Shining a Light On Brighton Center

From Dave Brigham:

It seems as though just about everyone under the age of 30 who has spent any amount of time living in or around Boston at some point did a hitch in the city's Brighton neighborhood. I lived there for three years while my girlfriend, now wife, was in law school a quarter-century ago. As such, I spent a fair amount of time driving through different sections of Brighton on the way across the Charles River to Harvard Square or to see friends in Somerville, or to Newton to see my future in-laws.

With some frequency, we ate at the Greenbriar Pub in Brighton Center with my girlfriend's parents, sister and grandfather. I still pass through the neighborhood on occasion, but I hadn't walked through Brighton Center in quite a few years. So I decided to do so recently. Here's what I found.

(This basketball and hoop at the Rogers Park Playground looked quite sad waiting for kids to get out of school.)

(Rogers Park was one of several in the city to benefit from a 2011 program coordinated by former Celtic Rajon Rondo and high-energy drink peddler Red Bull to refurbish basketball courts.)

(Near the playground sits this shuttered former funeral home. Several years ago a developer, Washington Victory Apartments Limited Partnership, received approval from the City of Boston to turn this property at 460 Washington Street into four apartments and to add 24 units in a new building. Additionally, there would be a parking garage and ground level parking. More recently, however, the property has been listed for sale. Boston Realty Advisors says on its web site that the former funeral home property represents "a tremendous opportunity for a developer to hit the ground running with a premier project in a transformative submarket.")

(Built in 1940, this former service station near the funeral home appears to be an apartment now.)

(A short distance up Washington Street, on the northwest corner of Foster Street, sits the former site of the Noah Worcester House. Worcester was a Unitarian minister, a founder of the American peace movement and a postmaster, among other things. In 1817 he became the postmaster of Brighton, and established the town's first post office on this spot. That's more or less what this plaque says.)

(A short jog away from the service station-turned apartment sits another former gas station. This one was turned into Bangkok Bistro. Here's what it used to look like.)

(I hope that you can see the sign in the middle of this photo. I was excited when I spotted it. It says "IMPERIAL". This building opened in 1908, I believe, and is known as the Washington and Imperial Buildings, according to the Brighton Allston Historical Society web site.)

(Another view of the Washington and Imperial Buildings.)

On the opposite side of the Washington and Imperial Buildings from the sign posted above are these great murals for Imperial Pizza.

The neighborhood favorite unfortunately closed four years ago after nearly 50 years in business. While the sign is still on the shop, there are no pies coming out of those ovens. Not sure what may go in here, and why nothing has in the last four years.)

For more about the history of Brighton Center, check this out.