Drinking in Porter Square

From Dave Brigham:

Time was, I spent a fair amount of time in Porter Square, which straddles Cambridge and Somerville, two densely packed cities outside Boston. I lived a short distance away in Somerville, and often walked to Porter Square to hop on the Red Line subway into Boston. I also shopped at various stores in the Porter Square Shopping Center (such as Tags Hardware), saw bands and spoken-word artists and ate at restaurants including area mainstay Christopher's, which I'll talk about below,.

But I've only written sporadically about the square (see September 5, 2019, "An Artful Move for An Old Church", and September 16, 2018, "Living Behind a Ghost Sign").

Before I get to my recent tour, two things: despite what the headline up there says, I did not do any drinking in Porter Square. Say "drinking in," not "drinking" in. Also, I only explored the Cambridge part of the square. I hope to check out as much of Somerville as I can in coming weeks and months, having given this tightly packed city short shrift on the blog.

Let's review a bit of Porter Square's history. The porterhouse steak allegedly gets its name from Zachariah B. Porter, proprietor of the Porter Hotel. Once located on the west side of what is now Massachusetts Avenue, just across from Beech Street, the hotel was torn down in 1909. The hotel had risen in 1833, along with a slaughterhouse, according to the Cambridge Historical Commission.

Just north of the hotel were expansive cattle yards "that used the square's rail head to transport their beef throughout the country," according to the Porter Square Neighbors Association. Not far from where those pens once stood, there's a cool relic of the cattle industry that I'll discuss later.

The cattle business was in operation in Porter Square until the 1920s. The square is dominated these days by the shopping center I referenced above. That expanse of stores, cafes and restaurants, as well as a large parking lot, was in 1952 carved out of what was once the Rand Estate, which I will also touch on in this post. Porter Square became connected to the wider world in 1984, when the MBTA opened a subway station there as part of its extension from Harvard Square out to Alewife station.

OK, enough about the dusty past. Let's get to the Now Times!

We enter the Now Times through a portal to the distant past. The sign below, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Linnaean Street, is for the oldest house in Cambridge. I made that photo a few years back because I loved the patina on the sign. I'm not sure the sign is still there, as on a recent visit, there appeared to be landscaping work going on.

It was on that return to Porter Square, that I actually checked out the house. My apologies for the photo; I was fighting sun and shadows.

The Cooper-Frost-Austin House was built by Samuel Cooper in 1681, and is today operated by Historic New England. "[T]he house is one of the earliest examples of an integral lean-to 'half house' consisting of a 'low room,' 'little room, 'kitchin,' 'Chamber,' 'kitchin Chamber,' 'Garret,' and 'Cellar,'" according to the house's web site. "Other original features include a pilaster chimney and a façade gable."

Heading north on Mass. Ave., I came to the Lovell Block, which was built in 1882.

This rather stunning Queen Anne building's original tenants included a grocery business and the North Cambridge post office, per MACRIS. There were also apartments on the upper floors. These days, there is a Bank of America branch here, as well as Commonwealth Lock Co., which was established in 1936.

Around the corner, on Upland Road, is The Louise apartment building.

Comprised of eight units, the building dates (allegedly) to 1900.

At 1950 Mass. Ave. is the home of Mount Olivet Lodge, A.F. & A.M., aka the Masonic Temple.

Built in 1910, this Classic Revival giant was designed by Fred B. Furbish and built by Wellington Fillmore, according to MACRIS.

Across the boulevard is a building that I first thought said, "Virtual Reality," then "Mutual Reality," before I realized it said, "Mutual Realty."

The city's assessor's database says this building, which currently houses a post office, dates to 1910.

A little further along, on the west side of Mass. Ave., is Andy's Diner, which is situated next to the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.

The diner has been in business since 1958. A few doors down is Shine Square Pub, which at first fooled me with its sign, which I thought was older than it is. But I'm OK with that.

Housed in a building that rose in 1882, the pub opened in late 2018, replacing McCabe's Bar & Grille. Why the name Shine Square Pub? "The name is a tribute to the original owners, the Shine family, who operated the Porter House Cafe on the same site," according to this Boston Eater article. I drove past the Porter House Cafe many times in years past, and always wanted to take a picture of its facade. Oh well.

Dominating the outer square is the old Henderson Carriage Repository, at 2067 Mass. Ave.

Built in 1892 to replace a circa-1869 predecessor that burned down, the facility could hold up to 2,000 carriages on the upper floors during its heyday, according to MACRIS. John and Robert (Jr.) Henderson were part of a carriage-making dynasty in Cambridge. Their father began making carriages in 1862 in an old shed near Hadley Street, according to a plaque on the building above. Eventually, the father and another son, George, had a business, as did another son, James, all in the North Cambridge and Somerville area.

"None of the North Cambridge carriage builders survived tor long in the automobile age," per the plaque. "Henderson Brothers began making truck bodies in the 1920s, but the firm never regained its earlier success. By 1930 the factory had ceased production. The repository housed an automobile dealership until it was renovated for stores and offices in 1986; it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places."

Current tenants include Cuban restaurant Gustazo; Pine Village Preschool; Drinkwater's men's clothing store; and various offices on the upper floors.

Adjacent to the Henderson Brothers building are two small brick structures that predate the carriage facility. Dated to 1880, according to the assessor's database, these buildings are home to a Massage Ultra franchise and condominiums. Through a quick Google search, I found out that this is the former location of the North Cambridge branch of the city's library. Also, in 2008, the building's owners were presented with a Preservation Award by the Cambridge Historical Commission.

Across the street, in a low retail strip that dates to 1913, among other stores and small businesses, is Mohawk Shade & Blind, which was founded in 1968. I like the simplicity of the sign, and figure that because there is no area code shown, it's probably fairly old.

Heading back southeast, I was quite taken with the shadowplay on the doors of St. James Episcopal Church at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Beech Street.

I was also enamored with the messages carved into the doors, which are from a psalm in the King James version of the Bible.

(Lift up your heads O YE GATES and be ye lift up, this one says.)

(ye everlasting doors and the KING of GLORY shall come in, is on this door.)

Dedicated in 1889, St. James is located on the former site of the Davenport Tavern, a landmark that stood there from 1757 until it was partly demolished to make way for the church. The other section of the tavern was moved to Eustis Street in Somerville.

A short distance away, heading toward the heart of the square, is the former Newtowne Grille, a neighborhood institution that closed earlier this year.

"While Newtowne underwent some modernization during the pandemic, up until that point, it had been largely unchanged since opening in 1966, aside from some adjustments when Massachusetts banned smoking in restaurants in 2004," per the linked article. "It was a longtime staple for watching sports at the bar, for participating in trivia nights, and for spending just $12 on a large cheese pizza and a pitcher of beer. At a price like that, Newtowne could have gotten away with serving mediocre pizza, but the New York-ish-style pizza with its bubbly thin crust was a crowd-pleaser."

Look closely at the sign. I didn't realize until after I'd started writing this post that the word "Socrates" was at the top. That's because the restaurant was founded in 1966 by Socrates Toulopoulos and his wife Elizabeth. I presume the bar was named for the Newtowne Club, which was located on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Davenport Street for nearly 100 years, although the club was only in existence from 1895 to 1917, according to a plaque located on the side of Sugar & Spice, a Thai restaurant. The owners of that eatery may open something in the old Newtowne Grille space, per the Boston Eater.

As for the Newtowne Club, it offered "a fine gymnasium, with a stage, six of the best bowling alleys in the state, shower baths, billiard and pool room, library, card room, ladies' parlor, lounging room, ample lockers for a membership of five hundred, and all the appurtenances of a first class club house," reported the Cambridge Chronicle in 1896, according to the plaque. After the club closed, stores were built on what had been the Newtowne's front lawn. In 1960, "Stephen and James Zaglakas remodelled Newtowne Hall and opened the Stephen James House, an 800-seat function hall and restaurant that was a popular site for social and political functions until it closed in 1991," per the plaque. The building was razed in 1994.

As I mentioned above, the Porter Square Shopping Center, with its multiple buildings housing dozens of shops, restaurants, galleries, medical clinics, etc., dominates this area. On the back wall of the main building, along Davenport Street, is a fantastic mural, stretching hundreds of feet.

Completed at different times by different artists, the streetscape artwork illustrates what Porter Square looked like in decades and centuries past.

(At the western end, closest to Mass. Ave., is a representation of the aforementioned Porter's Hotel.)

Moving eastward, there is, naturally, a depction of the cattle that once served the main industry in this area.

A little further down is a violinist playing for restaurant patrons.

In this case, the musician is a local resident whom artist Joshua Winer included in his work. Winer, who completed his portions of the mural, which include the three shown above and more below, began working on this piece in 2000, according to the Porter Square Neighborhood Association.

Below is Winer's depiction of a 19th century stable.

Next is Winer's portrait of Al Gowan, who along with the Cambridge Arts Council, started the mural project in 1976, according to a plaque next to this work of art.

I'm not sure who is depicted in the panel below, but I like it.

Lastly, a mural showing a historic view of the Star Market grocery store. I believe Al Gowan painted it. Gowan died in 2017. Beyond this mural project, his accomplishments include being a member of the Revels singers; publishing short stories, articles and essays; and starting and running the certificate program at MassArt, where he taught for 25 years, according to his obituary.

As I mentioned, the shopping center is located on the former Rand Estate. A plaque at the center's entrance tells about that property.

"For a century before it became a shopping center, this block was the parklike estate of the Rands, a wealthy Cambridge family," the plaque states. Patriarch Benjamin Rand was a carriage maker. Eventually, his grandson, Henry, became lord of this manor, living in an Italianate mansion with a "well-tended landscape of wide lawns, flourishing gardens and winding footpaths."

They kept cattle and horses and, over time, automobiles in an "ample garage," which were tended to be their chauffeur. The last of the Rand family to live here, Henry's wife Mabel, "wished to preserve the estate after her death and endowed a fund for its upkeep, but no public or private body accepted the bequest. In 1952 her executors sold the property to developers, who also acquired and razed a dozen other houses on White and Davenport streets."

And thus was born the Porter Square Shopping Center.

Back on Davenport Street, just west of the fantastic murals, is a nice remnant of older architecture.

Number 8 Davenport dates to 1920. I love that two-story rounded section.

Back on Mass. Ave. is the tandem of Christopher's Restaurant and Toad, a cozy music venue tucked into the small building at left in the photo below.

Established in 1981, Christopher's, which specializes in pub food (burgers, sandwiches, tacos), is unfortunately closed. "This has been an incredibly heartbreaking and challenging time for us, as we know it has been for everyone in the restaurant business," says a notice on the eatery's web site. "Christopher’s has been a part of our family – and of our community – for 40 years, and we are not ready to give up hope. We are working as hard as we can to hold on; unfortunately, we do not yet have a re-open date on the calendar."

Man, that's a shame. I ate there more than a few times back in the 1990s and always enjoyed my meal. Meanwhile, next door at Toad, a sister to Christopher's, the music plays on, thankfully. I have fond memories of seeing the late great Charlie Chesterman (Scruffy the Cat) play here.

Two doors down from Toad is a commercial space that was most recently home to Thai restaurant Rod Dee, but which I remember as a place where I once bought a used guitar.

Cambridge Music Center appears to have closed in 2009. I'm not sure how long it was open, but in the mid-'90s, I bought a used, fire-engine-red, hollow-body Epiphone guitar there. I've played guitar since I was 14 years old, but I'm not a "guitar guy." If I'd paid a little bit of attention to the Epiphone when I was in the shop, I might've noticed it had a small crack in the neck. I loved the look of it, though, and it played pretty well for a while, but eventually the neck started to warp a bit, and I had to give it up. I don't recall what I did with it at that point.

The guy who sold it to me was Joe Klompus (not to be confused with Jack Klompus), a musician who at that time was playing with one of my favorite local bands, Jack Drag. I see from his Facebook page that he still plays music and works in a record shop in nearby Lexington.

Both the old Cambridge Music building and the one next door, which is currently home to Jo's Indian Kitchen, date to 1920, according to the assessor's database.

After checking out these buildings, I once again walked past The Louise apartment building on Upland Road, and headed toward Richdale Avenue.

I'd walked along this avenue in 2018 after shooting photos for the above-referenced post about a former storage complex (with ghost signs) that was turned into apartments. The photos below, showing a former bakery that was turned to residential use, are a mix of old and new.

Hathaway Lofts "has been converted into an elegant fusion of luxury and history with remnants of the bakery incorporated in the design of a modern community," according to the development's web site. These buildings were built in 1910 as the Hathaway Bakery. "The Hathaway Bakery delivered daily to businesses and schools in Henderson Carriages in the early 1900s and operated until 1979," per the Lofts web site. Nice tie-in to the previously discussed Henderson carriage business.

Next door to the former bakery is another old industrial complex that's been turned to residential use.

Located at 75 Richdale Ave, the former Payne Elevator facility is now condos and perhaps artist studios. The elevator company was founded in 1902, and manufactured parts, evidently, not entire units. The company was acquired in 1990 by Northern Elevator, according to this Elevator Wiki page.

At the intersection of Richdale Ave. and Walden Street is Thistle & Shamrock, a locally owned market selling groceries, beer/wine, home goods and health products. Below is a nice mural on the side of the shop.

Steps away, there is a sign on the bridge spanning the commuter train tracks, noting the existence below (and, unfortunately, out of sight) of the old Walden Street Cattle Pass, a brick tunnel through which cows would be driven from train cars to feed lots, and vice versa.

At the easternmost end of Richdale Avenue, where it rounds into Raymond Street, is the former carriage house of the A.H. Hews Pottery Company.

"At one time, [Hews] was the oldest pottery company in continuous operation in the United States," according to MACRIS. "Founded in Weston, Mass. in 1770 by Abraham Hews, the business was operated by four generations of Hews before relocating in Cambridge in 1870." I'm not sure how long ago the company went out of business. This building dates to 1897.

To wrap up my Porter Square trip, I wandered back south along Mass. Ave. There, I found Judy Jetson.

Opened on Halloween, 1986, the salon is not to be confused with Judy Jetson, cartoon daughter of cartoon characters George and Jane Jetson from the animated series "The Jetsons." That show ran for just one season, but has been part of American's cultural experience ever since. I'd love to know how the salon decided to name itself after that character.

Finally, an odd detail hanging outside a closed storefront.

I've dubbed this the squawk box. I'm not sure if it's a speaker, and if so, how old it is and what it was used for. It hangs outside the former space where Abodeon plied its trade for more than two decades. The purveyor of vintage and current production furniture and house goods now sells exclusively online.

I hope you enjoyed this romp through Porter Square as much as I did! Make sure to check for two posts about North Cambridge in the near future.