From Dave Brigham:
Woo hoo for Wootown!
This train just keeps a'rolling along. Even with this eighth post in my ongoing series, I feel like I'm under-serving Worcester, the second-largest city in New England. But I'm working on it. I've written countless posts about the largest city -- Boston -- and still haven't covered anywhere near all of the capital city. So hop on and let's discover more cool things about Worcester!
The Grafton Street School consists of two buildings of Late Victorian architecture, built in 1879 and 1899, per Wikipedia. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, thte elementary school features a lovely mosaic by the front door. I wish I could tell you who made it.
Located less than a mile east of the Canal District that I explored in my first Worcester post (see below for links to all the prior installments), this part of Grafton Street is a nice mix of residential, commercial and industrial properties. Just west of the school is Beth's on Grafton Hill, a bar that features music and comedy - and a cool sign.
On the south side of Grafton Street is a pizza joint with a homey name.
Auntie Dot's seems to have somewhat limited hours, but word is that the pies are top-notch.
At 190 Grafton Street is the former home of Better Electric.
The appliance store closed in 2023 after 75 years in business. I'm going to take a wild guess that this place was well-loved for all of those decades. The city's assessor says this building dates to 1950, but I'm guessing the house component is older.
I doubled back at this point. Among many other things, while trekking through a town or city I look out for old service stations.
Chris Auto Repair is located in a circa-1930 Colonial Cottage-style building first operated by Beacon Oil Co. as a filling station, according to MACRIS. The building "was listed in the 1930 city directory as one of Beacon Oil Company's four 'Colonial Filling Stations,'" MACRIS continues. "Because none of the other buildings are still standing, it is not known whether they were all of the same design."
To see other old filling stations, check out this post from July 29, 2023; this one from January 27, 2024 (scroll down); this post from February 24, 2024 (scroll down); another from May 7, 2022 (scroll...); and this one from November 2, 2024.
Continuing east on the south side of Grafton Street, I liked the look and feel of the sign for Armando's men's clothing store.
The shop has been in business since 1981.
I also like the name and sign for No Name Grocery.
Next up are the present and former locations of George's Bakery, which specializes in Lebanese and Syrian foods. First, the current store.
Operated by George and Christine Elhoussan since 1989, the bakery offers homemade pita bread, pies and other Middle Eastern Foods. "The original owner — and original George — George Salloum sold his bakery to George Elhoussan 25 years ago," per this 2017 Worcester Sun profile of the business. The shop has been in business for 75 years.
A few doors down is, I believe, the bakery's former location. It's possible that George's uses this space for baking or storage.
Directly across the street is a building mixing retail and residential space, and which has been altered significantly.
Currently occupied by Hedro's Smoke Shop and Botanica, a store offering "all types of jobs," including good fortune, love, health and court cases. I'm not clear on exactly what that means.
As for the building, it dates to 1900, per the assessor's office, and, underneath that terrible siding, it is brick and stone. Maybe someone will bring it back to its original look someday.
Next we come to my favorite spot from my latest Worcester trek. Whereas I knew some of these places were here, thanks to online research, Smoke n Munch at 348 Grafton Street was a total surprise.
The building is nothing special - built in 1975 and squeezed into a lot with minimal parking. The signage plastered across the front is pretty cool. But for me, it's just the name. Smoke n Munch. Says it all. In December 2023, I explored Webster, Mass., and featured a shuttered store called Snack & Smoke. I'll say the same thing now that I did in that post: This store reminds me of an idea I hatched many years ago to launch a chain of Nap & Snack stores.
The furthest south I went was a non-descript building at the corner of Hale and Grafton streets.
This is Miranda Bread's headquarers (or, as I dubbed it, breadquarters). The company has been in business since 2002, providing Brazilian foods and "a safe haven for Brazilian immigrants," per its web site. Miranda's operates four stores in and around Worcester, and also offers catering. This building was previously occupied by The Lights Sports Pub.
Heading back northwest, toward my car, I made one last photo.
I'm guessing that this sign on the side of a building housing a Cricket Wireless store advertised a dance studio. Or perhaps a formal wear store. Either way, it's long gone.
That's it for this area of Worcester. There will another post about Wootown soon. In the meantime, check below for links to the previous posts.
July 19, 2025, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Seventh"
July 5, 2025, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Sixth"
November 16, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Fifth"
April 13, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Fourth"
February 10, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Third"
February 3, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Second"
January 27, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the First"
