From Dave Brigham:
(The future's so bright, I gotta wear 3-D glasses.)
On March 1, 2010, I launched this blog with a terrible photo and a reminiscence of how I first got interested in what, as a young man, I dubbed the backside (see "Take Me to the River").
Thirteen years is a long time in anybody's life, and an eternity for a blog. I'm proud that I've kept this online journal of my journeys going for that long. For several years, I had collaborators who brought fresh perspectives, and great photos, to readers of The Backside of America. As each of them dropped away for various reasons, I worried about my ability to keep this thing going by myself. But, to paraphrase George W. Bush, I misunderestimated myself.
I didn't realize how obsessed I could become about this project. I mean that in the best possible way. I took comfort in knowing that I had help here for the first half-dozen years or so. Sure, I had to bug people and edit their words and seek them out on Flickr and bug them some more to publish stuff on the blog. But I was ok with that. Once I stood on my own, I realized that there is no end to the backside of America, and that as long as I can walk, I can fill these pages with photos and fascinating history of all sorts of places.
My mantra is, "I have no ulterior motives in life...except when it comes to exploring the backside." I concoct side trips, annoy my family on vacations and go into withdrawal if a weekend goes by and I haven't ventured out with my camera.
Over the last several years, I have become quite enamored of documenting neighborhoods, villages, towns and the main commercial/industrial areas of cities. I get into a zone when I'm doing this, talking to myself as I roam around, vibrating with excitement when I see ghost signs or named buildings or diners or abandoned (or renovated) factory and mill buildings. I am dedicated to chronicling the past. This is crucial in Greater Boston, as so many towns and cities in the area have changed so drastically in the last 10 years with the booming economy.
Is it strange that I sometimes wish things weren't humming along so well, so I could find all of the backside stuff before it gets bulldozed or painted over or modernized?
So while I'd love to have company on the blog, I long ago stopped worrying about how to fill this space. To the best of my 'ciphering, the last time someone whose initials aren't "DJB" posted on this blog was on January 12, 2018, when Joe Viger shared a photo of a religious-themed sign in Chichester, New Hampshire.
Lately, I have had discussions with a few folks about contributing, and in the case of Mick Melvin, rejoining the squad so he can continue posting great stuff. If you or someone you know is interested in sharing photos with the blog, drop a message at the bottom of this post. I'm happy to do research and writing to support your photos if you're not into doing that part yourself.
In the meantime, though, I will continue exploring whenever and wherever I can, happy to fulfill what I've come to think of as one of my life missions. Below are some of my favorite posts from 2017-2022.
February 1, 2017, "Bon Voyage, Lady," in which I write about a church built in 1952 to meet the needs of Boston's longshoremen and their families. The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Voyage was torn down and a new sanctuary was built nearby in the booming Seaport District. There aren't any longshoremen (or women) left in this part of town, so I'm not sure who worships and prays here.
May 25, 2017, "Duke City Downtown," in which I prove that I don't only write about Greater Boston by featuring photos of Albuquerque, New Mexico, a city where I lived for a short time in the late '80s.
(Albuquerque's El Rey Theater.)
September 13, 2017, "Hub Holdout," in which I write about the MidTown Hotel, a circa-1962 spot located in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood that has somehow managed to avoid the wrecking ball.
January 20, 2018, "The Fabulous Baker Estate," in which I detail my looooooooong pursuit of Ridge Hill Farms, "an 800-acre amusement park/fantastic folly built by industrialist William Baker in the late 1800's in Needham, Mass."
(Remnant of Baker Estate train station.)
March 29, 2018, "Udderly Monstrous," in which I wonder why a mastodon of a building that looks like a Victorian penal institution or something out of a late '70s Pink Floyd video sits on the campus of UMass Boston.
April 8, 2018, "Tom Cruise Slept Here...Well, Maybe," in which I name-check the World's Favorite Scientologist while discussing a historic hotel that's been in disrepair for way too long. The old Hotel Alexandra was built in 1875; the Boston Planning & Development Agency in 2021 approved a redevelopment project that will "retain and restore the façade...and construct a new, approximately 150 room, thirteen story residential building with ground floor restaurant and café space, and a rooftop level bar/restaurant."
(The former Hotel Alexandra.)
August 26, 2018, "You Have Been Un-Matriculated," in which I stumbled across an abandoned college campus in Lancaster, Mass. This type of thing is happening around the country more since the pandemic. The town of Lancaster has been in talks with the Atlantic Union Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church about using part of the old campus for affordable housing.
October 6, 2018, "Scratching Around the Flea Market," in which I feature photos from a bazaar on Cape Cod. Hey, as the only guy on the masthead at this blog, I had to find new stuff to profile!
(Pop-up record players from the Sandwich Flea Market.)
February 23, 2019, "Exchanging Flowers for Life Science," in which I talk about something that's become a regular occurrence in and around Boston: the sale of a property that for decades was used for one purpose (in this case, a flower wholesaler cooperative) leading to a total demolition in favor of life science and technology purposes.
May 4, 2019, "Roll the Dicee: Encore!" in which I visited Everett, Mass., to see how things had changed in the four-plus years since I'd visited the neighborhood where Wynn Resorts was building the first Boston-area casino. The gambling mecca opened in June 2019.
(The Encore Boston Harbor casino under construction.)
June 29, 2019, "Back Streets, Oh Boy," in which I explore an area of Boston's South End I never knew existed, a neighborhood filled with a mix of great old buildings and new development.
July 7, 2019, "A Shrine Lost as Development Looms," in which I wrote about the loss of a religious shrine as a proposed development seemed likely to rise. Unlike so many other skyscraper projects in the city, however, 1000 Boylston has yet to materialize, more than three-and-a-half years after I wrote this post. I do a lot of research for my blog, and I have to say, trying to figure out what used to be on this lonely patch of dirt and grass behind Bukowski Tavern in Boston's Back Bay took a LOT of toil.
(Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, in ruins.)
September 25, 2019, "Seattle, Part IV: Pioneer Square," in which I once again prove that I know where places outside of New England are, by visiting an area of the Emerald City teeming with great old buildings, statues, ghost signs and neon.
October 20, 2019, "Hyde-in In Plain Sight," in which I profile a historic home in Newton, Mass., that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a Newton Landmark Preservation Site. That latter designation provides the highest level of protection for properties deemed to be architecturally or historically significant. Alas, after I published this post, a builder tore the damn house down without city approval.
(The Gershom Hyde House, which was razed by an idiot.)
November 13, 2019, "A Tale of Brahmins, Terriers, Murder, Clever Inventions and, Perhaps, Tom Cruise," in which I prove that I may be a bit obsessed with the World's Favorite Scientologist. I also learned about the patriarch of Boston Terriers, as well as a Back Bay mansion's history as a dining club, a secretarial school, the home of some wealthy Brahmins and the Church of Scientology's regional base.
January 14, 2020, "Of Pests, Pestilence & Death," in which I explored the exterior of a long-abandoned house in Concord, Mass., as well as a tiny cemetery, and learned about pest houses.
(Condemned house along Route 2 in Concord that has since been torn down.)
February 27, 2020, "Shoot It If You Got It," in which I put into practice something I'd learned during a camera club presentation: "If you find something you like, shoot the hell out of it." In this case, it's a barn in Windsor, Connecticut.
August 19, 2020, "Nailing a Great Find in Wareham," in which I present two of the best freeform finds I've had for this blog: the Mill Pond Diner and the old Tremont Nail Company complex, both in Wareham, Mass.
(Mill Pond Diner.)
(Tremont Nail Company.)
April 24, 2021, "Zooming Through Loom City, Part I: The Mills," in which for the first time I put into action a plan whereby I visit my mother in Connecticut for the day, and find some backside destinations either before or after (or occasionally both) seeing her.
September 3, 2021, "Many Barns, Two Minds," in which I make photos of barns in my hometown of Simsbury, Connecticut, and learn that the tobacco industry still has a hold in that area.
(Two barns [also known as sheds] in West Simsbury, Conn.)
January, 22, 2022, "Jamaica Plain, Part I: Shopping & Snapping," in which I test out a novel concept: simultaneously Christmas shopping and photographing the backside of a Boston neighborhood. It worked out quite well.
February 12, 2022, "New York City Flashback: Views from the High Line," in which I find a clever way to create content by using photos taken years prior in New York City.
(Airstream trailer in front of The Standard High Line hotel. One of my favorite photos.)
April 23, 2022, "A Wonderful Walk in Wellesley Hills," in which I wake up and smell the coffee, realizing that the backside of America isn't only in gritty old mill towns, but also in tony Boston suburbs.
May 15, 2022, "Busting Ghosts in Boston's Newmarket Square," in which I go hog-wild chasing down ghost signs in an industrial neighborhood.
(Newmarket Square ghost sign.)
September 16, 2022, "Free-forming in Ashland," in which I explore Ashland, Mass., on a whim and discover a great Masonic Temple, a few old factories and an abandoned Dairy Queen.
October 8, 2022, "Learning Things About My Hometown," in which I, well, read the headline.
(Former Probate Court building in downtown Simsbury, Conn.)
Thanks for checking out some of my favorites from the past six years. Looking ahead, expect a lot more of the same type of quality posts you've come to expect; perhaps some input from other folks (fingers crossed!); and field trip opportunities for Backside enthusiasts to places I've been before, as well as some new and exciting locations.
To see my favorite posts from the early years of the blog, check out the post below, in which I write about my top stuff from the year 2016, and feature links to the prior years.
June 9, 2017, "Anniversary Post #7: My Favorites from 2016."
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