Committing Myself to the City of Sin

From Dave Brigham:

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in

You ask for water, but they give you gin

The girls say no, yet they always give in

If you're not bad, they won’t let you in

It’s the damndest city I’ve ever lived in

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in.

Thanks to the blog of a guy named Jason Stadtlander, I learned the lyrics to this poem, of which I'd only ever known the first line. I don't recall at what point after moving to the Boston area in 1990 that I first heard the North Shore city of Lynn referred to as the City of Sin. As with so many former mill towns and cities, I've had the eighth-largest city in the Bay State on my mind for quite a while.

After stumbling across an Instagram reel mentioning Bobby from Boston, a vintage clothing store at 545 Washington Street, I finally made a plan to check out that part of the city. And when I learned that there's a cool old diner right around the corner from the store, I moved that plan up on my Backside agenda.

While this was my first trip to downtown Lynn, I'd been to the city once before (see October 21, 2016, "Rockin' in the Dungeon," for a description of a quick visit to Lynn Woods with my kids).

"Settled by Europeans in 1629, Lynn is the 5th oldest colonial settlement in the Commonwealth," according to Wikipedia. "An early industrial center, Lynn was long colloquially referred to as the 'City of Sin,' owing to its historical reputation for crime and vice."

I started my tour in front of Zimman's, a Lynn mainstay that's been selling fabrics, furniture and furnishings since 1909.

Morris Zimman founded a dry goods shop at 6 River Street in Lynn, about a mile and a half west of the store's current location. "Morris, who was always searching for GREAT BARGAINS, purchased the entire contents of a sunken ship, and [sold] slightly soggy muslin on the sidewalk for 15 cents a yard," according to the Zimman's web site. In 1948, Morris's son, Barry, opened a department store elsewhere on Market Street, moving it to the present location nine years later.

The store is located in the former Goddard Bros. Department Store.

"The firm of Goddard Brothers was founded in 1899 by Franklin L. and Wallace I. Goddard of Boston," according to MACRIS, "who purchased a business from T. E. Parker." I'm not sure of the fate of the Goddard Bros. store.

Around the corner on Andrew Street, I had to make a photo of #58. I figured it was "something."

Sure enough. This is the Grand Army of the Republic Hall and Museum, which "was erected in 1885 with funds raised by local Civil War veterans as a memorial to the Union Army veterans of the Civil War," per the organization's web site. "It soon became the largest G.A.R. post in the country with 1,847 members. Post 5 held a position of prominence in the City of Lynn, the Commonwealth and the Nation for many years.

"Its crowning glory is the enormous 56′ x 46′ main hall on the third floor, which retains the original furnishings and has walls filled with photos of Civil War veterans. Six more rooms have memorabilia from the Revolutionary War through the Korean War."

The hall is currently under renovation, as you can see in my photo. "The structure is in urgent need of repair, and the first phase of that reconstruction has begun with the installation of an elevator, handicapped accessible bathrooms, and updates to the first floor storefronts," per the web site. "These changes make the building compliant with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and will enable broader use of the building and access to funding for further efforts.

"In addition, the Trustees of the GAR Hall and Museum are working on finding new uses for space in the building, building on the wishes of the Civil War Union veterans, who gifted the building to the city in a Home Rule Petition in 1919. To that end a community engagement program is also being launched to discover needs of Lynn veterans and nonprofit community organizations."

From there I headed north, and then east on Central Avenue. Cal's News caught my eye.

Opened in 1937, Cal’s News is the city’s oldest family-owned news retailer and tobacconist, according to this Item Live article
.

Steps away, across an empty lot, is a work of stunning beauty.

Located on the side of The Oxford Lynn apartment building, this mural of a rhino and other animals was painted by Miami-based artist Ernesto Maranje. As with many old industrial cities I've visited, Lynn features loads of such work, some of which is featured below.

Nearby along Washington Street is a lovely pastel work by a Los Angeles-based artist who goes by Free Humanity.

Around the corner in Central Square, the teenage boy inside me demanded I make a photo of buildings labeled R.A.W. and GAS.

Raw Art Works is a creative youth development organization rooted in art therapy, per its web site. Great Art Studio "was born with one intent: to develop and support the relationships between local creatives, business owners and their communities," according to its Internet home page.

I continued under the commuter train tracks that cut across the southern portion of the city, headed southwest on Union Street and suddenly I was standing in front of a rare gem of a diner.

The Capitol Diner is one of a select group of early metal diners to survive intact on its original site, according to MACRIS. "The Capitol Diner is a [J.G.] Brill [Co.] from 1928. This is believed to be the last operating Brill diner in the country," according to this Roadside Architecture post (scroll down). "It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The diner was originally known as the 'Miss Lynn Diner.' When it changed hands in 1938, it was renamed to refer to the Capitol Theatre across the street which is now gone."

Around the corner, under the train bridge across Washington Street, is a cool mural painted by artist Anna Dugan, who goes by Annadidathing. A detail from the work of art is featured in the image below.

The Guardians | Mga Tagapagtanggol "represents her Filipino culture and serves as an image of power, femininity, and protection," according to this statement at the Beyond Walls web site.

Based in Lynn, Beyond Walls "introduce[s] public art, curated experiences and outdoor museums into the fabric of our communities by partnering with local community members and experts to design, produce and manage collaborative projects and programs," per the non-profit group's web site. "We serve cities and towns where there are changes due to the loss of industry, shifts in population, or where there is underutilized infrastructure."

The group brought its Retrolit program, in which it restored and installed vintage neon signs, to the Bobby from Boston building I mentioned at the top of this post. That building is located just steps from the above mural, on Washington Street.

For Retrolit, Beyond Walls partnered with Dave and Lynn Waller, well-known local collectors (and conservators) of neon signs (for coverage of the Wallers, see April 22, 2023, "Walking Around Belt-Bottom," August 9, 2018, "Backside, Out in the Open" and March 22, 2010, "Gettin' My Kicks").

I believe both of the above signs were once located on local businesses. Lynn was once known as the Shoe Capital of the World, "with dozens of factories producing millions of pairs of shoes each year," according to this blog post.

Bobby from Boston is located in the Frederick E. Abbott Building, a nicely restored Romanesque Revival building dated to 1890. In the late 1890s, the Munsey Shank Company occupied this building, manufacturing shanks, which are long, thin pieces of material between the insole and outsole intended to support the foot and provide structure, according to Wikipedia.

Munsey was in business here until 1938. In 1940, according to MACRIS, the Prime Company rented the building. Prime was "a shoe sole equipment manufacturer, remaining in operation through 2001 as the last shoe manufacturer in Lynn," MACRIS continues.

I'd like to return to this place when the vintage clothing store is open, which is only on Sundays.

I continued southwest on Union Street. In front of the parking garage for the commuter rail station is a statue that seems somewhat forgotten to the world.

The site is slightly overgrown, and there is no plaque providing passers-by with information about the statue's name, or who the artist is, or why it's on this spot. The man is bald and striated, and appears naked. He's sitting on a stack of books, staring into the middle distance. Perhaps he is attempting to absorb knowledge through his tuchus?

I've searched on Google and can't find anything about this work of art. Maybe this forlorn guy knows Worcester's Turtle Boy.

Anyway...moving on.

The statue of the nude bookworm stands across from one of the imposing Harbor Loft apartment buildings.

Known as the Vamp Building, this massive structure -- the south facade extends 400 feet along Broad Street -- rose in 1903 as part of a complex built by a syndicate of investors known as the Lynn Realty Company (the edifice is known alternately as Lynn Realty Building #4).

"Following a disastrous fire of 1887 when a 30-acre area employing over 7,000 employees burned to the ground, there was a short flurry of rebuilding activity," MACRIS indicates. "This slowed considerably by 1891 and the next decade saw little construction in downtown Lynn. By 1900, the shoe industry had re-emerged as a significant economic engine and Lynn was once again in a leadership position in that industry. The Lynn Realty Company, headed by one Edward Strout, financed major construction in the fire-zone by financing and constructing several large manufacturing structures."

I'm not sure when this old factory was converted to residential use.

From there, I headed northeast on Broad Street, as I saw something in the distance I wanted to check out.

This place turned out to be a two-fer. Located in what is known as Bank Square, the former Hotel Edison is an Art Deco building that looks pretty good. "The Hotel Edison...site had served as a prominent intersection with a previous hotel located after the Lynn Fire of 1889," per MACRIS. "The present Hotel Edison was constructed in 1931 by the Lincoln Reality Trust and served as a retail complex with street shops along Broad and Exchange Street. It was among the first buildings in Lynn to be air conditioned in 1937 and was...remodeled for commercial space in 1988."

This building is also the headquarters of The Daily Item newspaper, which was founded in 1877.

Next I cut west on Exchange Street, where I saw the fabulous sign below.

Unfortunately, Charlie's Junction Deli closed in the fall of 2019. This "classic old breakfast and lunch spot" was in business for more than 20 years, according to this Boston Restaurant Talk post.

I absolutely love the Charlie's sign. I'm surprised it's still there.

Around the corner, on Spring Street, is yet another of the many great murals of Lynn.

Painted on the side of the Breed Estate Building -- one of the few survivors of Spring Street's rebuilding between 1890 and 1908, according to MACRIS -- this work by Argentinean Mariela Ajras was completed in partnership with Beyond Walls. I've dubbed this one the UFO mural.

I wandered around and found myself at the Silsbee Street underpass, where I saw this dcool guitar painted on a pillar.

One of many paintings under and around the commuter train tracks, this one was done by that famous artist known as I Can't Find Information On the Internet.

Silsbee Street to the east, and Exchange Street to the west, are the end points of the old Eastern Railroad Station Viaduct. This structure, which runs along Mount Vernon Street, features more nice murals, but I'd like to know what's behind the facades.

When it was built in 1913, "it served as the passenger platform for the adjacent 1895 station (non-extant) located on the west side," according to MACRIS. "The station was left at grade, but the waiting room was extended under the viaduct and steps to the platform were provided." At that time, trains were operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

"Exterior stairs located at either end of the viaduct also service the platform which is sheltered by a flat-roofed concrete awning," MACRIS continues. "Space under the viaduct was utilized for the baggage room and shops on both the Central Square and Silsbee Street ends. Although the 1895 station has been demolished and many of the original/early storefronts have been removed or altered, the viaduct itself survives basically unaltered and in its original context."

Old photos show some of the viaduct's archways, seen in my photos above, open. I'd love it if this place could be opened up for retail/restaurants businesses at some point. The only indication of a former business here is the sign on a door for the National Fire Escape Association.

At 305 Union Street I spied a ghost sign of sorts for the old McLellan's department store.

I haven't been able to find out any history of this retailer.

At the corner of Washington and Oxford streets is A&S Pawn and Used Jewelry, which has been around for at least a quarter-century, from what I've been able to figure out.

I headed back toward my car, which I'd parked at the Lynn Marketplace mall along State Street, but then I decided to wander just a little bit more. Along the Lynnway, in front of the parking lot for Lynn Motor Sales, I spied this nice old clock.

A quick online search turned up a Facebook post in which somebody who had taken a photo of this clock asked for any background information. This guy said the names on each of the faces are "F.L. Conte" and "Chery Conte." I haven't found any information about the clock, the maker or the Contes.

Coincidentally, on the opposite side of the busy four-lane roadway is an old factory building with a clocktower.

My first thought when I saw this place was, "It looks like the Schrafft's building in Boston." The candy company building pre-dates this one by about 15 years and may have inspired the architect, Harold Field Kellogg. Kellogg's other local buildings include the Batterymarch Building in Boston; the Pierce-Arrow auto showroom (now a Star Market) in Boston's Packard Corner; and the Longwood Towers in Brookline, for which he was a consulting architect.

Built in 1922 as a shoe factory for Albert Creighton, this structure was seen as "a landmark of modern reinforced industrial design after the First World War," per MACRIS. "The corner clock tower highlights the Gothic profile of the Creighton-Champion Buildings along the Lynnway with vertical piered windows in the upper story, capped by a stepped copper roof with flagpole."

When Creighton's company cratered in 1928, the building "was purchased by the Consolidated Electric Company as the Champion Lamp Works, for light bulb manufacturing from secondary General Electric patents," MACRIS continues. "The Champion Works continued to expand with radio assembly by 1937 with a substantial addition to the original Creighton Building in 1948-1951....In 1969 the Champion works was acquired by International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) and again in 1975 by North American Philips Company (Norelco) with renovations of the original Creighton Building during 1987-1988."

It is now known as the Clocktower Business Center; tenants include a driving school and a law office.

Back across the Lynnway, at the corner of Blossom Street, there is an Enterprise car rental facility. It's located in a building that was previously home to Ron Costa's Auto World.

From what I've deduced online, Costa started that business in 1995. By 2011 this space was occupied by another business. I love that little reminder sign.

I next walked north-northwest on Blossom, then swung east on Alley Street. I had spotted a smokestack, and I needed to get closer.

I really love that image for Traditional Breads, which was established in 1999, a year after the founder, Fitzroy Alexander, sold his previous company, Signature Breads, to Hazelwood Farms, which is owned by Pillsbury.

Around the corner on Pleasant Street, I fought the sun to get a picture of Pudgy's Towing & Auto Repair.

I love the color combination, the slogan, the lettering - everything about this place. Unfortunately, Pudgy's closed down, evidently right around the time that I made this photo. The place was in business for 57 years.

The last shot I made was of a giant mural above the Jamaica's Flavor restaurant.

This work is by Wellington Naberezny, a Brazilian-born artist who goes by SIPROS. According to this Beyond Walls bio, the artist "started in the graffiti world in 1997 and was known for his character 'Big Ears' which makes an analogy of children as his source of inspiration and reflection."

I bid you adieu, City of Sin. Hope to return soon!

The Shire of Worcester, Part the Sixth

From Dave Brigham:

Benvenuti all'ultimo post su Worcester!

For this latest installment of my ongoing series about Woostah, Mass., I trekked through the eastside, the heart of the city's Italian-American community. I wasn't aware of that designation when I set out along Shrewsbury Street, but I figured it out quickly enough.

Located on Muskeego Street, just southeast of Shrewsbury St., near several industrial properties and large empty lots, the Biscee Club was founded as a mutual benefit society for the Italian-American population, as far as I can tell from the limited information I found online. Evidently it's no longer an active social club.

Around the corner on Shrewsbury Street is Franchi Brothers Auto Body, which has been in business since 1936.

I dig the signage, which looks like it's well taken care of.

I continued west along Shrewsbury Street, stopping at the entrance to Cristoforo Colombo Park. Of course, Cristoforo Colmbo is the Italian spelling of Christopher Columbus. Stone griffins flank each side of the main entrance to the park.

They're quite impressive. MACRIS says the artist was Charles McCann and that the sculptures date to 1874.

So, let's learn a bit about this neighborhood.

"New York has Little Italy. Boston has the North End. Worcester has Shrewsbury Street," states this September 2015 article at Pulse magazine's web site. "Shrewsbury Street became the home of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century and early 20th century," the article continues. "Today, roughly 13 percent of all residents in and around Shrewsbury Street are of Italian descent. The Italians brought their culture and love of food to Worcester and opened the fresh food markets that would eventually evolve into the swath of restaurants locals know and love."

While there are plenty of Italian sites along Shrewsbury Street, other Mediterranean countries are also represented.

Meze Estiatorio is a restaurant owned by "first generation Worcester natives serving what we know so well; authentic, unadulterated Greek food," per its web site. The mural may have been done by someone from Artifakt Studios, a collective that completed a painting inside the eatery.

I featured Artifakt in a previous Worcester post (see February 10, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Third"). Also check out the other four installments that preceded this one: Part V, Part IV, Part II and Part I.

In the main entryway to 156 Shrewsbury Street, currently occupied by Root & Press, a cafe and bookstore outfit, I spied another hint of the neighborhood's past.

This space has been occupied by restaurants for many years. I suppose deMarco could have been an eatery or perhaps a market a long time ago.

A few doors down, on the north side, heading west, is the Parkway Diner.

I like the Red Sox font but I'm not crazy about the look of this place. Serving breakfast, lunch and drinks from the bar, the Parkway has been expanded a few times, I believe, since opening in the 1930s as a traditional Worcester Lunch Car Company diner. There is a more traditional-looking diner across Shrewsbury Street that I will discuss below.

At the major intersection of Shrewsbury and East Central streets stands Pampas Brazilian Steakhouse, which is located in the former D'Errico's Market building. I'm unsure whether D'Errico's runs its butcher shop, which opened in 1947, from another location.

On the side of 102-116 Shrewsbury Street -- aka the Zamarro Block -- I found an old sign that had me scouring the Internet, breaking out my magnifying glass and fine-tuning my photo-editing software.

The building, which was built in 1911, was "[i]mportant in the life of Worcester's Italian community throughout the first half of the 20th century," according to MACRIS. Constructed by Carmine Zamarro, who owned a bank on Shrewsbury St., this block housed businesses such as an Italian-language newspaper, several Italian doctors, a dry goods store, bakeries, a shoe shop, a restaurant and many more, MACRIS continues.

I tried my best to decipher the ghost sign but had no luck.

Near the western end of Shrewsbury Street, across from the railyards serving Union Station, is a fantastic old building, the likes of which I haven't seen in such great condition.

Currently home to Wormtown Brewery and Volturno Pizza, the former Worcester Buick Co. showroom looks amazing from the outside. I'm guessing the interior is no less fantastic.

Opened in 1922 from a design by architect Arthur Hunnewell Bowditch, whose notable projects include Boston's Paramount Theatre and Myles Standish Hall (now a Boston University dorm), the building served as a Buick and GMC dealership until 1961.

"The Worcester Buick building is Worcester's only unaltered example of the 'grand' automobile showroom," according to MACRIS. "The slightly earlier F. S. Howard Showroom (1918) on Main Street is little altered but not as elaborate or imposing as this. The 'grand' M. E. Tuller Showroom (1928-1929) on Park Avenue has been altered. Because of its excellent state of preservation and because its relative opulence recalls an era when the automobile was still a luxury, this building is important in the history of the automobile in Worcester."

I've mentioned Bowditch in posts about Boston's Downtown Crossing area (see April 12, 2020, "Crossing Through More of Boston's Downtown"), the Newton Corner neighborhood (see December 31, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 3)") and Brookline (see March 13, 2014, "What's in a Named Building? (Part 2)").

I have written about old car dealerships before. In the summer of 2018, Google Maps led me to an old Saab business once run by author Kurt Vonnegut (see October 24, 2018, "A Literary Icon, a Naval Celebrity & a Stern Warning About Micturation"). Earlier this year I mentioned a place that's currently home to a market in Everett, Mass., that was originally a Chevrolet dealership, followed up by a BMW showroom (see May 3, 2025, "Kicking Around Downtown Everett"). In 2024, I included a former Willy's dealership in my write-up about Somerville's Davis Square (see November 2, 2024, "It's Hip to Be Davis Square").

Next door to the old Buick dealership is another well-preserved old building.

I haven't found any background on this place. It is currently home to Carbonneau Bridal and Formalwear, as well as Keller Williams Realty.

At this point, I doubled back, heading east on Shrewsbury Street. At the intersection with East Worcester Street, I was impressed by a restaurant's large sign.

Via Italian Table says on its web site that it has been "acclaimed Worcester’s best Italian restaurant and most romantic restaurant in recent media polls." Along with other businesses, the eatery is located in a former Worcester public schools maintenance facility (!).

Built in 1905, the building is the gateway to a few other municipal buildngs I made photos of.

The Worcester Public Works building on East Worcester Street dates to 1920. It is located on the property of the former Pine Meadow Burial Ground, according to MACRIS.

Next door is the headquarters of the Worcester Sewer Department.

Built in 1932, the sewer department building, according to MACRIS, replaced a wood-frame structure belonging to Darling Brothers, which I'm assuming was a construction company.

Back out on Shrewsbury Street, I knew in advance that I needed to check out a few places, starting with Wonder Bar Pizza.

Opened in 1922, Wonder Bar was closed at some point in the last decade, I believe. But new owners brought it back to life. My photo doesn't do the sign justice. It is truly wunderbar!!

Continuing northeast, I arrived at the spot that was my inspiration for checking out this neighborhood: the Boulevard Diner.

Now THAT's a diner, right?!

Built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company some time between 1934 and 1936, the Boulevard is in the popular barrel-roof style that diner guru Richard Gutman has called "the VW Beetle of diners," according to MACRIS. "Additional distinguishing features seen here are the Art Deco neon roof cresting with illuminated central clock and the striped metal facade awning," MACRIS continues. "Both were probably added in the 1940's or 1950's. A brick structure was added at the rear sometime before 1957."

Claims have been made, but not substantiated, MACRIS adds, that the Boulevard is the oldest continuously operated diner in the United States.

Across Plum Street from the diner, I spied a nice old bank entryway.

Now occupied by an Italian restaurant named Piccolo's, 157 Shrewsbury Street dates to around 1890 and was originally home to a grocery store and apartments. MACRIS picks up the story: "About 1917 the store became the real estate office of Laraia and Ermilio. The principals in this firm were Gennaro Laraia and Pompeo Ermilio. Laraia, among the city's earliest Italian settlers, had come to Worcester from Italy in 1878. Ermilio was born in Anzi (Potenza), Italy. In 1900, he came to the United States, settling first in Philadelphia and coming to Worcester about 1915. Laraia, who had begun his real estate business about 1912, took Ermilio as his partner about 1917 when his daughter, Catherine, and Ermilio were married....About 1924, or perhaps earlier, the business was expanded to include banking services for the Italian community in the surrounding neighborhood."

So cool that the entryway has been preserved.

Across Shrewsbury Street, next to the Greek restaurant mentioned above, is the East Side Improvement Club.

I haven't found anything about this club online, as is often the case with these neighborhood joints. I'm guessing it was founded a long time ago to help out new immigrants from Italy.

Back on the south side of Shrewsbury Street, across from the entrance to the previously mentioned park, I spied a date of 1925 and a difficult to read name at #179.

Occupied by Invidium Salon / Hair by Eva, this place was originally occupied by Reliable Auto Radiator, per MACRIS. "By 1930 the Arthur S. Manzi Motor Co. was in business. By 1934 the building housed and (sic) auto repair business, trucking Co. (sic) and Arthur S. Manzi Funeral Home Inc. The Funeral Home eventually took over the entire building."

I was impressed by the entrance to 225 Shrewsbury Street, home to Mexicali Cantina Grill.

My photo doesn't give the feel of this place, which is a large rectangular building with fancy flourishes at the roofline, looking like it dates to the 1920 or 1930. I suspected it was once an auto dealership, and I was right.

Lawless Cadillac-Pontiac was located here from at least 1961 to 1979, from what I've found online. I'm not sure if the place was built as a dealership.

OK, I'm wrapping up this installment in my ongoing Worcester series with an underwhelming building, using the theory of leave the audience wanting more....

I made that photo of #252 because I am a sucker for coin dealers. Unfortunately, Rare Metals, which dealt in jewelry, diamonds, gold, silver and coins, appears to be out of business. Make sure to check for the seventh, eighth and ninth posts about Worcester, covering a biker bar with a Hollywood connection, a factory that makes spacesuits, great ghost signs, murals, a place called Smoke 'n' Munch, a diner-slash-live event venue and much more.