From Dave Brigham:
This is the backside of 90 Canal Street in Boston's North Station neighborhood, which doesn't officially exist, unless you're a realtor. According to city maps, this is the West End. Po-tay-toes, po-tah-toes. Erected in 1905, possibly for the Rapids Furniture Company, the building was renovated in 1987 and now comprises office space. The ghost sign is for Holt & Bugbee Co., a hardware flooring company founded in 1825 in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood. The company is still in business, with locations in Tewksbury, Mass., Elmwood Park, New Jersey, and two sites in Pennsylvania.
Around the corner sits 254-256 Friend Street. Built 1899, this small property is a residential/commercial mixed-used building. I believe there are some artist lofts. I'm not sure what else the building has been in its life. The ghost sign is for a liquor store, but I'm unable to figure out which one. Since this place is located next to the West Ender restaurant (which appears to be closed), I guess I should call the neighborhood the West End rather than North Station.
Why do I hesitate to use that name for the neighborhood? To quote myself, from "Last Building Standing," which I posted on January 25, 2014:
"Boston's West End was wiped off the map in the late 1950's and early '60's to make way for The Future, and it was a huge mistake.
"Once densely packed and relatively low-slung the way Boston's North End still is, the West End was considered a slum, and so it was bulldozed to make way for low- and middle-income high rises. Those tall, ugly, spread-out buildings make up Charles River Park, and are now home mostly to luxury dwellers, according to the West End Museum."
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