A Walk Through Boston's Back Bay & Copley Square

From Dave Brigham:

Let's get right to this review of the Copley Square/Back Back area of Boston. Like Monty Hall, I'm gonna show you a bunch of doors. I'm also going to go on perhaps too long about a travesty of architecture amid all the poshness (is that a word?) of Back Bay. And I'm going to showcase a sign unlike anything I've ever seen.

That's quite an entrance, don'tcha think? This is the Berkeley Building. Well, one of them.

Huh?

This one is located at 420 Boylston Street, on the corner of Berkeley Street. Completed in 1906, this Beaux-Arts building "was designed by Stephen Codman and Constant-Désiré Despradelle; the latter was a noted architect and professor at MIT, which at the time was located diagonally across from here," per this Lost New England article. For more pictures, inside and out, check out this web site from Finegold Alexander Architects, which renovated the building in 1989.

Tenants include CargoMetrics Technologies, Overall Capital Partners, Girl Scouts of America and the Lux Bond & Green jewelry store.

As for the other Berkeley Building, it's located at 200 Berkeley Street and is more commonly known as the Old John Hancock Building. Completed in 1947, this structure is known for a beacon atop a spire that lets Bostonians know the weather by using light patterns ("Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead").

Moving along. Let's look at some more fancy doors.

The entryway above is at 352 Boylston Street, about which I've found out very little other than that the building is owned by well-known Boston developer Ronald Druker. The Druker Company, of which he is president, has a portfolio that includes tony condo development Heritage On the Garden and the Colonnade Hotel.

The building dates to at least 1919, as this photo shows. Tenants 100 years ago included interior decorators Schervee Studios, ladies clothing store Solov-Hinds and Edward Kakas & Sons, furriers, per the photo.

The doorway below is also on Boylston Street, at #419. This building is known as Warren Chambers, and was once called the Office Building for Doctors. I'd love to know what the mosaic on the sidewalk looked like in its heyday. Tenants here include furniture retailer Pompanoosuc Mills.

No entryway in this area is as massive as the one at 501 Boylston Street.

Built in 1940 as the New England Life building, this place is now known as The Newbry. Constructed on the original site of M.I.T. and the former Boston Society of Natural History, 501 Boylston is home to a series of dioramas commissioned by the natural history museum in 1863 (see February 2, 2018, "Not at the Museum").

I'll get back to some doors and plenty of other cool stuff, but first we need to discuss two hideous Back Bay anomalies and a rare row house for this area of the Back Bay.

First, the good stuff. On the right is 406-410 Boylston, which dates to 1861, although obviously the ground floor has been severely altered. The original owner was, I kid you not, Studley Fox (actually, I think this reference provided by my pal MACRIS is incorrect; I found a listing elsewhere online for an architectural firm in Boston named Fox & Studley. Still, cool names.). "Notable building architecturally for its 19th century panel brick row structures, some of only a few which remain on Boylston St., but are typical of the remainder of Back Bay," per MACRIS.

This still mostly beautiful building has some nasty neighbors.

What the everloving Christ is going on with these buildings?!

Located smack dab in the middle of a very nice shopping district -- neighbors include the aforementioned Pompanoosuc Mills, Sassoon Salon, Au Bon Pain, Neena's Lighting and the Parish Cafe -- the buildings that many years ago housed designer shoe retailer The Tannery look like they belong on Skid Row.

Founded in Cambridge in 1973 by Lebanese immigrant Hicham “Sam” Hassan, The Tannery was by the 1990's a very successful business with at least two stores, including one in Boston. Celebrities, politicians and the well-to-do sought out shoes from the retailer, per this Boston Magazine story from 2019. In 2009, Hassan opened a three-story flagship at the corner of Boylston and Exeter streets (below), just a few blocks from the abominations above. I believe those eyesores at the time were home to a Tannery outlet store.

All seems great, right? "Outwardly, the Tannery was a thriving success story. But behind the scenes, Hassan and his business were slowly falling apart like an old pair of heels," write Chris Sweeney and Abby Bielagus in the above-linked article. That's a great line. Let's try to shorten this story: In 2016 Hassan shuttered his Cambridge store; in 2017 he filed for bankruptcy for The Tannery's parent company.

The bottom line: Hassan still owns these buildings (although I'm not sure about the one at Boylston and Exeter, which is closed). The one in the photo above with THE TANNERY sign dates to 1861; the taller one dates to 1908. These are relics of a long-gone age and if somebody had cared for them properly, they'd be architectural gems. But these things, evidently like other buildings Hassan owns in the area, have been allowed to fall into disrepair. In July 2018, a piece of one of these Boylston Street buildings fell to the sidewalk, narrowly missing pedestrians.

What a shame. I fear that by the time these buildings are sold to someone who gives a crap about preservation, it will be too late.

Alright, let's get back to our regularly scheduled programming. How about a door and its church?

Cool entryway, eh? This is the First Baptist Church of Boston on the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street. The congregation formed in 1663 in Charlestown. This building dates to, well, I'm not sure, and I don't know what congregation was in this house of worship prior to the the Baptists moving here in 1882.

Here are three more shots of the church:

The tower is currently under renovation, as a frieze by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi has suffered over the decades, per the church's web site.

One of my favorite buildings in Back Bay is 220 Clarendon Street.

Currently home to an L.A. Burdick Chocolates shop, this quaint little building dates to 1883 and was formerly home to Simon's Men's Clothing, among other shops. MACRIS lists its prior use as apartment house.

On Newbury Street, most folks look at the building below and think, "Oh, lovey, I need some stretch relaxed fit chinos from Ralph Lauren." But I think, "A pig who murdered his wife and unborn baby used to work in this building."

Two-thirds of the way up the building, you can see "KAKAS" carved into the facade. Ninety-five Newbury Street was for decades (I assume) the home of Edward F. Kakas & Sons, a company founded in 1858. In 1989, Charles Stuart was general manager at the furrier when his wife, Carol, was murdered on a Roxbury street. Stuart claimed an African-American man had shot her in the head, and him in the stomach. Stuart's story unraveled once his brother confessed that he and Stuart had conspired to murder Carol for insurance money and because Stuart was allegedly unhappy about impending parenthood. Charles Stuart jumped to his death off the Tobin Bridge not long after this information came to light. You can read more about this sordid tale here.

A little further down Newbury Street, at the end close to the Public Garden, is the hotel formerly known as the Ritz and the Taj.

This isn't a great picture, I know. Anyway, here's some history: from its opening in 1927 until 2007, this high-end hotel was the Ritz-Carlton. From that point until last fall, it was the Taj. Now refreshed and renovated after a sale, it is known as The Newbury.

The building in the photo below is a pretty cool, in my opinion.

This is the rectory for the well-known Trinity Church in nearby Copley Square. Located at the corner of Clarendon and Newbury streets, this property dates to 1880 and was built by the very famous architect Henry Hobson Richardson. It no longer serves as a rectory, but rather as office space.

I've got one more door for you.

This is the entrance to the Tennis & Racquet Club on Boylston Street, across from the Hynes Convention Center. "The Tennis and Racquet Club was founded in 1902 and remains the oldest athletic and social club in the city of Boston," per the club's web site. "The 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." I swear, I don't know what any of that means.

I'm zigzagging here. Back down Boylston Street near the Public Garden I found this ghost sign of sorts.

The Rattlesnake Bar opened in 1990, offering patrons, I don't know, food and drink, I guess. And a rooftop bar. No snakes, though. I went there once. I think. I had food and beer. But not on the rooftop. And there were no rattlesnakes. Anyway, the place was kind of an institution for young alcoholics, but it closed in 2016. The Globe Bar & Cafe moved from another spot on Boylston Street, where it had been for 10 years, into the space in 2018 and closed last year. Seriously, people, there's a message here about this space. Probably haunted.

I want to wrap up this completely random survey of Copley Square and part of Back Bay with what I consider a less than stellar photo of a completely unique and supercool sign. I'm guessing you haven't seen something like this; I know I haven't.

Yes, the photo isn't great, but the sun, while warm and pleasant, was a pain in my ass that day. Anyway, what this sign at 647 Boylston Street, across from the Boston Public Library, says is:

HABERSTROH & SON MURAL PAINTERS & DECORATORS PLAIN PAINTING * WOOD FINISHING WALL PAPERS * DRAPERIES * FURNITURE PAPIER-MACHE * STAINED GLASS * ETC

I guess we can call this a ghost sign, as it advertises a business that's long gone. But this advertisement is also art, and if left alone, it could last as long as the Great Wall of China or the Egyptian pyramids or Betty White.

From the Historic New England web site, in an article entitled, "Discoveries at the Eustis Estate: What we found in the attic":

"Lucas Haberstroh (1822-1883), who came to Boston by way of Germany and England, founded the firm L. Haberstroh & Son in 1848. His son Albert (1855-1912) joined him in 1877. The firm operated on School Street in Boston until Lucas’s death in 1883; Albert then moved the business to 9 Park Street, where it remained for more than twenty years. In 1905 Albert bought a building at 647 Boylston Street, where the firm operated until his death in 1912. To this day the façade bears the firm’s name and decorative ornamentation."

So this sign, which has been etched into metal (I think that's the material) has notified those coming to and going from 647 Boylston Street about the artisanal skills of the Haberstroh family through the sinking of the Titanic, two world wars, the Great Depression, Prohibition, the Vietnam War, the birth (and death) of Kurt Cobain, Watergate, the launch of MTV, the release of "Showgirls," the birth of my two children, the entire 86-year gap between Red Sox World Series victories, the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein, the debut of Twitter, the Grammy domination of Billie Eilish, the first foreign film to win a Best Picture Oscar and oh so much more.

Damn, that's cool.

Give Me Liberty Square...and the Financial District

From Dave Brigham:

I recently walked around Boston's Liberty Square, and part of the Financial District. Here's what I found....

I was shocked by the Hungarian Revolution Memorial in the heart of Liberty Square. Approaching it, I had no idea what it was, and as I got closer I felt a real sense of dread.

Sculpted by E. Gyuri Hollosy, the monument "depicts a nude woman holding her baby, a fallen Hungarian soldier, and multiple heads representing the students who died during the revolution," per Wikipedia. The sculpture is bronze and stands over 16 feet tall.

Once I read the plaque explaining the statue, however, I wondered how and why this monument to an uprising 4,000 miles away that resulted in the deaths of thousands and nearly a quarter-million Hungarians fleeing the country had ended up in downtown Boston.

"The monument was commissioned by the Hungarian Society of Massachusetts to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956," per Wikipedia. "It was originally dedicated on October 23, 1986, but was dismantled during November 15–16, 1986, and stored until May 1989. The work was rededicated after Liberty Square Park's plaza opened."

So there you go.

Around the corner on Broad Street I ambled past Mr. Dooley's. Opened in 1991, the bar on the outskirts of the Financial District is located in a beautiful building (below).

Catty-corner from Mr. Dooley's sits a slice of Boston history that was preserved as part of the Boulevard On the Greenway condo project.

I wrote about this building -- which was once bigger and known as the Bulfinch building -- in November 2016 (see "The Buildings That Time Forgot"). At that time, this building was two thin walls held up by braces. Here's some of what I wrote back then:

"Most recently this building and the one next to it were home to The Littlest Bar and The Times Irish Pub & Restaurant. I never went to either, although I did go to The Littlest Bar in its original location in Downtown Crossing many years ago....Built in 1805 and located hard by the Greenway, the Bulfinch building was originally a warehouse for goods coming off nearby wharves (back before the city installed fill to make itself bigger).

According to the [Boston Globe] article, the outside of the building was declared a landmark, but the interior wasn't, because it had been changed significantly over the years. After negotiating with the city's Landmarks Commission, the developer, New Boston Ventures, agreed to keep the portion of the building....and to incorporate it into a 12-story condo development."

If you are able to, enlarge the photo to see the ghost sign for The Littlest Bar just below the first row of windows.

Not far away, on Batterymarch Street, I looked up and saw this sign.

So what is the Supreme Council Royal Arcanum? After scanning through the organization's web site, I can't tell you. Not because of some "If I tell you, I have to kill you" reason. No, simply because I don't understand the group's gibberish.

"The Royal Arcanum is the only surviving founding member of the American Fraternal Alliance (formerly the National Fraternal Congress of America), an organization representing 70 fraternal benefit societies and millions of fraternalists." The group's objectives include:

"Uniting fraternally all eligible male and female persons of sound bodily health and good moral standing, who are socially acceptable." (Italics added by me.)

"Giving moral and material aid within its power to its members and those dependent on them."

"Teaching morality without religious distinction, patriotism without partisanship, and brotherhood without creed or class."

"Assisting the families of deceased members."

So, I guess it's a social fabric/charitable organization/insurance company? Dunno. Founded in 1877, the Royal Arcanum placed 15th on the "23 Most Powerful Secret Societies" list published in March 2018 by something called 24/7 Wall St. Seriously.

Located a stone's throw from Mr. Dooley's, 22 Batterymarch Street (below) was built in the late 1800s and is on the National Register of Historic Places, according to 42 Floors.

Batterymarch Street is so named because of a "company of British soldiers that marched from their barracks to the South Battery and back again every day" during Colonial times, according to always helpful Next Phase Blog.

I love when street names are carved into the exterior of buildings. Running two blocks from John F. Fitzgerald Surface Road near the Greenway to Broad Street, Central Street used to push along one more block to Kilby Street. According to this very thorough MIT report, buildings in this area were torn down in the 1940s to make room for a parking lot, truncating Central Street. On the plus side, "while excavating the old Central Street parking lot to prepare for 75 State Street's foundation, wood from the old wharves used for land fill were dug up," per the MIT document.

Now let's moved out of the Greater Mr. Dooley's Area, to another fringe of the Financial District: Pearl Street near Purchase Street, near the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The above photo shows the middle of what is known as the Richardson Block. Built in the immediate years after the Great Boston Fire of 1872, this block in part used granite and brick salvaged from buildings that had previously stood on the site, per Wikipedia. "The area was an important locus of the leather goods business both before and after the fire."

Above is a shot of most of the block including, at the far left, Biddy Early's Pub. Established in 1993, the bar is named for Bridget Ellen "Biddy" Early, an Irish herbalist who was accused in her homeland of conducting witchcraft.

The Richardson Block was undergoing some construction when I took these photos many months ago, as you can see by the scaffold in the first picture. I'm not sure if it's just cosmetic or if something more involved is going on. Ten years ago the Boston Redevelopment Authority (now known as the Boston Planning & Development Agency) issued a Greenway District Planning Study, which in part mentioned the possibility of redeveloping the Richardson Block.

P>The block "represents one of the few remaining Greenway sites capable of supporting significant density," the report states. "Because of its unique location relative to the orientation of the parks, significant heights are possible with minimal shadow impact on the Greenway. From an Urban Design standpoint, the heights are supported by three other adjacent Financial District towers. At the ground plane, the existing historic buildings, particularly along Pearl Street, should be preserved either in whole or in part to retain the character of the street there and to provide a lower-rise base to support a tower."

So, like so many of Boston's iconic brick and stone buildings, the Richardson Block likely some day soon will present a historic facade for a sleek glass tower.

Around the corner, on High Street, I saw the funky sculpture below.

Crafted by Lars-Erik Fisk, the "T ball," as I call it, is made of polycarbonate and is modeled after Red Line subway trains. The sculptor also installed a larger sphere that looks like the Green Monster scoreboard at Fenway Park.

Finally, at the other end of the Financial District, I found this unusual view.

I took this photo while standing on Quaker Lane near the Old State House. We're looking at the backsides of the following buildings, from left to right: 13-15 Congress Street, 19-21 Congress Street (with the fantastic fire escapes), 33-35 Congress Street and 40 Water Street. Quaker Lane is little more than an alley connecting Devonshire and Congress streets, with a loop going around the buildings in the above photo. According to online accounts, the lane is so named because it once ran past a Quaker meetinghouse and cemetery.

Below is the backside of 27 State Street, which is also along Quaker Lane. The fire escapes are similar to the ones in the above photo. They're quite spectacular.

Such an unassuming little byway now, Quaker Lane stands to become the exterior focal point of an ongoing redevelopment.

Go back and look at the penultimate photo above. The glass curtain that forms an upside-down "L" along the right side gives you an idea of the work that's being done by Related Beal, which has developed numerous high-profile Greater Boston properties. The company is in the midst of reimagining five interconnected buildings, four of which appear in that photo. The former headquarters of Fidelity Investments, the complex is now known as Congress Square. Check out this web page to see the dramatic transformation.

"The new Congress Square is for companies seeking creative and innovative space with superb amenities in a high energy Downtown location," per the development's web site. Related Beal also plans retail and restaurant spaces in the development, including some that face onto Quaker Lane. The goal is make this somewhat dark pass-through into a vibrant entertainment, shopping and nightlife destination.

I look forward to checking out the Congress Square of the future....

Tom Brady Slept Here

From Dave Brigham:

You like my new digs?

Located along Commonwealth Avenue in Boston's Back Bay, this place is just absolutely amazing. Known as the Burrage House, this mansion was built in 1899 as a private residence. Over the years, it was converted to doctors' offices, and then the Boston Evening Clinic, and then a nursing home, before being redeveloped as condos, according to a 1989 Boston Landmarks Commission report.

The 28-room mansion was built for lawyer and philanthropist Albert C. Burrage and his family, at a cost of $600,000, which is about $18.5 million in today's dollars. Per Wikipedia, Burrage was affiliated with several Boston-area gas light companies, was involved in copper mining and served on the Boston Transit Commission, which was responsible for building the city's subway system, the oldest in the United States.

The home remained in the Burrage clan until 1947, when the attorney's wife, Alice, died.

Tom Brady lived here many years ago, according to the Internet. Condos here have sold for in excess of $10 million.

Shoot It If You Got It

From Mr. Smoke Too Much:

Last fall, at a presentation at the Newton Camera Club, I learned an important lesson: if you find something you like, shoot the hell out of it.

And so I did, this past Thanksgiving, when I was staying at a hotel in Windsor, CT.

I shot this lovely old tobacco barn once before (see September 20, 2017, "One-Stop Barnstorming Tour"). This time around, I got a little more up close and personal.

This property is home to Foundation Cigar Company, which, in the video below, claims the land is "one of the oldest tobacco fields in Connecticut." The video features this barn.

The company's founder and owner, Nick Melillo, wants to bring the tobacco industry back in the Nutmeg State, as he told the local NBC affiliate last year.

Foundation isn't growing tobacco on this property right now, as far as I can tell. The company's headquarters is in an old farm house on the property. The company grows tobacco elsewhere locally, and ships the product to Nicaragua to be cured for two to three years, per the local TV interview linked above.

Hell Bent for the Leather District

From Dave Brigham:

Most times I ride the subway with my son, we eat lunch at Boston's South Station train terminal. After eating, I head out to explore various neighborhoods. For some reason, it took me a few years to come up with the brilliant idea of checking out the nearby Leather District, where I worked back in the early '90s.

Before you let your mind drop into the gutter -- not that far a fall, I imagine -- this neighborhood has nothing to do with bondage and S&M. Not that there would be anything wrong with it if that were the case.

From Wikipedia: "The district did not exist until Boston's land-making expansions filled in the former South Cove during the 1830s, making way for the development of this area as well as Chinatown. It was at first developed as a residential area, but became the center of the city's leather industry after the Great Boston Fire of 1872, which devastated the city's business district and led to the introduction of stringent commercial fire codes."

The Leather District is a very small, but vibrant and architecturally spectacular neighborhood bounded by Atlantic Avenue to the east, Essex Street to the north, John F. Fitzgerald Road to the west and Kneeland Street to the south. It sits between the South Station train and bus terminals, Chinatown, the Financial District and a tangle of highway ramps. I'm really glad I checked it out on a beautiful day. Here's what I found, in no particular order.

There is so much going on with this building at 137-139 South Street (above). What caught my eye was the porthole at the roofline. What the heck is that thing? Is there an outhouse topside? From there, the eye moves to the two V-shaped fire escapes, and the truncated third one. The building is busy with different window styles, but I like that. And I dig the awning over the entryway. Built in 1887, this Romanesque Revival beauty is home to, among other commercial and possibly residential tenants, product development and marketing company Perfect Curve.

Right next door, at 127-133 South Street is the Beebe Building, home to Les Zygomates wine bar and restaurant.

Built in 1886, this place is named for leather goods company Lucius Beebe & Sons, which moved into the building in 1930, per my favorite online research tool, the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS).

Located at the corner of South and Essex streets, 79-99 South Street is home to the NonProfit Center, which comprises more than 50 such organizations.

This big block of a building dates to 1899 and is also home to 85 residential condos known as Lincoln Plaza.

Just across narrow Tufts Street from Lincoln Plaza is 103-109 South Street, below, home to, among other tenants, a NOBULL athletic shoe and apparel store.

The building dates to 1886.

Across South Street, at the corner of East Street, is the stunning building below.

Home to BFS Business Printing, among other businesses, 76-86 South Street was built in 1895. The first known tenant was the leather firm of Hall, Haight & Co., per MACRIS. Previous owners include Fannie Edson Demmon Morrison, daughter of the original owner, and her husband, Barnabus Thacher Morrison (LOVE THOSE NAMES!!), and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Currently the building is owned by a group of artists, as is the case elsewhere in the Leather District, where many artists and galleries can be found.

There are many other buildings along South Street that look as awesome as the few I've posted above. But there's nothing like the one below.

Located on the corner of Kneeland Street, the South Street Diner has served food day and night (and overnight) to factory workers (back in the mid-20th century), artists who live in the neighborhood, tourists, area businesspeople and those desperate for something to soak up their late-night alcohol intake since the late 1940s.

From 1991 to 1993 I worked across the street at a real estate publishing company, and dined at the eatery (then known as the Blue Diner) a handful of times. Once, from our vantage point on the fifth floor, a coworker and I noticed that the iconic coffee cup sign on the diner's roof had blow off in a heavy rainstorm. We had the receptionist call down to notify the diner's owner. We all felt bad, however, when a couple of guys climbed out onto the roof in the torrential rain and had to wrestle against the wind to get the wooden sign down and back inside to safety

(210 South Street, where I worked in the early '90s, is now condos.)

To learn about just how important the diner is to the Leather District, and Boston in general, and to see cool old photos of the place and hear how it was saved from having to cut back its hours, check out the short documentary below.

24 Hours At The South Street Diner | Long Haul Films Documentary Short Film Production Company from Long Haul Films on Vimeo.

One more quick anecdote about the time I spent working in this neighborhood, and then I'll move on to more cool buildings and other stuff. Partway through my tenure on South Street, a lingerie store moved in a few doors down. While South Street isn't far from Boston's former Combat Zone -- aka the red light district -- such a business was out of place among the artist lofts, galleries, restaurants and boring businesses like the place I worked. I didn't think much of the store for the first week or two. But eventually I realized that most of the customers walking in and out were men, and they didn't look like drag queens. Then I noticed several young, thin, attractive women wearing long coats and high heels walking in and out and hanging around outside the store. I wasn't sure what to make of this, until a coworker told me that the women worked at the store, and would model the lingerie for men who were looking to purchase lacy underthings for their lady friends (or whoever....). I have no idea if anything untoward (what a great word) went on in the store, but it's certainly possible. I don't think the store lasted very long.

(This is where the lingerie shop was. Maybe if the owners had gone for a "leather and lace" thing, the store would have succeeded.)

Just up Kneeland Street from the diner I found this shuttered nightclub.

Closed down in 2013, the Splash Ultra Lounge & Burger Bar was cited and closed temporarily the year prior for overcrowding and serving alcohol to minors. The club's owner stated after the permanent closure that he would open the space again and call it Bliss. That appears never to have happened. In 2018, the Hudson Group announced a plan to build a 20-story hotel on the site. I'm not sure of the status of that proposed project.

Continuing west on Kneeland Street, you will come to this imposing, block-long building.

Once known as the Albany Building, this is 179 Lincoln Street. Built in 1899, this Beaux Arts-style beauty was designed by Peabody & Stearns, and was restored a decade ago by Millennium Partners. "Initial tenants included the United States Shoe Machinery Company, the U.S. Thread Company, and the Frank W. Whitcher Company, dealers in leather manufacturing," per the linked article above. In more recent years, it was home to Teradyne, a developer of automatic test equipment. Currently, companies including Smartsheet, PowerAdvocate, OUTFRONT Media, XPO Logistics and Mad*Pow call this place home.

(Looking down Lincoln Street, with the former Albany Building on the left.)

Heading north on Lincoln Street, I saw this little tableau.

I'll get to the building on the left below. In the middle is the Crawford Building, which was built in 1905 and over the years held businesses in the leather and shoe industries, among others. On the right is the Snider-Druker building, which dates to 1922 and was home to shoe-related businesses from then to at least the 1970s, per MACRIS.

Below, on the right, is the Crawford Building. In the middle is the William M. Bunting Building, which dates to 1899. The building was home to a wholesale shoe company in 1930, per MACRIS. The building on the left is currently home to the Empire Auction House.

Next in line to these buildings is 162-164 Lincoln Street, the Haskins-Hamburger Building.

Now home to the Corner Pub, this building, which dates to 1840, is probably the oldest in the Leather District. Per MACRIS: "Structure is 5-story remnant of Greek Revival row house, the last remaining example within the Leather District of a building type which once characterized the entire area from the 1840s-1880s. Other, better preserved examples, however, still remain in the Chinatown area."

How cool is that?! Here's some more great history from MACRIS: This area quickly became "a low rent district, [and] it was inhabited by the Irish and other immigrant groups for many years, until its redevelopment by the leather industry beginning in the 1880s....In 1877, the building was occupied by J.W, David & Co., groceries, O.A. Babb, provisions, and Al. Watts, dog & pigeon repository.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

The Haskins of the building's history comes from the heirs of Ralph Haskins, a well-to-do merchant who died in the 19th century. The Hamburger name comes from the Hamburger Brothers Shoe Company, per MACRIS.

The Corner Pub seems like a fun place, a great hangout for locals.

Continuing down Lincoln Street, we come to a building with a fancy "F."

This is 134-144 Lincoln, which dates to 1889. The original owner of 138-144 was Boston merchant Jonathan French, so I assume that's why the big "F" is up there. French was quite wealthy and "was for many years president of the Forest Hill Cemetery Association," per MACRIS. "He was a donor and member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; a life member of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society 1882; a member of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the American Pomological Society (the oldest fruit-growing society in the country)."

Next on our tour is 130-132 Lincoln Street, aka the J. Franklin Faxon Building, in the middle of the photo below.

This building seems like it should have two fancy "F" medallions on it. But alas, it has none. Built in 1889 and designed by William Ralph Emerson, . Among the early tenants were leather, shoe and perfume companies. Faxon was a merchant and real estate developer.

Directly across Lincoln Street from these wonderfully maintained historic buildings sits....

....a parking garage with retail on the ground level, including a C-Mart supermarket and Hei La Moon, a two-level banquet hall-style dim sum restaurant in Boston, according to this web site. Built in the 1950s, this hideous place faces Lincoln Street on one side, and looks out across John Fitzgerald Surface Road to Chinatown on the other side. Oxford Properties has proposed demolishing this building and erecting a 24-floor office building with retail, commercial and restaurant space on lower levels.

Steps away from the C-Mart is a tiny oasis known as the Greenway Lincoln Street Triangle, which features the mural below.

The artist, Mia Cross, launched her career in 2014 after graduating from Boston University.

Around the corner from Cross's mural, on Essex Street near South Station, is a plaque marking the approximate birthplace of Henry Knox, a brigadier general during the American Revolution and the nation's first secretary of war.

I have written previously -- see this and this -- about other memorials to Knox, who passed through Massachusetts from Fort Ticonderoga in New York in the winter of 1775-1776 to deliver to Gen. Washington "the train of artillery....used to force the British Army to evacuate Boston."

The Knox plaque is affixed to the side of the Plymouth Rock Assurance building on the corner of Atlantic Avenue.

Built in 1899 as the Essex Hotel, this proud and beautiful building is "one of only 2 complete steel frame structures constructed prior to 1900 within Leather District," per MACRIS.

Further down Atlantic Avenue, I saw this funny little scene at the rear of the aforementioned 210 South Street.

As the mailroom guy at the publishing company, I sometimes had to retrieve our daily bucket of mail off the back dock. While standing there, I would marvel at the construction work going on just across Atlantic Avenue that was part of the massive Big Dig project.

Speaking of back doors....

Located along Utica Street, which is really just an alleyway, this is the rear entrance/exit for Figaro's, a gourmet sandwich shop on Beach Street. Below are a few more shots from Utica Street.

(Big things used to go in and out this door.)

(Heavy things used to drop down this shaft way.)

(I'm not sure whether this pedestrian bridge is still active. I hope it is.)

Back out on Kneeland Street there is a building that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Currently the district six headquarters of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, this gleaming white behemoth has some architectural similarities to the classic buildings in the Leather District. Set back from Kneeland Street and hard by a highway off-ramp, this place just can't blend in. Built (not sure when) for Wang Laboratories, this property is one of two parcels in this area that the Commonwealth has been trying to redevelop for years.

The second property may be more difficult to redevelop, seeing as how it's got a massive steam plant on it.

This is the place, owned by a newly spun off company called Vicinity Energy (formerly Veolia). The idea for redevelopment is that Vicinity would build a smaller plant on the site, and the existing one would come down.

Right next to the steam plant is Reggie Wong Park, which naturally local residents want preserved in one way or another.

Wong was a well-known and popular Chinatown and Leather District pub owner, sports organizer, activist and, it seems from this obituary, all-around great guy.

So, you're asking yourself, and if you're not, I'm going to ask for you: "Is there any 'leather' left in this district?"

Yes and no. Yes, the word is there on this building at 20 East Street. But no, Boston Hide & Leather isn't a going concern. Built in 1919, this property was evidently a warehouse for the company, whose headquarters were on nearby Essex Street.

I was glad to see there are still some art galleries in the neighborhood, although I think their numbers have gone down in the quarter-century since I haunted the Leather District.

G Gallery on South Street showcases the work of Giovanni Decunto, an expressionist painter who grew up in Lawrence, Mass.

I'm gonna wrap up this tour with a place that perhaps more than any other Leather District property embodies both Boston's sepia-toned past and its internationally flavored present.

Located across from the Boston Hide building, 9 East Street was built in 1923 as the home for Engine No. 7 of Boston's fire department. According to MACRIS, this site was home to a fire house going back at least as far as 1874. Engine No. 7 moved from this site, and the South Leather Co. moved here in 1956.

For the last 12 years, this space has been home to O ya Boston, an incredibly high-end Japanese restaurant that has won rave reviews and accolades including 2008's "best new restaurant outside New York City" by Frank Bruni of the New York Times. "In its July issue, Food & Wine named chef-owner Tim Cushman a Best New Chef 2008," per this glowing review.

I had no idea when I walked by here that O ya was a restaurant. I suppose I should have guessed by the Japanese screening in the window, and the lanterns on either side, but frankly the sign is so low-key and the doorway a bit recessed, that unless you're cool and hip and rich and in-the-know (everything I'm not), you would have no clue that this is a place where you can drop a few hundred bucks on dinner with your shnookums.

OK, I hope you enjoyed this walkabout in the Leather District. It's a feast for the eyes and you can easily stroll through it in an hour or so and then grab a drink or bite to eat and call your day complete.

Here's your headline explainer: