Walking Through a Waterless Port

From Dave Brigham:

My feet are flat as flukes, and I have arthritis in both big toes. My dogs bark when I stroll through the grocery store, stand at rock 'n' roll shows and, well, walk the dog. But none of that is enough to stop me from trekking around Greater Boston looking for cool things to photograph. I love to learn as much as I can about neighborhoods in Boston, Newton, Watertown, Waltham and other towns and cities. Recently I explored a bit of two neighborhoods in Cambridge: The Port and, to a much lesser degree, Mid-Cambridge.

Bounded by Hampshire Street to the north, the Boston & Albany Railroad to the east, Prospect Street to the west, and Massachusetts Avenue to the south, The Port was formerly known as Area Four. The latter, uninspired name came about when in the 1950s Cambridge's planning board divided the city into numbered sections, per this Boston Globe article. While every other neighborhood was also known by another name -- Central Square, Harvard Square, Kendall Square, etc. -- Area Four was simply called by this boring, and, some would say, insulting municipal designation. The neighborhood certainly gets overshadowed by nearby Kendall and Central squares, and is being gentrified somewhat, just like so many other areas of Greater Boston.

This post will mirror the order that I came upon things of note for backsiders, starting in The Port, and then working through just a few things in Mid-Cambridge.

Why is The Port called by that name? "Prior to the filling in of Boston's Back Bay and Charles River marshes, brackish saltwater reached into what is now The Port. After landfill allowed Cambridge to expand over the area now known as Cambridgeport, this entire portion of Cambridge was known as the 'Old Port,'" per Wikipedia. In short, there used to be water near here, but not any more.

Several years ago I wrote about the sole survivor of Cambridge's canal system, which once ran through much of East Cambridge (see November 5, 2012, "Where's the Gondolier?").

OK, let's get started.

The Fletcher-Maynard Academy is a Cambridge public school, serving K-5 students. It was born in 2000 after the merger of the Fletcher School and the Maynard School. The building, at the corner of Broadway and Windsor Street, dates to 1929, when the institution was known as the Roberts School.

(Wonderful mural over the school's front door.)

Directly across Broadway from the academy I saw this name carved into a large brick building.

Founded in 1872, the George Close Company was one of many candy makers in Cambridge during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Erected in 1910, this building was the largest of the company's three factories, per Wikipedia. This property is now a 100% affordable apartment building that offers federal Section 8 housing.

Just a short distance up Broadway I found the one thing I knew I had to locate on this jaunt.

I forgot when I found out that this restored ghost sign existed. And I also don't recall how I learned that it was in this area. In addition to bad feet, I have a weak memory. I'm old; sue me. Anyway, there it was in all its glory, down Boardman Street, yet another remnant of Cambridge's past as a hub for the manufacture of candy and other snack products.

There's another sign on the rear of the building. Founded in 1888 in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, Squirrel Brand is still a going concern. The company, which makes a variety of nut products, moved to Cambridge in 1899; it is now part of John B. Sanfilippo & Son out of Elgin, Illinois. The former factory was converted to 20 units of permanently affordable housing in 2002.

For more on the candy industry in Cambridge, see June 8, 2019, "UPDATE: Strolling Among the L7's in Kendall Square", which includes lots and lots of non-candy stuff, but trust me, like a Charms Blow Pop, if you keep working at it, you'll find the treasure in the middle.

When I saw the building below with its sign advertising "SQUIRRELWOOD - Renovations and New Construction," I thought this property had formerly been housing for candy factory employees (Oompah Loompahs?). But no. The same company that converted the former Squirrel Brand factory is also working on this project across the street. Squirrelwood is designed for a mixed-income population, and is expected to begin renting later this year.

I didn't have a lot of time on this trip, but I wanted to duck down a few side streets, in addition to checking out the main drags. On Columbia Street, I was charmed by the sign, below, for a convenience store.

To be fair, there are many such misspellings of "cosmetic" online.

On the other side of the street I shot this old bakery truck.

Central Bakery is located on Cambridge Street in East Cambridge. I shot the company's cool old sign and included it in my review of that area in March (see March 14, 2020 "Another Ramble Through East Cambridge").

Back on Broadway, not far from Squirrelwood, I sauntered past this cool sign.

Metric Systems was an auto repair shop for a long time before the father and son owners decided in 2015 "to lease the building to a start-up rather than sell to a developer," according to the web site for that new company, Lamplighter Brewing Co.

I love the mural on the side of the brewery, which runs a taproom on site.

Steps away, on Elm Street, I spotted this old sign.

I haven't found out much about Crane Plumbing and Heating. This property is now apartments.

On the corner of Elm Street and Broadway, I spied a cool mural. Below is a detail.

This image of a woman milking -- um, a yak? -- is on the side of Yayla Tribal Rugs.

Up the street, on the other side of Broadway, at the corner of Norfolk Street, is the long, skinny building below.

Built in 1920, 312 Broadway is an apartment building that I'm assuming formerly had retail or office space on the ground floor. I like the look of it.

From here I walked a little ways over to Prospect Street, which is the eastern border of the Mid-Cambridge neighborhood. You can probably guess why it's called that. Anyway, I didn't have much time to walk around here. The first thing of note I saw was a dead business.

The Hondar House auto body shop specialized in Japanese cars. The place has been razed; I'm not sure what's going up, but I'll take a wild guess that it will be expensive condos. I'm pretty sure Hondar House (I love how that name skirts just outside lawsuit territory) was previously located in The Port neighborhood, near the Garment District (for more on that clothing store and lots of places in The Port and Kendall Square, see the above-linked blog post "UPDATE: Strolling Among the L7's in Kendall Square").

My too-brief tour of Mid-Cambridge ended at the quaint building below.

Also located on Prospect Street, this place is somehow associated with Christ the King Presbyterian Church across the street. I'm not sure if it's an office or sort of a pop-in-and-say-hi outreach zone. Doesn't matter. This property was formerly the Out of the Blue art gallery, among other things. The gallery moved to Allston a while back from another location in Cambridge.

And there you have it....