for his character 'Big Ears' which makes an analogy of children as his source of inspiration and reflection."

I bid you adieu, City of Sin. Hope to return soon!