Don't Be an A-hole, Go Check Out Athol

From Dave Brigham:

I imagine you develop a thick skin if you grow up in a town whose name sounds like a curse word pronounced by Cindy Brady. Welcome, my friends and devoted followers, to Athol, Mass.!

Located in the northwest corner of Worcester County, not far from the New Hampshire border, Athol looks a little rough, as many old New England mill towns do. But Tool Town, as its been known for ages, has kept one major employer, the L.S. Starrett Company, and features plenty of old buildings that have been put to new uses.

I mentioned this town a few years back -- see October 15, 2022, "This Is Winchendon, Not Athol" -- but hadn't swung through until I made time on my way to Winchedon for a barbecue last summer.

I started my jaunt at the Starrett factory at the intersection of Main and Crescent streets.

At that corner, there is an old metal mileage sign that is really cool, despite the misspelled street name at the top.

Founded in 1880 in Athol, L.S. Starrett manufactures more than 5,000 variations of precision tools, gages, measuring instruments and saw blades for industrial, professional and consumer markets worldwide, per the company's web site.

The company's complex occupies more than 18 acres of property on both the east and west sides of Crescent Street, according to MACRIS. "The 3.5 acres...on the east side of Crescent Street is the most densely-developed portion of the...complex. It is occupied by numerous, interconnected, 3 1⁄2-story, flat-roofed, brick buildings unified by two, basic, design motifs," MACRIS continues.

The company employs approximately 1,800 people, with many of them working in Athol. Situated as it is along Millers River, the site has been prone to flooding over the years. At the rear of the building at the corner of Main and Crescent streets are two high-water marks from floods in 1936 and 1938, the latter of which was caused by a notorious hurricane that battered New England.

De rigeur for a 19th-century mill town, there are buildings that bear the Starrett name beyond the factory walls. "Designed by prominent Worcester architect, Edwin T. Chapin, Starrett Memorial Methodist Church, erected at a cost of more than $100,000, was dedicated on December 15, 1918 to the memory of Lydia Bartlett Starrett, wife of Laroy S. Starrett," founder of the tool manufacturer.

The house of worship was built on land that Starrett purchased on Island Street. He had two businesses moved, and one razed.

The Starrett Block, shown below, is located at 513-527 Main Street, within view of the church.

Completed in 1913, the block is an "expensively built, quite elaborate building," per MACRIS. "It is three stories plus a basement, made of yellow brick with limestone and granite front and sides and trimmings. Before the building was even completed, the top floor was already rented by the Masonic Orders. Other Original (sic) occupants were the Athol National Bank, Hamilton and Butterfield, and the Gardner L. Orton Dept. Store. After the bank crash of 1933, the bank quarters were taken over by the Bishop-Dodge Company and the Orton Dept. Store quarters were taken by Hames Photo Studio and Sears & Roebuck Co."

Tenants today include the Athol Credit Union and Lisa M. Carey, Certified Public Accountant.

Adjacent to the Starrett building, heading west along Main Street, is the Central Block. More than 20 years older than its neighbor, this circa-1891 building was reconstructed in 1916 after a fire. The only image I made of the block is the adorable sign below for Tintagels Gate - Flowerland, a florist shop.

The store was evidently named for Tintagel Castle, and perhaps more specifically, the gate that once guarded access to the peninsula in the British town of North Conwall where the medieval fortification still stands. That's not a piece of history I expected to stumble across while writing this post!

Between the Central Block and the Cooke Block (which I did not make an image of), stands a curious little yellow reminder of times gone by.

Currently occupied by the Athol Soap & Suds Laundromat, this small building is what remains of the Capitol Theatre, one of two movie houses along this stretch of Main Street. I assume this was the main lobby of the theater, which opened in 1930 and was (mostly) demolished, well, I haven't been able to find out when.

"The Capitol Theater was built by the Goldstein Brothers and was a Colonial Atmospheric theater," according to a comment at the Cinema Treasures page for the theater. According to Wikipedia, "[a]n atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting."

I find that fascinating. In all of my years running this blog and stumbling across old theaters and researching and writing about them, I've never come across that term. Anyway, the Capitol's "auditorium had the twinkling stars, cloud machines, the recreation of a new England Town on the walls, etc....several articles in the Athol papers, at the time of the opening, state that a Water (sic) wheel was constructed in the auditorium," the Cinema Treasures commenter continues.

Well that's pretty crazy! Additionally, the theater's lobby and foyer "were designed to look like the interior of a covered bridge," the Capitol commenter indicates.

On the opposite side -- the northern side -- of Main Street just a little ways west is the Athol Second Unitarian Church.

Built in 1915 after a fire claimed a previous sanctuary three years earlier, the church has been known as First Church, Unitarian, since 1922, when two Athol congregations merged, according to the church's Facebook page. The church appeared vacant, or at least in transition, when I walked past. A photo on the Facebook page from May 13, 2025, indicates that the sanctuary had undergone a renovation of some sort.

The church was designed by the firm of Funk and Wilcox, a Boston architectural firm known for, among other works, several theaters in Greater Boston.

For a look inside, check out this Zillow listing.

On the other side of Main Street from the Unitarian church is the Delta Apartments building.

Not to be confused with the frat house in "Animal House," the Delta Apartments building rose in 1928 with tenants who, according to MACRIS, included the manager of a plumbling and heating business, and his wife; a shipping clerk at L.S. Starrett, and his wife; an assistant sales manager at Athol Manufacturing, and his wife; and a general storekeeper.

Abutting the Delta building is the second of two former movie houses in this stretch of Main Street.

Opened in 1930, the York Theater served as a cinema until 1961, according to MACRIS. Built in the Art Deco style, the York "helped transform downtown Athol from its Victorian appearance to a more modern streetscape," MACRIS continues. "Along with the Garbose Building [which I will discuss below] and the [adjacent] York Building, it is one of three, Art Deco buildings in this block of Main Street, all of which were designed by the same architect, Albert J. Smith of Worcester."

The building with white "X" on a red background in the photo above is the entrance to the theater lobby, which was 96-feet deep (!!), according to MACRIS, leading to the auditorium, which spanned 134 x 70 feet (show in the photo below, from the backside).

After the theater shut down, this large space took on many roles: 12-lane candlepin bowling alley, Athol District Court annex, a teen center and a bar/lounge. Most recently, as you can see in the image below, the old York was home to Lucky Lanes and Jolly Tavern. I'm not sure what the future holds for this historic place.

At the York Building next door, I was charmed by the handmade sign for Never Grow Up, which deals in video games, trading cards, CDs and DVDs, computers, gold/silver/coins and much more.

I love the name of this store, which has been in business for more than a decade, but I fear for its continued existence. Google indicates the shop is temporarily closed, and, once again, you can see the big "X" on the facade, which indicates the property is not safe for habitation.

As for the York Building, it rose in 1930. Early tenants, according to MACRIS, included the Great A&P Tea Company, Jacob Garbose’s shoe store and Angelo Carbone and Son, Confectioners. Great A&P Tea is known better as simply A&P, an erstwhile chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015, when the outfit went bankrupt.

I continued west along Main Street. I was grabbed by the facade and storefronts of the Webb Block.

On the left, Athol-Orange Driving School. Sounds dirty.

On the right, TnT Co-op Mall. Not sure why you would name a place that sells antiques, collectables and vintage stuff after an explosive, but to each his or her own.

Oh, did you think I was talking about the gun shop?

Bear Arms has been in business for more than a decade. I'm a gun-control guy, but I understand that stores like this exist. I'm just not used to seeing them much.

Across the street is the rather amazing Pequoig Hotel.

First, let's discuss the name. Pequoig was the Native American name for the town that became Athol. It was the Squakeag name for Millers River, according to this history document at the town's web site.

Second, let's appreciate the architecture. especially the metal oriel windows projecting above the main entrance. If you are able, zoom in on the second photo above to gain an appreciation for the detail. How about the font for the hotel's name, and the bold numbers for the year, and the image of what I assume is a Native man carved into the metal!

Third, let's learn the history. One of two Athol buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Pequoig was constructed in 1895. "The Hotel (sic) contained living suites, single apartments, lodging rooms, banquet and meeting halls, and a dining room and tavern," at its opening, according to the Town of Athol document.

After sailing along for several decades, the hotel experienced a downturn, like the rest of Athol, after a Route 2 bypass was built that took away many of the traffic that had gone through town. By the late 1970s, there was talk of demolition, the town document indicates. Instead, in 1983, developers had renovated the place into senior housing.

Across the street is the aforementioned Garbose Building.

MACRIS indicates that this building may be the result of the "substantial/complete reconstruction of" an "earlier, 3-story, highly-ornate, red-brick, Second Empire style Starr Hall Building (a.k.a. Lee’s Block)." The Garbose brothers -- Jacob, Abraham and Samuel -- purchased the property in 1926 and constructed this building. They also constructed the York Building and York Theater.

Jacob Garbose operated a shoe-making and retail business. He was also co-owner of a toy manufacturing operation, which morphed into a furniture business. His brothers were clothiers in nearby Gardner. I mentioned their building in that city in a post from late 2024 (see October 26, 2024, "Digging Into Gardner").

The building's first floor is occupied by D'Ambrosio Eye Care.

From there, I headed north on Exchange Street for a few minutes.

This former service station dates to 1955, according to the Athol assessor's database. I'm drawn to old gas stations, or filling stations, if you will. They have basic designs, but something about their blockiness just works for me. Stations of this vintage harken back to the days of massive American-made cars with big fins, white-wall tires and seating for 8-10 people.

I wish there were more stations with wacky designs and bold neon signs in New England, like you find elsewhere in the country, such as airplanes, shells and whatever you want to call this.

The coolest one I've come across is one of the handful of old Colonial Beacon Filling Stations still standing, which are designed to look the Massachusetts State House (see February 14, 2024, "Woo Woo! It's Woburn Time" and scroll down).

Athol’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation has recommended that this station be torn down, and turned into green space, walkways and a parking area.

Across from this place is an old station of a different sort.

"Fire Station No. 1, erected in 1893, is the only surviving, nineteenth-century fire station in Athol," according to MACRIS. "At various times this station also housed town offices, the police station, jail and the district court."

I believe this building is used mostly for storage these days.

Back out on Main Street, I was obligated by the blog's bylaws to make a photo of the Masonic Temple.

Located in a circa-1913 former post office, the temple is home to the North Quabbin Lodge of Freemasons.

One of the places I'd seen on Google Maps Street View ahead of my visit was a nice old diner, shown in a Google image below:

I was disheartened to walk along Main Street and find out that the former eatery is unrecognizable after some extremely misguided renovation work.

I'm not sure of the status of this place. Despite loathing this exterior design, I still hope it opens and that the food is classic diner fare.

Across on the north side of Main Street is the former Ernest Fredette Automobile Showroom.

You can see Fredette's name carved into the facade, and that this place is currently being used to display cars by Wilson Steely Kustom Coachworks. I think this company may be out of business, unfortunately.

The furthest west I went on Main Street was just short of the Millers Rivers, to check out a nice old sign.

Athol Glass is no longer in business, but a business called Streamline Classics is now located in this space.

As I headed back toward the center of town, I spied through the yards of houses along Main Street some industrial buildings that I knew I had to check out. I cut up Freedom Street to Lumber Street and lo and behold....

This is the former Sawyer Tool Company mill warehouse, which dates to the late 1890s. It is the sole survivor from the tool company's property.

In the background of the image below, you can see the former Athol Silk Factory, which I obviously found less photogenic than the old warehouse.

"The brick factory was erected on the site of a former scythe mill between 1870 and 1887 by Thomas Goodspeed to carry out silk manufacture, including sewing silk, machine twist, buttonhole twist, embroidery silk and floss," according to MACRIS. "Thomas Goodspeed was succeeded before 1896 by Daniel E. Adams who operated the mill for 20 years as president of Adams Silk Company, Inc., which in 1891 employed 60 to 75 workers.

"The Corticell Silk Company of Florence purchased the firm’s assets in 1927 and removed the machinery. Modern textile machinery was installed by J. Warren Moulton & Son, Inc., which had relocated from North Rutland, Massachusetts. The firm did not succeed. After a period of vacancy, the mill was purchased by Gauthier & Beal (Mohawk Upholstering Company), which had been burned out of its previous location."

The old mill complex is occupied, but I'm not sure who the tenants are.

I made my way back to Main Street, and headed east and then south on Exchange Street. I went into the back lot of bankHometown -- a financial instititution I'd never heard of -- and made a photo of a small sign on the rear of the adjacent building.

"RESERVED PARKING FOR Blind Pig Violators Towed Away at Vehicle Owner's Expense," the sign says, with a likeness of a member of the swine family wearing dark sunglasses.

First, let me say I like the sign. The image is cute, and the message is clear and the punctuation is mostly correct. Second, I want to know what happened to this place, which Google tells me is a "temporarily closed" pub that shuttered abrupty in early 2018. "The Blind Pig was established in 2009, serving lunch and dinner fare. It was a popular hangout with locals," according to this Athol Daily News article.

The article continues: "General manager Sean Mahoney posted the following on the Blind Pig’s Facebook page: 'To all pig follower’s...Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have been forced to shut operations down effective immediately. I will update our status over the next few days. Thank you, Sean.'"

A "blind pig," by the way, is another name for a speakeasy. "Decades before the advent of Prohibition and the 20th century, 'blind pig' was used to describe an establishment where clients were brought in to see a curiosity," according to this post on the Kelley House Museum web site. "Clients had to pay a fee for the privilege of seeing a 'blind' or sometimes a 'striped' pig and after doing so were given a glass of spirits. This was a way around the direct sale of alcohol — folks were paying to see the 'blind pig.'"

Ah, American ingenuity!

As for the building, it's known historically as the Phoenix Block, and has been altered significantly since its construction in 1879, according to MACRIS. Over the decades, a number of commercial tenants have filled the space, from a Western Union telegraph office to a dry goods store, a watch repair and jewelry store to a tavern.

I strolled across the parking lot to get a better look at another industrial relic.

I absolutely love the second image. I can only imagine what dusty, rusty, nasty pieces of machinery are tucked away in there. This is the former C.M. Lee Shoe factory, which is also known as Woodland Casket Manufacturing Company complex.

Native son Charles M. Lee started making shoes in Athol in 1850, on his father's farm, according to MACRIS. Eventually he moved the company to Exchange Street, and by 1887 there were multiple buildings involved in the shoe-making process. An 1887 fire, however, resulted in the destruction of many of the buildings. After Lee's death in 1896, his son, W. Starr Lee, assumed control after a family battle, MACRIS indicates.

The first 20 years of the 20th century saw the company grow significantly, with between 700 and 800 employees. The company was liquidated in 1924. "The closing of the town's third largest employer (by then eclipsed by the L.E.Starrett Tool Co. and the Union Twist Drill Co.) was a blow too great for the town to take lying down," MACRIS continues. "The Board of Trade promptly organized the Athol Industrial Corporation which acquired the complex and machinery for $75,000. The AIC then set about to find a suitable tenant which would continue to employ the idled workers, leasing the buildings to a succession of shoe manufacturers (Marston and Tapley, Merit Shoe, Ansin Shoe Co., and finally Anweit Shoe Co.)."

In 1947, the McElwain Shoe Company of Nashua, NH, purchased the site. "After McElwain closed its doors in the late 1960s, the plant stood empty until bought by a local consortium of investors headed by Mr. Peter Gerry," MACRIS reports. "They in turn conveyed Building #2 to Plotkin Furniture Co. which owns the easterly mill building closest to Exchange Street, and Buildings #1, #3 and #4 to Woodland Products Corp., a casket manufacturer."

I believe the complex is currently vacant.

As I headed south on Exchange Street, the sign for George Vincent's Castle Light apartments brought a smile to my face.

So much attention went into making this sign: the crown, the coat of arms, the flowery flourishes, the fancy font. There appear to be a handful of apartments on the second floor, and retail/office space on the ground floor. I have searched for information about the building and about George Vincent, to no avail.

This building rose in 1920.

On the opposite side of Exchange Street is a sign that I simply couldn't ignore.

The Cardany Block dates to 1872, and was originally occupied by the Joseph B. Cardany Furniture Store. The store also sold crockery, and the space may have also been used for undertaking services, MACRIS indicates. There was a meeting hall on the third floor. Plotkin Furniture operated here from the 1920s until at least 2010, but it has been closed for many years.

Adjacent to the old furniture space is the Maroni Building, which is in terrible shape.

I don't know when this building was completed, what businesses it held, or when it began its decline.

In December 2022, the EDIC discussed a revitalization plan for Exchange Street and concluded that the Maroni Building should be razed. "[F]or our own revitalization of the downtown area that that’s one building that needs to be demolished," EDIC member Rebecca Bialecki said in this Athol Daily News article. "We’ve gotten multiple reports that there is nothing there worth saving, so I think that’s a priority."

The EDIC's revitalization plan recommends that the Plotkin building also come down, along with one other structure, to make way for a new mixed-use development.

I headed back to Main Street at this point. I was greeted by an older guy who asked what I was taking pictures of. When I told him I love all the old buildings, he pointed across the street and suggested I make an image of the old Athol Savings Bank.

Organized in 1867, the Athol Savings Bank moved into this building in 1928 upon its completion. The building was designed by J. Williams Beal, Sons, a Boston firm that designed dozens of schools, banks, municipal buildings, private homes, churches and others up into othe mid-1980s.

Continuing east, I made sure to make a photo of the YMCA building at the corner of Main and School streets. My dad was a lifelong member, volunteer, employee and teacher for the Y, so I always keep an eye out for the organization's buildings (see April 14, 2014, "Coincidence?").

The Athol YMCA building opened in 1911 on a site where a machine shop once stood, according to MACRIS. Our friend from the top of this post, Mr. Starrett, "demolished the shop, donated its site to the YMCA and made the largest contribution ($15,000) towards construction of the YMCA building," MACRIS continues.

I headed west on Traverse Street, which quickly becomes South Street, and checked out an old railroad station.

The Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company built a wood-frame depot here in 1850. That building "was relocated to the south side of the tracks and subsequently used as a dwelling, stable and storehouse before being lost to fire in 1935," according to MACRIS.

The brick depot was constructed in 1872-73, and included a restaurant. "Its operator, E. D. Brown and subsequently William E. Wood, lived in an apartment on the second floor," MACRIS continues. "Increased traffic necessitated a larger restaurant which extended off the west elevation. A frame kitchen was constructed on the northwest corner. A kitchen accident caused a fire on July 22, 1892 which destroyed the entire second floor.

"The depot was reconstructed as a one story building based on the surviving first floor. Passenger service ended in Athol in 1960. The depot has been utilized since by a number of occupants including a shoe shop in the 1960s, a youth center ca. 1970 and a lounge ca. 1974."

I'm not sure of its current use.

Last but not least, is the former Ledgard's warehouse on South Street.

I really love this image, too. I believe Ledgard's was a flooring business.

Walking Through My Old Man's Stomping Grounds, Part I

From Dave Brigham:

A child of the Great Depression, my dad moved around a bit in his early childhood, due to the fact that his father had lost his business. Eventually, the family settled in Springfield, Mass., where my dad spent his formative years. He went to his hometown school, Springfield College, and talked about the city on occasion when I was growing up, mentioning Indian motorcycles, which used to be manufactured there, and the invention of the game of basketball on his school's campus.

I visited the original Basketball Hall of Fame, which was on the college campus, when I was a kid. I also went to a cemetery in the city when my grandmother died in 1989. But other than that, I hadn't spent time there until the spring of 2014 (see April 14, 2014, "Coincidence?"). I finished that post with these words: "I hope to get back to Springfield in the near future to explore more cool buildings, and to learn a bit more about the city that helped shape the great man who was my father. Rest in peace, dad."

I made my initial visit to Hoop City just two weeks before my father passed away. I finally returned 11 years later, less than a week after my mother passed away. Springfield has taken some economic blows over the decades, but I found plenty of signs of life, as well as great old buildings, restaurants, bars, signs and more in the Metro Center area that I explored.

Located in the northwest quadrant of the city, near I-91 and the Connecticut River, Metro Center is the beating heart of Springfield, "with more than 60 clubs, restaurants, and bars — numerous festivals, cultural institutions, educational institutions, and significant historic sites," per Wikipedia.

As I often do, I researched online ahead of time to find a good starting point. The old Paramount Theater on Main Street fit the bill (but it is the final site in this post). Around the corner, on Lyman Street, hard by the railroad tracks serving Springfield Union Station, I happened upon what for me is a rare find: a lovely bit of novelty architecture.

A.W. Gifford, Inc., a full-service locksmith, has been in business since 1866. This building rose in 1950, but I haven't been able to find out anything about the architect. I wish more buildings had designs connected to their use.

A short distance away, heading northeast, is the Powers Block, which dates to 1873 and was built for the Powers Paper Company.

In more recent years, this complex was home to W.F. Young, which was founded in 1892 as a manufacturer of horse liniment. In the photo below, you can see the "W" of the company's name in the lower right corner.

W.F. Young is now located in neighboring East Longmeadow. The company's products include ones that provide wound care and joint support for horses, as well as snacks for cats and dogs.

I crossed Chestnut Street to get a shot of the very cool work of art someone created using elements of a ghost building.

These phantasms are working hard, lugging things up and down the stairs, imagining a time when the Collins Block was a busy warehouse of cotton waste for the E.F. Collins Company. The building dates to 1910, and is currently quite derelict. I haven't found out who painted this.

I made my way to Taylor Street, which parallels Lyman Street to the southeast. I shot the rear of the Baystate Corset Block, which was a mish-mash of paint colors and add-ons and industrial and restaurant space.

"This large block was built in 1874 to house two woodworking concerns," according to MACRIS. "P.P. Kellogg, who had bought the building five years earlier for his paper products business, built an addition along Taylor Street. Ten years later, Bay State Corset began manufacturing their 'women's and children's waists.' They remain located here through 1920.

"During its peak years, Bay State Corset Company produced 5,000 corsets daily," MACRIS continues. "The top floor was devoted to cutting rooms, the middle two floors to over 400 sewing machines run by young women workers. In all, 75 to 80 different styles of corset were produced. The firm was one of the largest makers of corsets on the continent and sold its goods to wholesalers and retailers nationwide."

I shot an old corset manufacturing building in Worcester back in late 2023, one of dozens that used to operate in that city (see February 3, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Second").

The old Baystate Corset Block is occupied in part by Smokey Joe's Cigar Lounge and CreepSheek Studio, which strives "to bring eclectic, whimsical, unapologetically acceptable out of the box beauty to Springfield."

As for the restaurant facade along Taylor Street, below, I guessed it was an Italian eatery.

I assumed it was closed, but the Internet tells me that 350 Grill Steakhouse is alive and well (unlike its main course - bada bing!). While there is Italian food on the menu, I wouldn't call it an Italian eatery.

Continuing southwest on Taylor Street, I came to the Stacy Building, which was built in 1893 for a company that manufactured and dealt in machinery and mill supplies, according to MACRIS. But there's more!

The Stacy Supply Co. leased out the upper two floors in the early days. According to MACRIS, one of the tenants was J. Frank Duryea, who, along with his brother, invented the first gasoline-powered automobile in the United States - right in this building!

After some initial work and testing, "Duryea decided to build a car 'with the Machinery (sic) well concealed in the body....Built with a 2 cylinder, 2 cycle motor, my (??) gear and clutch transmission giving 3 speeds and reverse, this vehicle had its first test on the top floor of the E.S. Stacy building late in 1894,'" according to MACRIS. "Tests were promising and after the engine was converted to four cycles, this was the car that J. Frank Duryea drove to win the Times-Herald race on Thanksgiving Day 1895 in Chicago. This was the first automobile race in America, and the Duryea entry was the only 'American made gasoline car to start.'"

Near Taylor Street's intersection with Main Street is a complex of old mill buildings that have been converted to the Silverbrick Lofts.

These buildings are part of the Powers Block complex mentioned above.

Across Main Street, at the corner of Worthington Street, is the Bowles Building, which houses a Springfield institution that I'll get to in a minute. Hold your horses!

This place dates to 1858 and has been "altered beyond recognition" and is known historically as the Fort Block, per MACRIS. The name comes from the site's history as the location of a fort built by John Pynchon in 1660 to protect townspeople during King Philip's War. The block was erected by Springfield's first insurance company, Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Co. Over the years, banks, newspapers and business schools occupied the space.

The upper floors have been vacant since 1997, and there is a redevelopment plan in the works (I think) for the 66,000-square-foot building, according to this Rebuild Springfield document. The plan is for the ground-floor retail to remain, and for the upper floors to be converted to office or residential use.

OK, let's get to that ground-floor retail/restaurant space, located on Fort Street.

Finally we arrive at a place where I know my dad spent time: Student Prince and the Fort.

Established in 1935, the Student Prince was originally smaller, with just a bar and space for booths, and a small collection of beer steins. In 1946, according to the eatery's web site, ownership added the dining room. Over the ensuing decades, the place grew into a local landmark and the stein collection grew to be one of the largest in the United States. Go to the Gallery page on the restaurant's web site to see the inside of this place, including some steins.

I don't recall my dad mentioning this place, but one of my cousins said she's sure that her dad and mine had been to the Student Prince over the years. It seems like an obvious Springfield College hangout.

I've been there twice. The first time was in 2010, the morning after seeing my favorite band, the Flaming Lips, at Mountain Park in nearby Holyoke. The second time was during the aforementioned trip to Springfield a few weeks before my dad passed by. I recall eating too many sausages and being completely floored by the stein collection.

At the end of Worthington Street, where it meets East Columbus Avenue, is a fantastic old building.

Known as the Homestead Building or the Phelps Publishing Company Building, this Romanesque Revival beauty dates to 1903. "The Homestead Building served as the general offices for the Phelps Publishing Company," according to MACRIS. "The company published a local weekly, the 'Springfield Homestead' and three other weeklies including the 'American Agriculturist of New York which enjoyed a wide rural circulation. In 1932 this building was taken over by the Blue Line Transportation Company and it was at this time the first floor facade was altered and an entrance was placed in the corner at the base of the tower."

Take note of the town crier blowing a bugle above the entrance to Noir, a nightclub that may no longer be in business.

At this point, I doubled back to Main Street, where I made some photos of the old Worthy Hotel, which I featured in my Springfield post from 2014.

This is a gorgeous building. I'd like to think my father went to an event of some sort here in his younger days, perhaps escorting a young woman from his high school or college. Built in 1895 as a six-story building, the hotel was raised by two stories in 1905, and then expanded into a neighboring office building four years later.

Now an apartment building, the Worthy has two ground-floor retail spaces. City Jake's Cafe has been in business for more than 30 years; Kim & Lee is a jewelry store that sells, among other things, gold teeth name plates.

Across a small plaza is the Fuller Block, a splendid Romanesque Revival building that dates to 1887, and which I didn't get the best photo of.

From MACRIS: "It was reported at the time of construction that the Fuller Block was the 'first to include every metropolitan convenience, passenger elevators, steam heat, a mail chute, running water in each suite of rooms.' It was also reported the first to have Georgian marble floors and wainscoting and a marble staircase. The building attracted a high class of tenants with two or three first quality clothiers on the first floors and several physicians on the upper floors."

All mod cons, as the Jam would say. Today's tenants include architecture and design firm Dennis Group.

I doubled back to Worthington Street, this time heading northeast. I was happy to see signs for Theodore's (Blues, Booze & BBQ) and Smith's Billiards. I'm guessing these businesses are related.

Theodore's has been in business for more than 30 years. Smith's traces its history back to 1902 as a billiard academy. They are located in Smith's Building, which was built in 1897 and was constructed in the Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne's styles, per MACRIS. From its first days until 1913, this block was occupied by McIntosh Shoe Company, which was "not only the oldest but the largest inland boot and shoe jobbing house in the New England States," per MACRIS.

In 1914, "Fred Smith moved his billiard parlor and bowling alleys to this block," MACRIS continues. "He had begun business in 1903 in the block next east of this one, and had acquired a number of pool and billiard tables from the 1905 St. Louis Exposition. In the new setting the second floor was utilized as a billiard parlor, and the upper floors for the bowling alley. Before World War II 'the center of candlepin bowling in Western Mass. was located in downtown Springfield in the upper three floors of the Smith Building.'"

Across Worthington Street is the King Block (on left).

Home to Offsite 2twenty2, this little building has a big history. Originally a five-story addition to the building just to its west, it was used by a wholesale and retail paper dealer when it was built in 1892, according to MACRIS. In 1900, George Hendee, a "national bicycling champion from 1882 until 1887," moved his bicycle manufacturing business to the fifth floor of the King Block.

"At this time Hendee was developing an interest in motorized bicycles. After meeting Oscar Hedstrom, an engine designer from Brooklyn, he decided to develop a motorcycle for general use. Within a year the first machine was completed and named the 'Indian Motocycle.' The year 1902 was the first quantity production year with 142 being produced."

Eventually, Hendee moved one block west, and then, as sales increased, took the company to Winchester Square, which is now known as Mason Square. I'm pretty sure that my dad grew up close to Mason Square, which is probably why he talked quite a bit about Indian Motorcycles when I was a kid.

Meanwhile, back at the King Block: it eventually became home to the John Boyle O'Reilly Club, "probably the largest and longest lasting Irish American social club in Springfield," according to MACRIS. The club was formally incorporated in 1933, and was located here until the late 1940s.

Next door is the Royce Block, which was most recently home to Dewey's Jazz Lounge. The venue closed in April.

This Italianate building rose in 1887 for Charles Royce's laundry business. The company moved to larger quarters by 1915, and this building was used as a hotel and boarding house for many years afterward.

This area of Metro Center is a prime destination for eating and entertainment, as you may have guessed. These places are equidistant from scores of vacant lots that were once factories of various sorts, and the MGM Springfield, a casino complex that opened in 2018. I will feature a few shots of the casino in a future post.

There are two cool murals along Worthington Street that really liven up the street.

This "Wizard of Oz" artwork made me chuckle. My dad, you see, acted in community theater for most of his life, and over the years he took on several roles in this play, from the Tin Man to the Wizard to an apple tree.

I believe this mural was painted as part of Springfield's City Mosaic initiative, which over the past two decades has completed multiple projects across the city.

Perhaps the most ambitious project is the recreation of a wall mural on the side of the Driscoll Building for the defunct Bloom's Photo Supply.

"Several years ago, [artist] John [Simpson] and I were approached by State Representative Sean Curran who thought it would be a great idea to paint a mural and restoration on a building on Worthington Street, whose wall faces the neighborhood which was once a thriving entertainment district," Evan Plotkin, a local businessman and board member of City Mosaic, says on the group's web page about this project.

Initially, the team rejected the idea of restoring the mural, which had faded quite a bit over the prior six decades. "After several meetings and listening to members of the Historical Commission, who spoke to us repeatedly and passionately about the intrinsic value of the old advertisements and the historic value they represented, we changed our minds," Plotkin said.

The restoration, unveiled in August 2022, is remarkable. It is vivid and bold and detailed and pays homage to many sectors of Springfield's past and present. "The wall is no longer a wall," Plotkin says. "It is a piece of art, and it is more than just art. It is a window to the past, a vibrant, colorful part of the present, and a bridge to the future."

Well said, and well done.

Simpson worked with at least two other artists, who are featured in a photo on the City Mosaid web site, but not named.

Below is a video of Plotkin, Simpson and others discussing the spark for the City Mosaic project.

We move from that big, beautiful mural to a smaller, but no less important one, painted on a shuttered watering hole tucked into an old train bridge that crosses Main Street near Union Station.

The Stone Wall Tavern opened in the 1940s, I believe, and closed for good several years ago. The building was originally a food shack for train workers according to the video below.

The tavern's name echoes with the name of the famous New York City gay bar that was the scene of a 1969 police raid in which bar patrons fought back, a watershed moment in the LGBTQ community (read all about it here). I mentioned the riot, and one of the prime instigators, in a well-after-the-fact post in February 2022 about a visit to NYC (see February 5, 2022, "New York Flashback: Views While Strolling and Shopping").

The Springfield tavern is so named because it is literally made of stone, and the back wall of the place is part of the stone bridge over Main Street. Still, it makes for a great symbiosis between the well-known historical event and a local group working to support LGBTQ youth. If I'd known the significance of the mural, I would've made better images of it. The work was painted as part of the Common Wealth Murals initiative, which "collaborates with communities to create powerful public art that honors histories, celebrates local heroes, and inspires bold visions of the future," according to the group's web site. Common Wealth partnered with Out Now, which calls itself "[t]he only queer youth organization in Springfield."

"The story of this mural, it's a comparison between the experience that queer youth have in school now, and then a radical reimagining of what school would look like if it was conducted in a way that was really supportive of queer youth," according to Britt Ruhe, director of Common Wealth Murals, in the video below.

The mural project was led by Mimi Ditkoff, working with members of Out Now. I will feature another of her murals in the next Springfield post.

Last, but not least, is the old theater I mentioned at the top of this post.

Located on the opposite corner of Main Street from the Stone Wall and known most recently as the Hippodrome, the theater opened as the Paramount in 1929, inside the former Massasoit Hotel. The hotel closed three years prior, and the space was converted to offices, according to this After the Final Curtain blog post.

The hotel opened in 1843 in a separate building on this location, I believe. The current building dates to 1857; it was substantially rebuilt in 1912, according to MACRIS. The hotel served as a stop on the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War, according to this article from the Springfield Museums.

The Paramount was a 3,200-seat theater offering movies, vaudeville acts and concerts, among other entertainment. By the mid-1960s, live concerts had become more popular for the theater. "In 1969, the Paramount closed for the first time," according to After the Final Curtain. "It reopened In 1975 and was renamed the Julia Sanderson Theater, after a Broadway actress from Springfield. Live shows continued at the theater until 1979, when it became a revival movie house, and its name was changed back to the Paramount. A new screen, and a speaker system taken from the recently closed Victory Theatre, were installed. It closed for a second time in 1986, but was used occasionally until 1999."

In December 2000, after spending $1.3 million to upgrade the facility, Paramount Realty Investment/Creative Theater Concepts reopened the space as the Hippodrome, a live entertainment and nightclub space, according to After the Final Curtain. "The Hippodrome was a popular nighttime downtown destination for most of the 2000s," After the Final Curtain indicates. "In 2011, it was purchased by the New England Farm Workers Council (NEFWC) for $1.7 million. They operated the theater sporadically until closing for good after a shooting in April 2015."

The NEFWC sold the theater for $750,000 to Sachdev Real Estate Development Inc., a Connecticut corporation based in Suffield, last September. I'm not sure whether a redevelopment plan has been unveiled. Let's hope for something great at this place that, let's face it, my dad probably visited at least once during his time living in Springfield.

(Entrance to the Massasoit Building. The plaque on the right indicates it was built in 1843, and restored in 1986.)

Make sure to check back for the second part of my Springfield expedition.