Nubian Square: New Name, Old Buildings

From Dave Brigham:

I've lived in the Boston area for nearly 35 years, and for many of those years, I mixed up Dewey and Dudley squares, even though they're nowhere near each other. The former is located in Boston's Financial District, its southeast corner anchored by South Station. The latter is the commercial heart of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, and was renamed Nubian Square in 2019.

While trekking through Roxbury's Fort Hill neighborhood last year, I ended up close to Nubian Square (see October 19, 2024, "Beyond the Standpipe: I Find Black Jesus and Other Cool Stuff in Fort Hill"). I decided I needed to do a full exploration, so earlier this year, that's exactly what I did.

Long the center of African-American culture in Boston, Nubian Square nevertheless maintains signs of the Irish, German and Jewish populations that lived in the area in the mid-19th and early-20th centuries. On my expedition, I found a little bit of everything, starting with a bus terminal facing Dudley Street that I correctly guessed has a complicated history.

Knowing a little bit about Boston's former elevated rail system, I took one look at Nubian station and said to myself, "That's gotta be an old train station." A transfer point between several MBTA bus routes, the station opened in 1901 as Dudley Square station on the Boston Elevated Railway main line, according to Wikipedia. The elevated system was shut down in 1987, replaced by Orange line trains in the nearby Southwest Corridor.

"Even without the Elevated, Dudley Square remained a major bus transfer location," according to Wikipedia. "After several years, the former Elevated station was converted into a new bus station. The 784,000-pound station building was lowered 12 feet to the ground and rolled 180 feet to the south."

Wow! That must have been quite a sight.

Next door to the station is a great old building.

Known historically as the Hotel Dartmouth, this beauty at the corner of Dudley and Warren streets rose in 1871. From MACRIS: the hotel "is architecturally significant as a substantial intact example of a post Civil War apartment/hotel. Designed in an intriguing variation of the French Second Empire Style, this bldg. principals (sic) elevations are noteworthy for their marble finishes and high degree of plasticity."

Businesses located here over the decades included a confectioner, a bank, a lunch counter, an auto supply store, a tailor shop, the Hawaiian School of Music (!) and offices for a dentist, photographer and lawyers. Current tenants include Joe's Famous Subs & Pizza, Frugal Bookstore and Indian restaurant Shanti Express.

From there, I headed southeast on Warren Street, where I spied a faded sign for the Edison Building.

The wedge-shaped Edison opened in 1924 and for many years its primary tenant was a branch of the Edision Electric Illuminating Co. Today, the two-story building office/retail site is home to The Handyman appliance repair service, Ugi's Subs, Atlantis Physical Therapy and other small businessees.

A little further along on Warren Street, in front of Roxbury Municipal Court, is a sculpture called The Judge.

Created by artist Vusumuzi Maduna, the work was designed "as a celebration of the distinctive contribution of African sculptural forms to contemporary art," per a plaque at the site. "The artist's aim was to express his world view as part of a traditional African Society and as a contemporary African American."

Born in Cambridge, Maduna "spent much of his life as an artist resident of the Gallery at the Piano Factory in Boston," per Vuzi.org, which details the artist's life (he died in 2007). "Maduna began his exploration of African culture with a study of African religions which led him to further examine and interpret the traditional embodiment of belief and myth."

At this point, I reversed course and made a photo of the impressive Paladio Hall, which is located across Warren Street from the old Hotel Dartmouth.

Built in 1878, the hall is "a rare Boston example of an Italian Renaissance-style commercial block," per a plaque at the side door. "By 1915 ownership passed to the Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co., and was known as the Bradlee Bldg.," per MACRIS. "During the 20's & 30's Palladio Hall was known as Rose Croix Hall, meeting place of the K. of C." The hall in the early years also contained Thomas Nanne's Fruit Store, the G.G. Manno Co. shoe store, a Western Union branch, and dentist, lawyer and insurance offices.

Current tenants include Ethiopian Cafe & Pizza, Roxbury Dental and the Brand Nubian store.

On the east-facing facade of the Palladio is a ghost sign for a bank.

Heading east on Dudley Street, I was impressed with the massive mural on the side of #171-175.

The black-and-white piece was painted by the artist Grotesk (Kimou Meyer) in 2015, according to this WBUR article, which profiles other Roxbury artwork. Grotesk, who is senior global creative director for Nike, was quoted in the WBUR article as saying about the work, "It’s kind of like a mix of anthropology research and a world that I created in my head."

Across Dudley Street from the mural building stands the impressive and historic Hibernian Hall.

"The first Hibernian Building to be located in Roxbury, 182-186 Dudley Street was built in 1913 by the Hibernian Building Association of Boston Highlands, which owned and operated the building for forty-seven years," according to MACRIS. "Designed by Edward T. P. Graham as a lodge for the Ancient Order of Hibernians and its Ladies' Auxiliary, the building's upper floors contained function halls, a ballroom, and smaller meeting rooms that were available to outside groups, clubs, and individuals for social events and charitable causes. In addition the building held two storefront retail spaces, bowling alleys and a billiard room. Hibernian Hall was one of a cluster of such Irish dance halls in the Dudley Square vicinity that were popular at mid-century. These included Intercolonial Hall at 210-220 Dudley Street [which I will discuss below], Palladio Hall at 52-60 Warren Street, the Dudley Street Opera House, Winslow Hall and Deacon Hall. Of these only Hibernian Hall and Palladio Hall still stand."

The hall is currently operated by the Madison Park Development Corp., a community-based, non-profit organization that develops affordable housing and puts on events.

As for Intercolonial Hall, while it's no longer standing, there is one remnant, just steps away from Hibernian Hall.

"This limestone arch, supported on Ionic columns framed a large round-arched window between the third and fourth stories of the former Intercolonial Club Building that was located at this site and was razed in 1999," per a plaque located at the address, 212 Dudley Street. The club was built in 1906 for the Irish immigrants who lived in the neighborhood at the time.

I headed back toward the heart of the square and looped from Harrison Avenue to Taber Street, where to my right was a newish apartment building, and to my left a project under construction. I headed south on Warrent Street, where I liked the looks of the 7Fox sign.

The store sells men's and women's clothing. Around the corner on Zeigler Street there is a terrific mural sponsored by the Madison Park Development Corp.

Dedicated "with love to the ones we lost in our communities," the work features the names of the artists, seen below:

I doubled back, heading north, until I saw the beautiful old building that has been incorporated into the newer portion of the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building at the intersection of Warren and Washington streets.

Born in 1945, Bolling was a member of the Boston City Council, where he served as the first African American president in the 1980s. In addition, he was a director MassAlliance, a firm specializing in small business development, per Wikipedia. Bolling died in 2012.

As for the lovely old structure, it's known historically as Ferdinand's Blue Store, and dates to 1895. "This monumental linestone bldg. is a handsome example of the Baroque Revival Style and certainly the major work of John Lyman Faxon's career," MACRIS indicates. "As a bldg. type it is a rare surviving example of a late 19th c. department store. This structure is a physical link documenting the Dudley Station's rise as an important turn of the century transportation commercial center. As early as l867 Frank Ferdinand established a Blue Store on or near the site of the Washington St./Warren St. intersection. Initially 'a small affair,' the blue store's growth was linked with transportation improvements - the electric trolley came to Dudley St. in 1888/89 and the Boston Elevated RR linked Roxbury with Boston in 1901. Ferdinand's business specialized in 'Furniture, carpets, stoves, bedding and house furnishing goods.' By 1885 the Blue Store 'was the most extensive of its kind in New England.'"

I'm not sure why it was called a "blue store."

Across the triangular intersection I spied a ghost sign and a run-down set of buildings. So of course I approached.

I couldn't make out what the sign said, despite approaching it from various angles along Palmer, Warren and Washington streets.

Nor could I read the sign on the rear of the building above the Khadija's Express Cafe sign.

After some Internet sleuthing when I got home, I found answers about the signs and the delicious history of this complex. Located here for many years was the Berwick Cake Co., credited by some as the originator of Whoopie Pies (although the company speled it Whoopee). There is controversy around this topic, as others in the dessert world claim that Pennsylvania Amish bakers were the first to create the delectable treat.

If you look closely at the last photo above, you can see the words "Whoopee Pie" and "Berwick" on the tower portion of the buildng.

While the rear section of this complex appears to be vacant, the front part, facing Harrison Avenue, has been redeveloped into The Berwick on Harrison, which is made up of apartments, as well as office, food and retail space. I wish I had checked out the front of the buildng, as I had no idea of its purpose during my visit. I was too excited to check out other sites along Washington Street.

Directly across from the rear of the Berwick lot stand two very different buildings. The first is a Christian Science Reading Room.

Squeezed between two taller buildings and no wider than a typical driveway, this is a pleasant little package of a building. The City of Boston assessor says this building dates to 1900, but I don't believe that for one second. I'm guessing the building is newer, and may have replaced something older.

Abutting to its southwest is a Frankenstein monster of a building with a fascinating history and an uncertain future.

"2231 Washington Street is a rare surviving Roxbury example of a silent movie theatre dating from the initial phase of the Dudley Station area's development as an important transportation/commercial node," MACRIS indicates. I didn't suspect that this odd patchwork of a building started life as a moviehouse. The Cinema Treasures web site lists 11 closed or demolished theaters that once operated in Roxbury.

This site wasn't used to show movies for very long. "This building's use as a silent movie theatre was relatively short lived by the early 1920's the Eagle theatre contained a beauty parlor and dentists office," the MACRIS write-up continues in its odd grammatical way. "Evidently the narrow plan of this building could not accomadate (sic) wider movie screens."

The building's first owner was Eagle Amusement Company. MACRIS files list Eagle Bowling Alleys at an address not far from this place, in what is now a vacant lot.

The old theater building is currently empty and appeared to be undergoing a renovation when I was there. It was acquired for $1.5 million in August 2021 by Solmon Chowdhury, a local restarateur and developer.

At this point, I turned around and headed northeast on Washington Street. On the side of the building housing Black Market Nubian, an organization focused on economic justice, arts and culture and civic engagement, there is an awesome mural dedicated to hometown disco diva Donna Summer.

Painted last summer by Cedric "Vise1" Douglas the image is based on Summer's Once Upon a Time album. The artist sought to "capture Summer’s 'beautiful, sexy, loud' personality," according to the above-linked article.

On the opposite side of Washington Street is a beautiful building that's home to Nubian Square mainstay Kornfield Pharmacy.

The drug store has been in business for more than 100 years, and has some old signs on the side of the building.

The building is known historically as the Hotel Comfort. Built in 1877-78, this High Victorian Gothic specimen was constructed by J.W. Coburn Co., according to MACRIS. That firm was responsible for the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument, several U.S. government lighthouses along the coast of Maine, the Medford Police Station and numerous brick houses in Brookline. The hotel originally contained lodging for 14 families. I'm not sure whether the upper floors are occupied, and if so, whether the space is residential or commercial.

Continuing northeast past a cemetery (which I'll get to in a moment) I was, and I'm not exaggerating here, overcome with joy to see the former Owen Nawn Factory building.

I've stumbled across loads of ghost signs in my time, as regular readers of the blog are aware, but I don't recall seeing an old building like this with signs for two distinct businesses. "BOSTONIA CIGAR FACTORY" says the larger one at the bottom. "RADIATOR HOSE," "FAN BELTS" and "BATTERIES" read the ones in between the windows.

The two-story brick building likely originally served as a warehouse when it was constructed around 1880, according to MACRIS. The owner was Owen Nawn, an Irish immigrant who had an excavation business. Nawn leased out space to tenants, such as a carpenter, a flour and grain business, a locksmith and a painter. After Nawn sold the building around 1893; a piano moving and storage company operated out of the building in the late 19th century.

"By 1919 the Brooks Barlet Company owned the property and by 1920 the Bostonia Cigar Company was operating their cigar factory out of the building," MACRIS reports. "Bostonia Cigar Company would utilize the building until 1926. During the mid-twentieth century, the building held a wide assortment of functions, including housing an upholster manufacturer, paper novelties, offices, warehouse, and a store. By 1950 the Daboll Novelty manufacturing company occupied the building."

I featured the cigar company's well-known ghost sign in Boston's Haymarket neighborhood back in a December 2023 write-up about these advertising relics (see December 23, 2023, "Ghost-Sign Busting Around Boston, Part II: Transportation, Warehouses, Miscellaneous + More").

Across Washington Street, on the sidewalk in front of Tropical Foods, next to a Silver Line bus station, I saw the fanciest manhole cover I'd never seen.

The circular work of iron art includes references to the year Roxbury became a city (1846), as well as the year Boston was founded (1630). Boston annexed Roxbury in 1867. The manhole cover also features Roxbury's motto, Saxetum Dextris Deoque Confidens, which translates to "In this rocky borough, by God's right, we are confident."

I've searched online and haven't found out when this cover was installed, why or by whom. I checked in with an expert. "There are some very decorative ones (about 6-10) marking each of the Washington Street stops [on the Silver Line]," according to whoever runs the Sidewalk Candy Instagram account.

I doubled back and took a quick look at the Roxbury Burial Ground, but decided I didn't have enough time for a full exploration.

Also known as the Eliot Burying Ground, the cemetery "is the oldest burying ground in Roxbury and one of the three oldest of Boston's historic burying grounds with the first interment made in 1633, per this city of Boston web site. Among the people buried here are several from the influential Dudley family, including Gov. Thomas Dudley (1653), Gov. Joseph Dudley (1720), Chief Justice Paul Dudley (1752) and Col. William Dudley (1743).

The burying ground's namesake, John Eliot, the so-called Apostle to the Indians, is also buried here. Eliot pops up every so often in my posts: December 18, 2021, in a post about a memorial in his name, "I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 2)"; January 27, 2022, in a post about land he once owned in what is now Jamaica Plain, "Jamaica Plain, Part I: Shopping & Snapping"; May 21, 2022, in a post about Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill and Roxbury, in reference to a school Eliot funded, "Circling Boston's Geographical Center"; and August 7, 2022, in a post about the founding of Natick, "A Nice Walk in Natick Center, Part I." There are other examples; search the blog if you're curious.

Across Eustis Street from the cemetery is a late dive bar with a colorful past.

Aga's Highland Tap -- named for the man who opened the watering hole in 1947, Agamenon Alexopoulos(!) -- closed down during the pandemic and sold its liquor license to yelling British chef Gordon Ramsay for an outlet of his Ramsay Boston Burger.

In 1979, Aga's began offering nude dancing, according to the above-linked article, something the City of Boston battled over with him for years. "The city immediately moved to keep the G-strings from coming off and the two sides spent more than 10 years in court fighting over whether the city's zoning code, which barred commercial nudity outside what was then a much larger Combat Zone, applied to Aga's."

In more recent years, the women who worked at Aga's stripped down to bikinis. Alexopoulos died in 2003; his widow, Alice, owned the bar after his death.

I continued southwest along Washington Street, past the Bolling Municipal Building, until I reached the very handsome Curtis Block.

Built in 1888, this block was named for a family whose members include Edwin Upton Curtis, 30th mayor of Boston; his brother, Nelson, who was president of American Photographic Paper Co.; and their father, George, who served as a Boston alderman and a builder who was active in the reconstruction of Boston's business district after the disastrous 1872 fire, per MACRIS.

At the intersection of Washington and Dudley streets and Malcolm X Boulevard is the Silver Slipper.

The limited information available online indicates this place serves Southern specialties for breakfast and lunch. On the side of the eatery is an awesome mural.

Titled "Faces of Dudley," the mural was created in 1995 by artist Mike "Hops" Womble and the Mayor's Mural Crew, a group of teen artists that have put up works of art across Boston. "1995, it was myself & heads like my brother Barrington 'Vex8' Edwards, Cedric 'Vise1' Douglass, Rob 'ProBlak' Gibbs, Ricardo 'Deme5' Gomez, Greg Bernstein, my brother Bounce, my wife, my mom and step-dad and the young students of the B.Y.C.C. Mural Crew," Womble is quoted in this Blackstonian article about the mural being defaced in 2022, seven years after it was restored. "We all worked to add & keep a piece of history in the community.”

Among the local luminaries featured in the work are Malcolm X, who lived in Roxbury from ages 14 to 21. He was convicted of larceny and breaking and entering and served a prison sentence in Massachusetts. Two prominent woman are also included: Melnea Cass, a Roxbury and South End activist who was active in the fight to desegregate Boston public schools; and Elma Lewis, a Boston native who was the founder of a school of fine arts as well as the National Center of Afro-American Artists.

Just north of the mural, across Roxbury Street, is a dilapidated three-decker that at one time housed a barber shop and a locksmith.

Brummitt-Kelly was a locksmith outfit that was located here for more than 60 years.

As I walked northeast along Shawmut Avenue, I almost missed the curious sign seen at the corner of William Street.

I love spotting a fraternal organization, so the words "ELKS HOME" caught my eye. But then, along the bottom, I spied the name Phylis Wheatley and I made a connection.

Phillis (also spelled Phyllis but not, as far as I can tell, Phylis) Wheatley was the first African-American author of a published book of poetry, per Wikipedia. "Born in West Africa, she was kidnapped and subsequently sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America, where she was bought by the Wheatley family of Boston," Wikipedia continue. "After she learned to read and write, they encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent."

I mentioned a plaque dedicated to Wheatley, located in Boston's Chinatown, in a post from five summers ago (see June 30, 2020, "Chinatown Redux").

I haven't found any information online about this lodge, which I assume is named for the groundbreaking poet.

I crossed over Melnea Cass Boulevard and stood face to face with two legends on hallowed ground.

Is it pure coincidence that I was trekking through Nubian Square on the day before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day? No.

I'd been thinking about exploring the area for quite some time, and as I set out for this section of Roxbury, I hoped I might find something connected to the martyred minister.

Located on the outer walls on the ground floor of The Melnea Residences, these murals honor the "Roxbury Love Story" of Civil Rights icons Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King, Jr. The couple met in 1952 while she was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and he was assistant minister of the Twelfth Baptist Church, which once stood on this site.

Completed in 2022 by the aforementioned Rob "Problak" Gibbs, the paired works represent a much-needed dose of positivity in troubled times and a gift to his childhood stomping grounds, Gibbs told the Boston Globe when the mural was still in progress.

The Kings married in 1953 and set up home not far from here, until 1954, when they moved to Montgomery, Alabama. For more about Martin Luther King, Jr., and his connection to my hometown in Connecticut, see September 24, 2022, "Simsbury Barns, and Part of MLK's Legacy, be Be Preserved."

As for the Twelfth Baptist Church, it was established in 1840 and is the oldest direct descendant of the African Meeting House in Beacon Hill, according to Wikipedia. The congregation moved to a former Jewish Temple at 47 Shawmut Avenue -- the location marked by the murals -- in 1907. It is currently located at 150-160 Warren Street in Roxbury.

I continued my walk past this point. I will chronicle what I saw in that part of my journey in next week's post.

Hoofin' It to the Bowery Ballroom

From Dave Brigham:

This is the fourth short post about my trip to New York City in October (the first one is here; the second one is here; the third one is here). You can't throw a rock in the Big Apple without hitting a famous restaurant, park, store, art gallery, person, movie setting or nightclub. As I was walking through the Bowery in Lower Manhattan, I stumbled across an example of the latter.

The Bowery Ballroom opened on Delancey Street in 1998, in a building that's nearly 100 years old. It is considered one of the best music clubs in the country, per Wikipedia. As with Webster Hall that was featured in my second NYC post, I'd heard of this place but haven't been there.

I became more interested in this well-known spot after looking up and seeing "TREE-MARK SHOES" chiseled into the facade.

Wikipedia says this store never opened, because its planned debut came just before the Wall Street crash of 1929. "It stood vacant until the end of World War II, when it housed a series of shops." Ephemeral New York, however, says Tree-Mark moved in after the big war and was there for the next 30 years.

Whatever.

When I think of the Bowery, which over decades of decline became shorthand for down-and-out, I think of the Bowery Boys, probably thanks to my Dad mentioning the fictional New York City characters from a series of movies made from 1946 to 1958. The Boys were successors to the East Side Kids, who were an imitation of the Dead End Kids.

Got all that?

Here's a sample of the Boys in action:

Shoot Your Shot at Amsterdam Billiards

From Dave Brigham:

I did not enter Amsterdam Billiards but I slept next to it on my recent trip to New York City (see my two previous posts about this short vist: February 15, 2025, "Webster Hall Was Right Across from My Hotel," and February 8, 2025, "The Carl Fischer"). Apolgies if that sounded a tad unseemly.

Located at 110 East 11th Street in Greenwich Village, the billiards joint (also a cafe and bar) was founded in 1989 by comedian David Brenner and brothers Greg and Ethan Hunt, per the joint's web site. I have fond memories of seeing Brenner on late-night talk shows and elsewhere on TV when I was a kid.

While the billiards place is 35 years old, evidently "this venue has a rich history that dates back to the charming Greenwich Village in 1940," according to this Billiard Bay article. I'm not sure if it was a pool hall back in those days, or what it was. I made the photo above because I dig the sign.

This building stands today, but a handful of buildngs of the same generation weren't so lucky, as they were torn down to make way for, ugh, the hotel where we stayed.

Webster Hall Was Right Across from My Hotel

From Dave Brigham:

As I exited the Uber that my wife, daughter and I took from the train station, I said to myself, "Whoa! We're right across from Webster Hall!"

I'm not sure why I said this, as I have no connection nor much knowledge of the historic New York City concert venue. I think I first heard of Webster Hall back in the late '90s when I worked for an Internet company and we paid attention to bands webcasting live performances from there. Anyway, let's use my lack of familiarity about this place on East 11th Street to learn something.

"Webster Hall was built in 1886 by architect Charles Rentz in the Queen Anne style and topped with an elaborate mansard roof," according to Wikipedia. "Six years later in 1892, Rentz was hired to design an addition to the building, occupying the site of 125 East 11th Street and designed in the Renaissance Revival style using the same materials as the original building. Throughout the early twentieth century the building was plagued by fires, which occurred in 1902, 1911, 1930, 1938, and 1949. The original mansard roof was likely lost in one of these fires."

Damn, did they hire an arsonist act as part of the vaudeville nights? Yeesh.

A little more from Wikipedia: "The first decade or so of Webster Hall's existence saw it host countless labor union rallies, weddings, meetings, lectures, dances, military functions, concerts, fundraisers and other events, particularly those focused on the working-class and immigrant population of the surrounding Lower East Side neighborhood. Although it also hosted many high-society functions catering to the uppertens (new word for me - DB) of the city, the hall earned a reputation as a gathering place for leftist, socialist, Anarchist and labor union activity very early on."

Since 1992, the hall has been operated by the Ballinger brothers as a place for concerts and corporate events, and includes a recording studio. The night we stayed across the street, actor and comedian John Early, who I've never heard of, was on stage.

This is the second of several quick-hit posts about some of the things I saw during a brief visit to New York City in October. The first one is available here.

The Carl Fischer

From Dave Brigham:

In mid-October my wife and I traveled with our daughter to take a tour of New York University. I had time the morning before our walkabout to check out the neighborhood, camera in hand. I headed south on 4th Avenue in Greenwich Village and within a short time found myself looking up at this amazing sign.

First, I'm happy to report that the clock inside the eighth note on the former Carl Fischer Music Building is accurate, although it appears some sort of renovation of the massive timepiece was going on. I'm also thrilled that when this music publisher's home was converted to condos, the developer kept the eye-grabbing sign. I mean, it's worth it to attract eyeballs and for giving directions, right?!

As for the building: "For over seventy-five years it housed the printery and a retail store for the Carl Fischer Music company," per this Off the Grid blog post from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. "The company’s founder, Carl Fischer, was born in Germany and immigrated to New York in 1872. He opened a musical instrument store on East 4th Street between First and Second Avenues, and soon expanded into sheet music publishing. By 1880 the company expanded to a larger space on Cooper Square, but it wasn’t until 1922 that the building we see today was built."

The company is still in business today, albeit in a different location since 1999: Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District. The company's "publications span multiple genres, ranging from concert music to jazz, classics, popular and choral works while representing the major instrumental groups, including woodwinds, strings, brass, percussion, voice, keyboard, and fretted instruments," per its web site. "Carl Fischer Music publications are available for purchase at over 2,000 retailers worldwide."

This is the first of several quick-hit posts about some of the things I saw during my brief visit to New York City.

Sneakin' Sally Through Boston's Alleys

From Dave Brigham:

There may be another song about furtively walking through the narrow back streets of a city, but I don't know of it. Robert Palmer's cornered the market in my mind, so that's the soundtrack and headline inspiration for this post about my initial exploration of a few of Boston's many public alleys. I hope to check out more as time goes on, as I am fascinated by these perfect embodiments of the backside of America.

After checking out a Boston Open Market adjacent to Boston Common on a beautiful early October Saturday, I set off to roam nearby and within a minute found myself standing in front of Public Alley 438, just north of the Arlington Street Church in Back Bay. I've walked through some of Boston's alleys before, sometimes in service of this blog, other times just for the hell of it. And for a while I've had it in my head to do a more thorough survey of them and write about them here.

So, I figured as I stood there peering into the shadows, what better time than now, with no other plan in mind for the afternoon?

The first thing that caught my eye as I strolled along this alley, which runs behind buildings on both Boylston and Newbury streets, was perhaps the ideal siting of the day.

Brooks Brothers is a storied American luxury clothing brand. Founded in 1818 in Manhattan, the retail chain has grown to include more around 150 stores worldwide, down from a high of more than 200 before the company declared bankruptcy a few years ago.

When I think of rich people, I think of Brooks Brothers. I'm sure that would swell the heart of any man wearing a Classic Fit Patch Pocket Sport Coat in Wide-Wale Cotton Corduroy. But I also love a nice contrast, such as a faded-and-amateur printed sign on a small back-alley door for one of the world's premier fashion outlets. This small, rusty and rather secure-looking door is at the rear of 46 Newbury Street, where Brooks Brothers once was located. The Boston store currently occupies 109 Newbury Street.

There are a lot of these types of small doors in Boston's public alleys, some at ground level like this one, others raised up quite a bit higher as we'll see further down this post. They were likely used for deliveries of coal or ice and other products in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

When I hit Berkeley Street, where Public Alley 438 ends, I walked north across Newbury Street and then headed east in Public Alley 437. This narrow way runs parallel to Newbury Street and Commonwealth Avenue, and, like most of the other alleys I traversed, is where people who live in this high-priced district park their cars. This alley also faces the rear end of Emmanuel Church in the City of Boston.

The church was consecrated in 1862 and was the first building completed on Newbury Street. It's a beautiful and historic house of worship, but alas, it's not perfect.

I'll forgive that small blemish, especially in light of the fact that the most adorable door I saw on this tour leads into the church.

This small door leads to the Puppeteers Collaborative and Puppet Library, which were founded in 1976 by Sara Peattie and the late George Konoff, according to this article in The Hungtington News, which is an independent student newspaper at Boston's Northeastern University.

I love that the door is child-sized, and I smile when I think of adults stooping to get into the workshop.

I didn't go to the end of this alley, as it leads under The Newbury Boston, a luxury hotel, and all I saw was a loading dock and some dumpsters. I doubled back across Berkeley Street and found myself looking at a lovely little detail on the rear of the Church of the Covenant, while standing in Public Alley 436.

Built in 1867, the church "includes 42 large Tiffany windows, a gigantic glass lantern, rare Tiffany glass mosaics, complex paint schemes, elaborate trusses and traceries, a bronze chancel rail, organ screens, decorative wainscoting, chancel furniture, a eagle lectern, a pulpit, pews, a baptismal font," per its web site.

I'd love to get inside some day to see that. But that little basement window underneath a back exit, next to a garbage can, looks pretty damn good to me, too.

So let's take a break to learn about these public alleys. There are a lot of them; the more I look at Google Maps, the more of them I find. There are also private alleys. Most, if not all, of them originally served the same purpose: as entry points for deliveries of coal, ice, food supplies and who knows what else (guns? love letters? banned books? alcohol during Prohibition?). They are located in neighborhoods where the buildings date to the mid-19th century through the early 20th.

"Originally, all of the alleys were private, with each property owner owning the land to the middle of the passageway and each deed containing easements for common passage and drainage by the owners of the other lots on the block," according to this Back Bay Houses article. "As private property, the alleys were the responsibility of the owners, not the city, to maintain. Inattention and inability to reach agreement among the owners about maintenance led to significant deterioration. In the 1890s, the poor maintenance and condition of the alleys became a matter of increasing public concern.

"In 1898, the Massachusetts Legislature granted the City of Boston the authority to take jurisdiction over alleys 25 feet or less in width....The City subsequently designated all but three alleys in the residential portion of the Back Bay as public alleys and took responsibility for their maintenance," the article continues. This designation holds for public alleys in other parts of the city.

Today, the alleys, many of which are about 16 feet wide, lead to residential parking and, in some cases, entry points into apartments and condominiums. Restaurants have large trash bins in some of the alleys, which means there are of course rats scurrying around. I imagine flooding is a problem in some of them.

I didn't see any members of the Rattus norvegicus family on this tour, but I did see chained-up bicycles, idling food-delivery scooters, other folks ambling along, back windows into expensive shops and much more. I imagine the alleys see their share of drug-dealing and prostitution in certain areas, as well as quirky middle-aged men making photos of rusty fire escapes, odd doorways and church windows.

OK, let's get back to the sites.

Where Public Alley 436 meets Clarendon Street, I made a photo of a back gate and a lovely trio of windows.

This is the rectory of nearby Trinity Church. The building dates to 1880 and was designed by architecture giant H.H. Richardson, per Wikipedia. I featured this building in a post nearly five years ago about this area of Boston (see March 11, 2020, "A Walk Through Boston's Back Bay & Copley Square").

I continued west down Public Alley 435 and there, across from a trio of what are likely very expensive parking spaces, and a garage with a fenced patio on top (some real money here...), I was happy to see a side alley with garbage cans and other signs of the back of a restaurant.

I love skirting the edges of society, where different cultures, lifestyles, economic positions and ways of life clash. That's what I liked most about exploring the alleys of the ritzy area of Back Bay: lots of money in the parking spots and condos and private gardens and shops and restaurants. But a different reality, in the form of garbage, smelly puddles, rat traps, dark corners and hidden history stands right there, too.

I crossed Dartmouth Street and near the western end of Public Alley 434, I saw some Mexican pride hanging in a window at the rear of 184 Commonwealth Avenue.

In a few steps I was agog at one of my favorite buildings in Boston: the First Spiritual Temple at the corner of Exeter and Newbury Streets. Even standing in the shadows of an alley, with little room to step back, look up and take in all the grandeur of Hartwell and Richardson's creation, I was in awe.

I wrote about this slab of magnificence in early 2020 (see February 5, 202, "God -> Movies -> Books -> Food -> Education").

I crossed Exeter Street and headed down Public Alley 433. I dug the very non-chic back entrance to 208 Commonwealth Avenue, where condos run in excess of $700,000.

At the intersection of Fairfield Street and Public Alley 432 is a lovely building known historically as the Asa Potter house. I was hypnotized by the fire escapes.

The house was completed in 1877 and had one of the first residential elevators in the Back Bay, per this article at Back Bay Houses.

A short distance west along the alley and I encountered a tableau of colors too lovely to ignore.

This is the back door to La Neta Pinche Taco Shop, at 255 Newbury Street. There's so much going on in this scene: the blue trash bin contrasting with the white linen box; the yellow cage for propane tanks bumping against the white barrels; the green trash bin anchoring the right side; the boxes and plastic storage containers filled with ingredients; the scooter that an employee might have ridden to work. All of these items tell stories about the food industry that most customers don't see or think about.

Speaking of the food industry....

Across Gloucester Street, at the east end of Public Alley 431, is Casa Romero, a Mexican restaurant that's been in business since 1972. When I posted this photo on Instagram, a few of my followers vouched for the eatery's excellence. This place has to be good, considering its alleyway entrance.

Continuing across Hereford Street and into Public Alley 430, I came across one of the more decadent elements I've seen in the Back Bay.

What this not-so-great photo is showing you is part of an extensive roof deck/parking garage/covered parking structure that stretches behind several Commonwealth Avenue buildings, some of which are ivy-covered. I tried to find out more about this feature, but was unable to do so. If anyone knows about it, please share.

Just before the western end of Public Alley 430 at Massachusetts Avenue, the combination of window reflection, peeling paint (ironic considering this is at the rear of a Johnson Paint store) and some scuffed-up brick spoke to me.

I headed south on Mass. Ave., unsure exactly where I would find my next alley, although I knew there were plenty of options. I went east on Boylston Street, then past the beautiful pair of buildings occupied by Boston Architectural College and Boston Fire Department's Ladder 15 and Engine 33 companies, and turned north on Hereford Street. And boom - Public Alley 444 to my left.

The small brick building in the foreground may have been a stable or firehouse in its original incarnation, based on its front facade. The Brutalist building looming in the background is the primary home of the previously mentioned architectural college (I believe the shorter brick building is also part of that institution). The six-story concrete block, which was completed in 1966, was designed by Ashley, Meyer & Associates. The 50-foot architectural trompe l'oeil mural seen here from the alley was painted on the west elevation in 1979 by artist Richard Haas.

I headed back across Hereford and into Public Alley 443, where I immediately saw a curious white door about 6-8 feet above the sidewalk.

I can picture a horse-drawn wagon from Brookline Ice & Coal slogging through the mud, stopping in front of this door and loading product into a kitchen or boiler room. This is the rear of The Tennis & Racquet Club, which was founded in 1902 in this Classical Revival building designed by the firm of Parker & Thomas. "[T}he oldest athletic and social club in the city of Boston...[t]he club is known for its century-old tradition of court tennis (the regal, slate-walled ancestors of all racquet sports), the unique and exciting game of racquets, and its top-rated squash program," per its web site.

I can smell the sweat of early-20th century Boston Brahmins through the walls, and taste their cognac.

(No trespassing sign right around the corner from the funky white door.)

Several restaurants and bars back up to Public Alley 443. Below is one of many large garbage bins located there.

I believe "NNN" refers to this band, who I'd never heard of.

I debated making the photo below, as it's a personal decoration outside someone's apartment window. But I couldn't resist.

After crossing Fairfield Street into Public Alley 441, I made the shot below. That rusty duct just hit me right.

A little further down that alley, I felt the need to document the truth of the sign below.

Correct. There are no dumpsters here. But what's in that rat death trap?

Below is my favorite image from my back-alley jaunt.

I don't recall exactly where this totally random set of lockers was located, and it doesn't even matter. I just love the light blue of the lockers against the reds and whites and browns of the bricks. And I wonder: who put the lockers there? Why? Why are some of them open? And what's with the paint can?

I went back across Exeter Street into Public Alley 440. There, I found the sneaky way into Old South Church.

The sanctuary rose in 1875, the third building to stand on this site.

To wrap up my trip, I took a rare selfie in Public Alley 439, somewhere between Dartmouth and Clarendon streets.

Hope you enjoyed this trek through the underbelly of one of Boston's most chic neighborhoods. Keep your eyes peeled for more back-alley adventures in the near future!