From Dave Brigham:
This is the fourth post I've done about Boston's North End neighborhood, and I imagine at some point there will be others (see November 21, 2018, "A Little Further Into the North End", July 11, 2018, "North End Stroll" and June 14, 2018, "A Prince of a Building").
Though it's only .36 square miles, the North End is packed with fantastic old buildings, small shops and restaurants, vintage signs, cool churches and so much more. No surprise, given that this neighborhood is Boston's second-oldest, having been continuously inhabited since the 1630s, per Wikipedia. There's just so much to explore, and even I am amazed at how many photos are in this post.
Let's get to it!
On one of my most recent jaunts -- this post comprises two trips, to the best of my memory -- I noticed a lot of buildings with their "born on" dates carved into the facades.
Located on North Street, at the corner of the back alley-like Harris Street, this handsome pair of buildings dates to, left, 1901, and right, 1894.
This place on Commercial Street dates to 1880. Well, the lower four floors anyway.
A little further along Commercial Street is this building from 1895.
Then, along Prince Street, this one from 1889.
On Charter Street, I found this elegant doorway on a building dating to 1884.
Finally, along Henchman (!) Street I spotted an 1894 building (left) and one from 1897 (right). The street was named for "Daniel Henchman (1612-1685) who laid out the street in the 1670s. It appears that he was the grandfather of the merchant Daniel Henchman, making him the adopted great grandfather of [John] Hancock," per this Lost New England web post.
OK, let's move along to named buildings.
The Lincoln Power Station dates to 1901. It was built on 12,000 wooden pilings, according to this blog post, and was a coal-fired plant used to power the Boston Street Railway. The building is now condos.
Below is a full frontal.
Along North Bennet Street, around the corner from St. Leonard of Port Maurice Parish, is the back door to the former Samaritan Hall.
Built in 1838 as the First Universalist Church, this property became the Boston Baptist Society in 1864. Samaritan Hall may have been the parish center or a function hall for the church. For many years it has been home to the North End Waterfront Health Center.
Just a few doors down North Bennet Street is the former St. Christopher Friary.
Built in 1905 as St. Anthony Grammar School, in the 1970’s the building became a school for Franciscan monks. In more recent years, the friary was a rehabilitation facility operated by the Franciscan Friars, who put the property up for sale last year. A proposal from Epsilon Partners to convert the old rectory to - wait for it! -- eight condominiums is on the table, but the North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council opposes a zoning variation for the project.
The North End is still an Italian-American stronghold, so as you might expect, there are a lot of churches and statues and icons. Let's check some of them out.
The grounds of the aforementioned St. Leonard church are wonderfully serene. In the peace garden, which is shaded by a beautiful canopy of trees, there are benches and flowers and statues, including the Golden God below.
This is Padre Pio, aka Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, who became famous for exhibiting stigmata for most of his life, thereby generating much interest and controversy, per Wikipedia. He was both beatified (1999) and canonized (2002) by Pope John Paul II.
By the side entrance to St. Leonard, along Prince Street, is the shrine below.
Leonard of Port Maurice was an Italian Franciscan preacher and ascetic writer, per Wikipedia. "St Leonard founded many pious societies and confraternities, and exerted himself to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the perpetual adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament," Wikipedia says.
During the summer, with festival season in full swing, many North Enders will decorate their doorways with banners or posters honoring one saint or another. The most common one I've seen is St. Anthony of Padua, who is second only to the Virgin Mary depicted in artwork holding baby Jesus. Below, someone declared their faith in a more permanent way.
Below is St. Anthony's competition.
This is along narrow Salutation Street, the rear of the Maria SS Della Cava shrine. The shrine, on Battery Street, is below.
The shrine was erected in the 1950s by the immigrants from Pietraperzia in Italy, according to the organization's web site. Read about Maria's miracle here. Below is a photo I shot through the window.
The shrine is located directly across Battery Street from the one place I knew I had to shoot on this journey. I'd read about All Saints Way on Atlas Obscura's web site, and just couldn't believe that such a place existed in Boston.
"Peter Baldassari has been collecting trinkets and mementos depicting the saints since he was a child," the Atlas Obscura article starts. "Now at 63 (this article dates to 2013), his collection has grown into a street side shrine, a display of the canonized including photos, statues, prayer cards, and more in an alley between 4 and 8 Battery Street in Boston’s North End."
It's just so cool, and humbling, and I hope one day to get through the door, as the curator does occasionally let people inside.
Below is Sacred Heart Church in North Square. I love the church, the star, the Jesus statue, the windows - everything.
And here's the story, from Wikipedia: "In 1829, a group of Boston Methodists formed the Port Society of Boston to provide charitable aid and religious services for the city's sailors. They acquired the vacant Methodist Alley chapel located in the North End, which was the heart of Boston's shipping industry. The Port Society renamed the chapel the Seamen's Bethel, and at the end of the year Edward Thompson Taylor was hired as Mariner's Preacher. The chapel in Methodist Alley proved too small for the growing congregation, and a new church was built at 12 North Square in 1833. The new building was purchased by the Saint Mark Society, a group of Italian immigrants, in 1884, and was named Sacred Heart by Archbishop Williams in 1888. The church was ministered to by the Scalabrini Fathers from its opening in 1889 until 2004. It is now part of St. Leonard of Port Maurice Parish, and is staffed by the Franciscan Fathers."
Around the corner from the Maria SS Della Cava Shrine, on Hanover Street, is the St. Agrippina Society. I found their doors quite alluring.
The society honors Agrippina of Mineo, who was venerated as a virgin martyr in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Christianity, per Wikipedia.
On Henchman Street, I spied a similarly styled stained glass window, but not on a church.
This is a private residence. I've never seen a personal stained glass window like this. Enlarge this photo. This is a couple who appear to be posing for a formal portrait. It's a bit cheesy, but I like it.
Let's move on to something that's not a church, but is religious.
This is the rear of the Knights of Columbus, Ausonia Council #1513 on North Margin Street. Founded in 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut, the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic charitable group with nearly 16,000 councils across the United States and the world. In late 2018, the Ausonia Council announced a plan to convert the its quarters to 23 affordable, elderly apartments and build new council quarters.
OK, let's move along to ghost signs and signs for defunct businesses.
Located at the corner of Commercial Street and Atlantic Ave, this sign appeared to me to be one thing, but it turned out to be another. I assumed it said "Danca Stable & Co., New York & Boston," and was advertising a company related to horses and wagons. But while doing some research on Flickr, looking at other Boston ghost signs, I learned that this is an old advertisement for Banca Stabile & Co., which was a bank founded in the late 19th century and operated in New York and Boston. The name translates to "stable bank," and was designed to inspire confidence in Italian immigrants to this country, per this Fading Ad blog post.
I don't know what the sign below, located at the corner of Foster and Charter streets, says. I planned to re-shoot it, but my trips into the city have been curtailed due to the coronavirus.
Below is a sign for the defunct Living Room restaurant and lounge.
Located in the historic Mercantile Wharf building, which now houses apartments and commercial space, the Living Room closed last year after 15 years in business. It wasn't related to the late Providence nightclub where I saw, uh, some band a long, long time ago. Perhaps the Ramones?
When I saw the sign below, while watching a festival parade, I didn't think much of it, other than that I liked it. I knew that the business was closed, but I wasn't aware of what it was.
Prince Postale was a pack-and-ship store, the loss of which would be bad enough in a tight-knit neighborhood. But this place was also a burrito shop (!), somewhat of a rarity amid so many Italian restaurants. The store closed in May 2017.
At least I could read the Prince Postale sign. The one below, not so much.
Located on Richmond Street, right next to the Callahan Tunnel, which runs from the Central Artery, below Boston Harbor and out toward the airport, this is one of the oddest ghost signs I've ever seen.
After quite a bit of headache-inducing zoom-ins on the photo and plenty of online research, I learned that the sign, which used to light up, was for 108 Restaurant & Lounge. The neon spelled out the address -- One O Eight Richmond -- and was a beacon inviting folks into an Italian restaurant that seems to have been well liked. The place went belly up in the '90s and is now apartments.
Below is the wonderful storefront for the Green Cross Pharmacy, which closed in March 2019.
Opened in 1964 by brothers Giuseppe and Fernando Giangregorio, Green Cross -- aka Farmacia Italiana -- catered to the Italian immigrants in the neighborhood with the usual pharmacy items, as well as espresso makers and greeting cards for every occasion, in Italian, per this news article. A nearby CVS took over some of Green Cross's inventory. The daughter of one of the owners hopes to take over the location.
OK, now let's switch to places that are still open, or at least were when I took these photos last year.
I dig this sign, which looks like it dates to the '70s but may not actually be that old.
How about one of the most iconic signs in the North End?
Sal's Lunch seems like it's probably been on Thacher Street since before your great-grandmother was born, but maybe not. The eatery was open when I shot this photo last fall, but I read something on the Internet saying it's closed. Not sure whether that's a coronavirus-related thing or not. Hoping it's bad information.
Bob's Grocery Store on Endicott Street has a fantastic sign.
"Everything Under the Sun," it says at the top. It also lets the shopper know that beer and wine are available. Under the "BOB'S" it says, "Lottery," and then, "If We Don't Have It, You Don't Need It."
What's not to love about a place called Mangia Mangia?!
Located on Endicott Street, the restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, featuring "subs & goodies."
Over on North Washington Street, Tony & Elaine's has a wonderfully retro awning over the front door.
Named for the owner's parents, Tony & Elaine's has a self-conscious old-school vibe, with its "red-checkered tablecloths, wood paneling, cozy banquettes, black and white tiles, and mismatched photos," per this Boston.com review.
North Square Oyster & Wine Bar is located across the street from Sacred Heart Church, profiled above.
The eatery is tiny, with just 10 seats and presumably a bit of standing room.
Firicano's Barber Shop, below, is located in a gorgeous building.
OK, I guess I've entered the "cool buildings" portion of this post.
Located at 90 Endicott Street, this place looks like maybe it had a retail space on the ground level at some point. At first I thought this was a metal facade, but now it looks wooden to me.
The place below definitely had a shop on the ground floor at some point.
They did a pretty good job with the renovation.
How about a named building?
But not just any named building - it's Joe Piscopo's place! Well, could be.
How about a boring building with a cool feature?
This clock on Moon Street evidently lights up green at night, and plays music.
OK, things are winding down here. Below is a shot I like of the former storefront for some business offering services of some sort to the older residents of the North End.
Who was Willie Styles?
I don't know, but he died way too young and made enough of an impact on the neighborhood that somebody put up this memorial. Maybe he was nicknamed after the Will Smith album....
Right down the street from Mangia Mangia I spied this scene.
The bench, the street lamp, the neighbors talking, the sign for the alleyway. I love it all.
The sign below -- DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR NORTH TERMINAL CORPORATION, it says in part -- was erected at 600 Commercial Street in 1925. I haven't found out much about the company, but given its proximity to the waterfront, I'm guessing it was a trucking operation. The building and the site are notable for a few reasons. The bottom of the plaque indicates, "ON THIS SITE ILLUMINATING GAS WAS FIRST COMMERCIALLY MANUFACTURED IN New England IN 1826." Well, that's cool.
As a nearly 100-year-old parking garage, the building is rare. Additionally, this place was the site of the famous Great Brink's Robbery of 1950. In the robbery, which was memorialized in no fewer than four movies, an 11-member gang led by Joseph "Big Joe" McGinnis stole $2.775 million ($29.5 million today) in cash, checks, money orders and other securities, per Wikipedia.
OK, I'm wrapping up this post with a building that mixes old and new.
The Michelle is yet another luxury apartment building, offering "modern amenities with historic charm." Some of the apartments retain the original exposed brick, per the building's web site, in addition to "elegant curving stairs, decorative fireplaces, and private balconies."
Built in 1867, this granite-block, Greek Revival building has served numerous used in the ensuing 150 years, from furnace manufacturing to a marble works operation to a freight car heater outfit to a plumbing business. I'm not sure why it's called The Michelle.
So arrivederci from the North End...until next time.
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