Getting Moody in Waltham

From Dave Brigham:

As much as I've written about Waltham, Mass., I somehow skipped the Watch City's "restaurant row," Moody Street. Wall-to-wall with small, independent eateries, ethnic grocery stores and more, this north-south thoroughfare is vital to the city's economic health. So let's check it out. For links to other Waltham posts, see the bottom of this one.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for on this visit, but I quickly realized that my pursuit was two-fold: named buildings and entryway mosaics for long-gone businesses. Let's start with the former.

The Art Deco Kresge Building rose in 1929. This building was part of the Kresge department-store chain. "Sebastian Spering Kresge opened his first five and dime store in Detroit in 1899," according to this Roadside Architecture profile of the chain. "At that point, he was partnering with J.G. McCrory. He also opened other stores with his brother. In 1912, the S.S. Kresge Company was established with 85 stores. By 1938, there were 742 stores. In 1977, the company changed its name to the Kmart Corporation."

Well, that's quite a bit of history, and way more than I thought I'd be getting about this rather plain-looking building! It's now home to a Bonchon Korean fried chicken restaurant; a Metro-PCS store; Royaltea Waltham; and offices.

The Locke Block, below, dates to 1908.

Before I get to the facts, I want to share the video below, which is what I think of when I say the name of this building:

Per MACRIS: "The earliest street directory of 1923 lists a variety of stores, including George Baxter Shoes at the Walnut Street corner, Berkeley Textile Company and Heath & Co. dry goods with the upper floor offices rented by dentists and the Waltham School of Music, with a similar list of retail stores in 1931. The 1941 Directory shows the corner store to Kay Jewelery Co., followed by Heath & Co. and Mohican Meats, with Minnie's Beauty Shop and the Waltham Dress Company on the second floor, including Locke Hall."

Current tenants include Suman's Salon and United Convenience.

The Waltham National Bank building no longer has its name emblazoned across the facade, but we can see where it used to be.

Built in 1928 in what MACRIS calls the Egyptian Revival style, this building was most recently home to Marcou Jewelers.

Next up is the Harrington Block, home for many years to popular tapas restaurant Solea.

Built in 1884, this Panel brick beauty is "an extremely well documented building associated with Moody Street's development as Waltham's most fashionable shopping district" at the turn of the 20th century, according to MACRIS. "[T]his building has important historical associations with Charles Harrington, Boston Manufacturing Company Bleachery employee, contractor and real estate speculator."

Home to Moody Street Smoke Shop, J. Lex Salon & Brow Bar and La Chapincita Market, the John Stark building dates to 1891.

The building was once part of the watch- and clock-making business that thrived in Waltham in the 19th and early 20th centuries (see May 22, 2021, "Time to Talk About the Waltham Watch Factory"). "The Stark Building was constructed by John Stark, Jr. after he took over his father's flourishing business producing watchmakers' lathes and tools," according to MACRIS.

The elder Stark emigrated from Scotland to Waltham in 1849. "He learned the machinist's trade at the Boston Manufacturing Company before beginning the manufacture of watchmakers' lathes with the firm of Adams, Stark and Lloyd in 1862. By 1865, he was the sole proprietor of John Stark and Son," MACRIS continues. "John Stark, Jr. took over the flourishing business, which now included machininsts' lathes and other equipment, upon his father's death in 1887. The profits of the Stark Tool Co. enabled John Stark Jr. to erect the large three-story building between the machine shop (now remodeled) and the street."

The Gavolio Building, below, dates to 1907.

I haven't found out anything about this building, other than an old Waltham directory that includes a John Gavolio and lists next to him, "fruit." So maybe this place was a market? Today its tenants include Albert's Photo Studio, Frugal Framers and MD Fashion.

The Patrick Broderick Building, below, was erected in 1915.

Broderick was a local lawyer and politician, and presumably he had the place built. I assume there was retail on the ground floor back in the day. You can see what's there today.

The next two buildings aren't named, but I find them interesting.

This place is the poster child for Seeing Things On Foot That You Miss in a Car. While I've noticed most of the buildings in this post to some degree over the years, I can assure you I had no clue this one existed. Built in 1912, this Colonial Revival abuts the aforementioned Stark Building. I've never seen a building with a metal cornice with a date ("1912") on it. Pretty cool.

Lastly, for the buildings, is the Happy Feet building.

Built in 1925, this building has some nice scrollwork along the concrete facade.

Before we move along to entryway ghosts, I wanna feature a quaint little building and a nice old ghost sign.

Built in 1928, this place is known historically as the Colvin Filling Station. "The design is Picturesque Cottage Style as seen in the cross gable roof with steep pitch and exposed rafters," per MACRIS. The building was converted to a barber shop in 1968. It is now home to Shear This, which calls itself a "boutique like salon" on its Facebook page.

Below, you can see the ghosts of the words "HARRY'S SHOE STORE" above the green door.

Established in the early 1920s, according to MACRIS, the shoe store was in business, under various owners, until 2007, according to this article published online by something called The State Journal-Register. At that point, it was the oldest shoe store in Massachusetts.

OK, let's get spooked!

I'll continue talking about the old shoe store building, which is known historically as the Bartlett Block. Built in 1900, this Classical Revival building was most recently home to the New England School of Photography. That outfit, founded in Boston in 1968, shut its doors in March 2020. It is also home to Queen Cleansers and Raj Collections.

What interested me most on this trip, however, was the ghost entryway sign.

At some point, this building was home to what I'm guessing was a department store called Kane's. I've been unable to find out anything about such a store. MACRIS lists stores including Flannery Bros. Tobacco, Harry's Sample Shoe Parlor, Holmees-Luce Co. Furniture and George Hoar Co., which sold electrical fixtures, as tenants going back 100 years. Other stores and a post office are also listed. Nothing about Kane's or Kanes.

Continuing south on the east side of Moody Street, we find a sign that hints at only part of the history of the building that now houses Global Thrift.

The Gilchrist department store opened in this location in 1940. In 1970 the space was converted to a Sears outlet. In the '80s, it became a Jordan's Furniture store. The building dates to 1929. I never would have guessed its original use: "The Gilchrist store at 326 Moody Street is originally dated 1929 by building permit for the Moody Theatre," according to MACRIS. I've been unable to find out much information about the former theater, which isn't surprising, since it was apparently only in operation for a decade or so. The Embassy Theater was located just down Moody Street, and was open until 1972, so perhaps that's why the Waltham Theatre went out of business.

Continuing on the same side of the street, there is an entryway ghost for "Community."

Located in front of Neeta's Heritage Threading Salon, at the corner of Moody and Taylor streets, this is the former site of Community Opticians. I haven't found out when the company was founded, nor when it moved from here.

Now I'm going to switch to the western side of Moody Street. First up is the "WALSH" sign in front of the current Mr. Sweeper, which sells and services sewing and vacuuming supplies.

I haven't found anything about a store with the name Walsh in it. MACRIS indicates the historic name of the building is Morgan's Art Store.

Next is the sign for Sam's Army and Navy Stores, located in front of the Frugal Frames store.

Frugal Frames is located in the aforementioned Gavolio Building.

A few steps away is the former Royals Furniture space, where a sign for GRAY'S is still looking good.

Per MACRIS, in a1952 Waltham directory, Gray's Furniture is listed at this site.

The penultimate sidewalk sign is the most well-known of the bunch.

The F.W. Woolworth Company building was built in 1930, according to MACRIS. Now home to a Family Dollar store and an outlet of Mattress Firm, this building was home to a Woolworth's department store from 1905 until 1997, according to a post at BillDamon.com. As Damon mentions in his post, the old red sign that used to say Woolworth's is still on the building. A pioneering company in the five-and-dime world, Woolworth's was founded in 1879 in Utica, New York. Over the next century, the company grew to be one of the largest discount chains in America. By July 1997, Woolworth's had closed all of its stores.

Here's something I had no clue about, courtesy of Wikipedia: "On October 20, 2001, the company changed names again; taking the name of its top retail performer and became Foot Locker, Inc., which Woolworth started in 1974. The corporate history of Woolworth is legally included in the history of Foot Locker, Inc., which is the legal continuation of Woolworth."

I only went to a Woolworth's store once in my life, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1988.

OK, let's wrap this up with one more ghost entryway sign.

Now known as the Lincoln Building, 283-289 Moody Street is known historically as the Parke Snow Department Store. Built in 1890, this place was home to that retailer from the early 1920s until 1962. It was subsequently home to a Jordans Furniture store. Current tenants include Paris Eyecare, Monique Rancourt Jewelry and Artisan Gallery and the Lincoln Arts Project.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of Moody Street's named buildings and spooky old entryways.

Here are some more Waltham posts:

January 15, 2022, "There's Always More Waltham"

May 8, 2021, "Former Mill Complex Now Apartments, Artist Space and Museum"

March 20, 2017, "Brigham in Waltham, Part III"

January 5, 2017, "Brigham in Waltham, Part II"

November 9, 2016, "Brigham in Waltham, Part I"

August 25, 2011, "Goodbye Reef, So Long Bill"

February 27, 2011, "UPDATE: What a Dump"