From Dave Brigham:
Let's get this out of the way, for any non-New England readers: the Massachusetts town I am briefly profiling in this post is pronounced "Le-mu-nster," not "Leo-minster." And for those across the pond, feel free to stick with your "Lem-stuh" pronunciation, since the settlers borrowed the name from the English town in Herefordshire (don't ask me how to pronounce that...).
One other piece of business before I get to the good stuff: I made only a quick visit to Leominster, and plan to return to cover more of Worcester County's second-largest city.
Known as the Pioneer Plastics City, Leominster is the birthplace of the pink flamingo lawn ornament. I learned about this a few decades ago when I worked as a proofreader at an accounting firm, where one of the clients was a guy named Don Featherstone, the artist who created the whimsical decoration while working for Union Products.
I was happy to see that crosswalks in downtown Leominster feature pink flamingos at each end.
I skirt the northeastern part of Leominster on my way to and from New Hampshire to play music with friends a few times a year. Located about 20 miles due north of Worcester, Leominster was at one time filled with manufacturers of all sorts, making paper, pianos, combs, sunglasses and Tupperware products.
This post focuses on the city's downtown. I will seek out the industrial zones somewhere down the line.
My first stop was the old brick building housing Brady's, a restaurant, bar and event facility on Mechanic Street.
MACRIS has nothing on this place, but the Brady's web site indicates that the nicely restored building "has served as a furniture factory, hardware store and even Leominster’s Post Office in the early-1900s!" I can't make out the ghost signs in either of these photos.
Right around the corner on Water Street is a somewhat odd-looking diner (for reasons explained below) that's 75 years old.
Tim's Diner was manufactured in 1949 by Silk City Diners, a division of the Paterson Wagon Company of Paterson, New Jersey. According to the Roadside Architecture blog, this is the diner's original location, although it was originally known as Roy's.
"In 1953, Tim Kamataris Sr. purchased the diner from [the original owner] and rechristened the business 'Tim’s Diner'," according to this Diner Hotline Weblog post. In the early 1980s, there were two accidents in a short span of time that damaged the diner. "The original factory-built entryway was destroyed along with the stainless steel facade under the front windows being damaged beyond repair," per the article. "Tim Kamataris Sr. made the decision to replace the entryway and facade under all the windows along the front and right side of the diner with brick. Ironically, a second car accident hit the front wall again within a fairly short time after the damage was repaired from the first accident, this time to the right of the new entryway."
Long story, short: after many years of featuring a brick facade, the owner (now Tim Jr.) was able to use grants from the City of Leominster to restore the diner to "a reasonable facsimile to the way it originally looked."
Along Water Street, I shot the backside of Tilton & Cook Marketplace, which calls itself "the largest indoor new and used good marketplace in Massachusetts."
I haven't found anything online about the building. I like the old alarm rusting down the wall.
At this point, I doubled back and headed north to check out an amazing old train depot on Merriam Avenue.
Built in 1878 by the Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad, the Gothic Revival stunner features a 75-foot central tower and loads of wonderful details.
The old depot is currently home to Russell's Liquors.
Along Main Street, I saw the Christian Life Center and thought, "That used to be something else - probably a theater."
"Opened January 8, 1923, the Rialto Theater was one of at least three classic movie theaters in this Massachusetts city," according to Cinema Treasures. "Although the exterior clearly suggests this building’s former use as a movie theater, the interior seems to have been gutted and put to other uses. It now serves as the home of the Christian Life Center. The entranceway reveals what was part of the original entrance/lobby area, and ceiling details remain intact."
The architects of the theater were Funk & Wilcox, according to this post at the Boschen blog, which offers "Quick fun random stuff regarding classic movie theaters, Drive-in Theaters, film history, and related projects" that the author does. "Funk and Wilcox designed many buildings throughout Massachusetts including several theaters such as the Ware Theatre in Beverly and the Strand and Franklin Park Theaters in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston," per the blog post.
The Rialto closed in the 1950s.
I headed southwest on Main Street, and while I saw many great buildings, the light and shadows were difficult, so I only shot two of them. The first is the Foster Building, which was built in 1874.
The second is the Wood Block, which dates to 1890.
I continued on to Union Street, where I saw a nice for a place that's unfortunately out of business.
I don't know when the Farmers Exchange opened or closed for business. Around the corner on Central Street is a much newer sign for an exchange of a different sort.
Bitcoin Ben's is an outlet of a company that I believe is based in Sarasota, Florida. "One of the goals of Bitcoin Ben’s Crypto Club is showing and utilizing the decentralized shareable economy experience," per the web site. "We want to increase awareness of cryptocurrency, blockchain and related technology."
I don't normally take signs of places like that, but I was intrigued by the juxtaposition of the old Farmers Exchange sign, indicative of a fading economy, with the bitcoin joint, which may be the future of commerce.
Here's hoping I can get back to Leominster soon!
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