Boston's Got a Big South End

From D. Anathopolous Brigham:

Like Boston's North End, the South End has countless nooks and crannies to explore. I haven't patronized any of the neighborhood's top-shelf restaurants and clubs over the years, but I have found a lot of the lesser-known gems that we all love at this blog (see October 12, 2019, "End to End in Boston's South End," July 26, 2019, "Former Oasis in Boston's South End An Abandoned Mystery," June 29, 2019, "Back Streets, Oh Boy" and February 23, 2019, "Exchanging Flowers for Life Science").

Let's dive in!

Starting off with a bang...this abandoned building is an outlier in the neighborhood, sandwiched between two elegant brownstones. Located at 1654 Washington Street, this place brings down the neighborhood. I was shocked to see a building in this state of decrepitude. I haven't found out anything about it. While I hate to see places like this, it sure makes for some good photography.

There are even faux window coverings on it, so obviously it's been in decay for years, and people are making at least a minimal effort to pretty it up.

Let's move on from a door that is beautiful in its own decrepit way, to an ornate entryway unlike anything I've ever seen.

I don't remember where in the South End this is. You should wander around until you find it, like I did. It's like a church or museum display. I wonder: can you even walk in or out of this door?

The statues would be enough to make this place stand out.

But the door details just put it wonderfully over the top.

And now how about a social club doorway....

Located on Albany Street, Pontiaki Estia of Massachusetts is a Greek religious, cultural and social club that has been around since 1970, I believe.

OK, enough doors. How about a one-of-a-kind memorial?

"You Know The Deal," it says above a picture of the late Fred McDuffie. Born in 1930, he died in 2012 and was "A Friend to All." I found an obituary online that I believe is the correct one. If so, Mr. McDuffie had 16 children and 31 grandchildren. This is located on the side of Gaslight Brasserie.

McDuffie's memorial is on the same building as the ghost sign below.

Why is there a sign that says "218 WABASH AVE. CHICAGO" on the side of a building in Boston? I don't know. I posed the question on Instagram a while back, and the closest thing I got to an answer was, "Emerson Piano was in 560 Harrison and I believe that was the address of the Chicago location." Well, I searched online and there was an Emerson Piano in both Boston and Chicago, but the Boston one was on Boylston Street and the Windy City one was at 195 Wabash.

Alright, let's get to a bunch more ghost signs.

Located at the SoWa Open Market complex in the South End, this ghost sign tried to keep its secrets. Took quite a bit of searching online, including on Flickr, but I finally figured it out. The words "wise one" at the bottom were the key, as that is part of a tag line for Just Suits cut plug tobacco. And I could make out the words "real tobacco" at the top.

But there is still a complicating factor here. This building is 520-524 Harrison Avenue, which, according to my friend MACRIS, is the former Emerson Piano Co. building. Above, I indicated there was an Emerson facility on Boylston Street. Perhaps that was the corporate office; this building was the factory.

Built in 1882, the Emerson factory built 80 pianos a week. After Emerson moved, A.M. MacPhail Piano moved into this space. Hub Hosiery Mills moved here in the early part of the 20th century.

Below is a ghost sign on Appleton Street, at the intersection with Tremont.

I haven't been able to solve this one. What I see is the word "IDEAL" and then the rest is too fuzzy for me. Any help is appreciated.

The sign below is on Bradford Street, on the corner of Shawmut Avenue. It is located on the side of an outlet of Polka Dog Bakery.

The only stuff I've found online about Boston Creamery are case studies done by college students about the business. But they are locked down and I can't find out when the business launched or where it was or when it melted down.

Northeast along Shawmut Avenue, at the corner of Dwight Street, I spied this lovely old sign.

Again, I haven't found out anything about Imperial Marble.

Inside that building is Shawmut Place, a tailor shop.

Now I'm gonna jump back over to the SoWa neighborhood for a well-known and large work of art.

Located on the side of a Prime Storage facility along Traveler Street, this beautiful mural used to be viewable from the Southeast Expressway. Painted by Ronnie Deziel in 1998, the 125-foot-tall by 100-foot-wide work is now largely hidden from highway drivers' view by a new apartment building. Back in 2015, the artist repainted the whole thing to make it more awesome.

Just around the corner from this great work of art is a beautiful building where important work is done.

The Pine Street Inn opened its door to Boston's homeless population in 1969. The organization provides housing, emergency services, and workforce development to support nearly 2,000 men and women each day, per its web site. Its building is the former Boston Fire Department headquarters, which was built in 1893.

I'm gonna finish up with two named buildings.

Located along Warren Avenue, this is the rear of the Boston Center for the Arts, which faces Tremont Street and houses the Huntington Theatre Company and the Community Music Center of Boston, among other arts facilities. What else is that building known for? The Cyclorama! Built in 1884 to house the Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg, a 400-by-50 foot cyclorama painting of the Battle of Gettysburg, per Wikipedia, this place is a local legend. And from 1923 to 1963, this place was also home to the Boston Flower Exchange, which is what that hunk of concrete in the upper middle of the photo above says.

Finally, the Renbrandt.

No, that's not a typo.

I did a double-take when I spied this place. Renbrandt, Inc., was a tool and metalworking business that occupied this small building near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Washington Street, per this real estate web site. Developers recently added four stories, and it now features commercial space on the ground floor and nine luxury apartments. "The historic structure was originally built in 1915 and operated as a bean factory," per the web site. "Throughout the years the building housed several different business operations including an automotive repair shop, dry cleaner and bookie joint."

Love that history!