I See Dead People's Graves

From Dave Brigham:

I made a plan on a lovely Saturday last fall to return to Evergreen Cemetery in Boston's Brighton neighborhood, but a crappy football team got in my way. I'd made a few photos there many years ago while taking my son to watch trolleys come and go along the adjacent Green line (see July 18, 2013, "Cool Stones," from the blog's minimalist era).

I wanted to look for more cool gravestones and check out the quaint chapel at the entrance to the cemetery. But about halfway through the relatively short drive from my house, I realized there was a Boston College (2025 record: 2-10) football game slated for that afternoon less than a quarter-mile from my destination, and that parking would be difficult near the graveyard.

So I pivoted, and ended up at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

I've walked through the cemetery many times over the years, and featured it in a post about Watertown (see October 9, 2021, "It's Hip to Be Coolidge Square"). The world-famous boneyard spans Watertown and Cambridge, with the majority of it located in the former.

"Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1831 with a most ambitious vision. Within a forested landscape nestled between Cambridge and Watertown, our founders created an extraordinary place, one where the living mourner would come to find solace and the public would come to find inspiration," per the cemetery's web site.

"The founders envisioned the Cemetery as the place where the great and the good of Boston — without restrictions on religion or race — would be remembered and celebrated for all of time in a setting of exceptional beauty. Nearly 190 years [they need to update this part- DB] and more than 100,000 burials later, we continue to honor that founding vision, offering burial space and end-of-life services to families in their time of need and preserving this landscape of memory for 200,000 annual visitors."

This place really is spectacular, a true Greater Boston gem. The trees, the crypts, the paths, the gravestones, the tower - it's like walking through a dreamscape.

I entered off of Grove Street in Watertown, parked and went for a stroll.

In many cemeteries, a tomb like this would be the pinnacle of burial chic. In Mount Auburn, this one elicits reactions such as, "Oh, look, another one with an angel inscribing something on a tablet." Still, amazing.

I was pleasantly surprised to see more modern grave-top adornments.

I wonder if this Samuel Osgood is related to the fourth postmaster of the United States and former member of the Massachusetts and New York legislatures, Samuel Osgood.

I love the signs and the names of the various paths located throughout the cemetery.

A barberry (berberis vulgaris) "is a shrub in the genus Berberis native to the Old World," per Wikipedia. "It produces edible but sharply acidic berries, which people in many countries eat as a tart and refreshing fruit."

I wish I'd made note of the family interred in the massive and stunning crypt in the background.

I wonder if the Legg family buried beneath the cross shown below had anything to do with L'eggs pantyhose.

I've seen graves with coins and stones on them, but this is the first time I've spotted gourds.

There are tableaux like the two shown below everywhere you turn at Mount Auburn.

The most impressive mausoleum I saw -- the cemetery is huge, so there may be others that are more magnificent -- belongs to Ralph Huntington White and his family.

Ralph H. White founded a business in 1853 that grew to include a department store in downtown Boston by the early 1860s, per Wikipedia. R.H. White was acquired by the Filene's department store chain in 1928. Sixteen years later, City Stores, Inc., acquired R.H. White, Wikipedia indicates.

"Both these companies continued the independent existence of the R. H. White brand and store. In 1953 the store celebrated its centennial with a makeover and refurbishment of the flagship store, and various events," Wikipedia continues. "But urban decay had crept up to the lower edge of the downtown shopping area where R. H. White was located (the so-called Combat Zone would soon spring up a few blocks away). By 1956 sales were down and the store was no longer profitable; City Stores closed the flagship downtown store in 1957."

R.H. White soldiered on with branch stores in suburban malls, until City Stores closed the outfit in 1980.

As for White's mausoleum, it was designed by architect Willard Sears, who was known for his work on numerous residences in Boston's Back Bay, as well as other Hub buildings including what is now known as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

White's final resting place "looks for all the world like the town hall of a thriving metropolis. The massive cupola, that looks like a bell tower without the bell, is supported by 12 Ionic columns. Circling the top of the dome is a ring of garlands," according to a write-up at Mausoleums.com by Douglas Keister.

The most majestic grave marker I saw was for Charles (1823-1887) and Sarah (1827-1888) Whitney.

From the Mount Auburn Cemetery Instagram: "Charles Whitney...worked with his father and brother in one of the largest lumber enterprises in the United States and gave generously to charitable causes for the poor. For his family lot at Mount Auburn, he commissioned the Italian artist Nicola Cantalamessa-Papotti to carve a large, marble memorial (1883). The sculptor carved the Whitney memorial in Italy. The operatic ensemble, which depicts an angel with outstretched wings surmounting a large sarcophagus, rises majestically on the sloping hill of Oriole Path. A plump putto, a winged figure of a child sits at the base of the sarcophagus holding two floral wreaths."

I encourage you to visit the cemetery at your earliest convenience.

Booze + Broads

From Dave Brigham:

In early February , I picked up a framed print I had on display as part of the Small Stones Festival of the Arts in Grafton, Mass. Before swinging by the Brigham Hill Community Barn to retrieve my work, I drove somewhat aimlessly through the neighboring towns of Worcester and Auburn, looking for things to shoot with my camera.

OK, my drive wasn't completely haphazard; I've had Lamplighter II, a shuttered strip club in Worcester, on my radar ever since I began compiling potential sites for my series on New England's second-largest city (see this post from last September, which includes links to eight prior installments about Worcester).

Along with diners, movie theaters and bowling alleys, gentlemen's clubs are vestiges of a dingier past, and that's the sort of stuff I find image-worthy. I've featured strip clubs before on the blog - see this post about the vestiges of Boston's Combat Zone; this post about a former club in Chelsea, Mass.; check out this installment of my Worcester series, which leads off with mention of Hurricane Betty's; and this post about Springfield, Mass.

After circling around for a while, I came upon Chieftain Liquors along Route 12 in Auburn, and slammed on the brakes in a way that I absolutely do not recommend.

I'm not sure how long Chieftain has been in business, but it's long enough that the store once had a neon sign. According to Roadside Architecture, the neon was replaced with backlit plastic several years ago.

There you go - booze + broads, in reverse order.

As a friend said when I posted these photos on Facebook, "You go to all the best places!"

Records, Wrecks + Religion

From Dave Brigham:

I used to love going to record stores and flipping through albums, EPs, 7-inches, cassette tapes and, as time wore on, CDs, hunting for punk, post-punk, New Wave, blues, classic rock, etc.

I still hit such shops once in a while, mainly looking for used country records, and always keep my eyes peeled for the stores when I'm out and about with my camera. I've featured images of record stores in plenty of blog posts, including in Gardner, Mass., Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood, Beverly, Mass., Worcester, Mass., Central Square in Cambridge, Mass., Ball Square in Somerville, Mass., Boston's Allston neighborhood, Natick, Mass., Belmont, Mass., and others that I didn't take the time to look up.

I recently decided I wanted to make photos of as many Boston-area record stores as I can. With that in mind, I headed to Mattapan, specifically the north-central part of the Boston neighborhood, along its commercial spine, Blue Hill Avenue. There, I found one that will be hard to beat, aesthetic-wise.

Founded in 1981, Taurus Records specializes in reggae, soca and Calypso in their mission to bring "the rich sounds of the Caribbean to their new community," per the store's web site. "Our store remains a hub for music lovers, where culture is celebrated and the beats of Jamaica live on. For us, it's more than just a business; it's a celebration of heritage, a community gathering space, and a tribute to the unifying power of music," the shop's owners, Sonia Barnett and Leroy Webb, profess on their web site.

Taurus also sells jewelry, apparel, car accessories, flags and other merchandise.

I walked around a bit, making sure to get a shot of the Mattapan Auto Body shop, which also houses All Star Motor Group.

I'm guessing the building dates to the 1920s or 1930s, and that the business has been around for a few decades at least. I really dig the signage.

The last place I checked out on my quick trip was the Lily of the Valley Baptist Church, at Blue Hill Avenue and Hosmer Street.

The church was founded in 1984, I believe. The building looks like it may have originally been a store or a warehouse.

For the other post I've written about Mattapan, see August 16, 2018, "The Lowdown on the High-Speed Line", about the quaint branch of Boston's rail system located about 1.5 miles south of the Baptist church, just on the Milton line.

The Get-Fresh Flow

From Dave Brigham:

And now for something just a little bit different: photos taken at night last November, after the annual Gathering of the Webnerdz at Summer Shack in Cambridge, Mass.

What? Not familiar with the Gathering of the Webnerdz? Let me explain.

From 1995 to 2001, I worked (initially for stock options that -- spoiler alert! -- turned out to be worthless) for a digital media company that did business under the name Webnoize. Two dozen years after the company went belly up, I still get together at least twice a year with a cohort of former coworkers.

As part of a 2024 feature about Stoneham, Mass., I wrote about the company's former office (see April 6, 2024, "Strolling Through Stoneham"). I also mentioned Webnoize's Cambridge office in a 2023 post (see June 17, 2023, "Cambridgeport, Part I: MIT/Biotechs/Nuclear Reactor/and Maybe Death Rays").

Anywho....

As I'd done once before, after gorging myself with food and beer and plenty of great conversation, I parted ways with my friends and hit the streets of the Fresh Pond neighborhood, camera in hand. I parked at the Fresh Pond Mall, and headed south on New Street, which runs between the shopping complex and Danehy Fields.

I've driven on this street many times over the years, but had no idea of the history of this area. That's why I wander and make photos - so I can research and learn and share.

Alongside several new apartment buildings and a restaurant, there are auto body shops, a public works parking lot and other remnants of older Cambridge. This Cambridge was more polluted and industrial, something that some newer residents might know nothing about.

In 2022, I explored nearby in North Cambridge, and learned about the area's brick-making and chemical maufacturing history (see December 10, 2022, "All About the Alewife Area" and December 3, 2022, "Tip-toeing Through North Cambridge").

Where today stand apartment buildings and life-sciences complexes and athletic fields and much more, there were once industries that polluted the ground and water. While many of those environmental hazards have been cleaned up, the area that I'm covering in this post seems to be in flux.

Located near the southern tip of a long, narrow wedge of land between Apple Cinemas and the eastern shore of Fresh Pond, Black Magic Chimney & Fireplace has been in business since 1978. Less than 1/10th of a mile south is a similar, yet unrelated, business: Adams Fireplace Shop.

"Specializing in antique and reproduction fireplace equipment and antique lighting since 1908," per the company's web site, Adams Fireplace is situated between a Sunoco gas station and an old Cambridge Electric Light Co. property populated with transformers and other serious-looking equipment.

Both of these businesses back up to a long-abandoned rail spur, which was part of the old Watertown Branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad. This spur connected the main tracks, where the Fitchburg commuter train line now runs, to the former Watertown Arsenal (see June 28, 2021, "From Munitions Factory to Suburban Mall and Office Complex...and Beyond").

Much of this old right-of-way has been turned into Watertown-Cambridge Greenway. The section along New Street, running behind these businesses and others, is not part of the bike path.

A few lots north of Black Magic are two relatively new residential complexes: Park77 Apartments and Park87 Apartments.

Here's where things get awful, or should I say, offal.

"From 1901 to 1903, the Cambridge Board of Health operated a smallpox hospital on the site of 75 New Street; few of its patients survived," per a post on the Fresh Pond Residents Alliance web site from July 25, 2014. "The City burned the 'pest houses' after the epidemic.

Wow, I was NOT expecting that!

I wrote about this dread disease, and a pest house in Concord, Mass., many years ago (see January 14, 2020, "Of Pests, Pestilence & Death").

So, what became of this site after the hospital and pest houses were razed? "For more than 30 years, from 1928 to 1962, the City of Cambridge owned the land on New Street that corresponds to today’s parcels at #75 and #87. In 1930 it opened a facility to collect offal (up to 8,000 tons annually according to newspaper reports at the time), which it sold to hog farmers." Offal, per Wikipedia, is the internal organs of a butchered animal.

Alrighty, then!

The Fresh Pond Residents Alliance article linked above includes photos of one of the apartment complexes, as well as other sites along New Street, and historic maps, including one listing a site for the City Offal Dept. In 1946, the City of Cambridge bought those two sites and used them as a landfill.

Alright, I don't want to get too far into the muck. I just wanted to share what I learned about this short old street tucked away in a non-descript neighborhood of Cambridge. This is the kind of crap I love to find out about!

At the intersection of New Street, Concord Avenue and Bay State Road is a commercial building that has been empty for perhaps a few years. It was home for a long time to Sozio Appliances, part of a small chain with stores in Revere and Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

The business was founded in 1949; I'm not sure when it went out of business. In early 2018, the original store in Revere suffered a major fire, and the owners vowed to rebuild it but I don't think they did.

I used to like driving by this store and checking out the colorful appliances and dinette sets prominently displayed in the second-floor windows.

Here's a photo from the Cambridge Assessor web site showing the appliance store in its heyday.

The assessor's web site says this building dates to 1950.

Across a small rotary -- official name, Brodette Memorial Circle -- is Fresh Pond Gas, which, according to the assessor, dates to 1902!

There is a newer garage adjacent to this office/cashier building, so I assume the building above is the original structure. Or at least part of it is. Very cool.

My final exhibit is just northwest of Adams Fireplace, steps from yet another rotary: Ma Magoo's.

Founded in 1992, this family-owned pizzeria has a "cozy interior...adorned with vintage pizza-themed memorabilia, giving the space a nostalgic charm," per its web site. I haven't found an explanation for the restaurant's goofy name, which of course calls to mind this guy:

Back in the early '90s, I (mis)spent a few nights shooting pool at a place called the Hideaway Pub, which was located in the building tacked on to Ma Magoo's. I was lucky enough to be there one night for a Jagermeister t-shirt promotion....

OK, here's your headline explainer. The relationship between this song -- with it's lyric about "The jigsaw jazz and the get-fresh flow" -- and this neighborhood north of Fresh Pond is weak, sure. But hey, the song rocks.

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!