From Munitions Factory to Suburban Mall and Office Complex...and Beyond

From Dave Brigham:

Boston-area locals might recognize the building in the two photos above as the Watertown Home Depot (previously an Ann & Hope retail clothing outlet), part of the shopping destination known over the years as the Arsenal Marketplace, Arsenal Mall and the Arsenal Project. Now dubbed Arsenal Yards, the complex is undergoing major changes, which I will discuss a little later in this post. The Home Depot and another massive building in the Yards development, along with several other buildings on the south side of Arsenal Street, were once part of the massive Watertown Arsenal. There, for nearly 180 years, the U.S. Government stored and manufactured gun carriages and artillery pieces and even operated a nuclear reactor for the Army. I believe the Home Depot building was erected between 1890 and 1928, and was used to construct mobile gun carriages.

Below is a not-so-brief history of the arsenal, excerpted from the web site for The Arsenal on the Charles, which sits directly west of Arsenal Yards. The Arsenal on the Charles is where the majority of the former gun-carriage manufacturing-related buildings are situated; tenants include athenahealth, the Mosesian Center for the Arts, Boston Sports Club and Panera Bread. The development's web site also features a photo retrospective of the complex, and offers a virtual walking tour.

"In 1816 the U.S. Government selected and purchased 40 acres of land on the northern bank of the Charles River in Watertown as the site for a new regional arsenal...The original Arsenal was composed of a group of 12 brick and stone buildings arranged in a quadrangle around central parade grounds, connected with a 15 ft. high brick wall. They included two arsenals for storage of arms and ammunition, officer’s quarters, barracks for soldiers stationed at the post, and workshops for maintaining and repairing the artillery and ammunition.

"From 1830-55, the Army had added 13 acres to the grounds, a new entrance connecting the complex to Arsenal Street, two new storehouses, and a new laboratory. The...Civil War transformed the Arsenal into an important military production center. [A] new manufacturing complex consisting of a large u-shaped machine shop and smith shop were built to meet the wartime demand.

"A natural gas works and small iron and brass foundry would be constructed on the banks of the Charles River in 1865 and 1867 respectively. The last two decades of the 19th century witnessed the transformation of the Watertown Arsenal into a major manufacturing and research center within the Army’s arsenal system. This process began in earnest in 1888, when the Watertown Arsenal was chosen as the site of the Army’s new gun carriage manufacturing plant.

"The importance of the Arsenal as an early 20th Century military manufacturing center is reflected in its most dramatic period of growth from 1917-1922. In just five years, a total of 23 new structures were erected on over 44 acres of previously undeveloped land, and a 7 mile network of railroad tracks connected the buildings of this sprawling industrial complex.

"The production demands of World War II pushed the Watertown Arsenal to its pinnacle as a military manufacturing site. During the war the Army purchased an additional 7 acres of land that included a former Simmons Mattress factory, doubled the size building 311, and built a massive additional building at the far eastern end of the property. After the war, the primary mission of the Arsenal shifted away from manufacturing and towards research. In 1959, the Army constructed the Horace Hardy Lester experimental nuclear reactor on western end of the Arsenal grounds. The Lester reactor was the first and only experimental reactor of its kind ever to be operated by the U.S. Army.

"The Army...closed the Watertown Arsenal in 1967. It turned over 55 acres on the eastern end of the property, including the original Arsenal site, to the General Services Administration, which, in turn, sold the property to the Town of Watertown for commercial and residential development. The buildings on the 37-acre western end of the former Arsenal were taken over by the newly created Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center. Changes to the campus under AMMRC ownership included the demolition of three buildings, and extensive renovations to the remaining structures to create additional laboratory facilities and increase energy efficiency.

"The Army closed its research facilities on the western portion of the Arsenal in 1995. After an extensive Federal environmental clean-up process, the property underwent significant redevelopment for commercial use, including rehabilitation of the remaining 10 buildings, and the addition of new roadways and a parking garage."

Harvard University acquired the property in 2001, with an eye toward using it as for educational purposes. That never came to fruition. In 2013, medical technology company athenahealth bought the site, after having been a tenant the prior eight years. In late 2019, Alexandria Real Estate Equities acquired the complex.

Alexandria is a well-known player in Greater Boston's growth as a high-tech and laboratory destination (see June 8, 2019, "UPDATE: Strolling Among the L7's in Kendall Square").

For the last few years, both the Arsenal Yards and Arsenal on the Charles sites have been undergoing major renovations and additions. The latter project includes office and lab space, as well as arts facilities, restaurants and open space. Arsenal Yards, which is owned by Boylston Properties and The Wilder Companies, is adding a hotel, apartments, a movie theater and many stores and restaurants.

OK, let's get to some pictures. I'll do my best to figure out just what we're looking at in each of these. I'll run through them in roughly the same order that I encountered them.

Located along North Beacon Street, this is the former locomotive repair house. From the Arsenal on the Charles web site: "Building 97 was constructed in 1920 to house and repair the Arsenal’s fleet of locomotives, switch cars and cranes, which moved freight and equipment around the grounds over seven-and-a-half miles of railroad tracks. In 1959, Building 97 was transformed into a materials testing laboratory and equipment facility supporting the Horace Hardy Lester Nuclear Reactor."

I'm not sure what, if anything, is located in this building currently. The nuclear reactor building, which was directly east of Building 97, no longer stands.

Above is the rear of building 311, known as the New Erecting Shop. I'm pretty sure this is the largest building on the site, at 462 feet. A steel-framed building, it was considered at the time of its construction in 1917, to be one of the largest of its type in the U.S., per the Arsenal on the Charles web site. Below is a front view, along Arsenal Street, featuring a great sign from the arsenal's latter days of operation.

Below is a side view of Building 311.

Heading east across Kingsbury Avenue and some green space, I next shot Building 43, the Smith Shop, below.

As you can see, this building, which dates to 1861 and is among the oldest in the complex, is getting new gutters and other updates. From the Arsenal on the Charles web site: "From 1892 to 1900 the smith shop was equipped with huge 2 and 3.5 ton steam hammers and other equipment for forging steel castings as large as 8,000 lbs. During World War I, a rail crane and 5 ton steel hammer were added to support production of even larger components for 14 and 16-inch seacoast gun carriages. After World War II, building 43 supported the Arsenal’s ongoing research activities with experimental and specialty forgings up until the closure of the Army Technical Materials Laboratory in 1995."

Just south of Building 43 is the U-shaped Building 313, the Carriage and Machine Shop, below.

(The Carriage and Machine Shop comprises the buildings on the left and center in this photo. At the far right is the West Timber Storehouse.)

The Carriage and Machine Shop dates to 1862. From the Arsenal on the Charles web site: "After WWII, Building 313’s machine shops were redirected for use in studying new types of metals, ceramics and other synthetic materials. Research included testing new types of metallic, composite and synthetic armor, which led to the use of Kevlar in body armor and helmets, and the design of specialized armor for presidential limousines and helicopters."

How cool is that?!

Next is the Old Erecting Shop, below.

"Significantly wider and taller than it’s [sic] predecessors, the Erecting Shop provided the space and the equipment necessary to assemble new, larger carriages for 8, 10 and 12 inch guns and field mortars," per the Arsenal on the Charles web site. As you can see, Building 312 is now home to the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts. The 30,000-square-foot center features a 380-seat main stage theater, a 100-seat black box theater, exhibition galleries, two rehearsal halls, classrooms, and resident artist studios."

Below is Building 60, the Powerhouse.

"For over 80 years, Building 60 served as the central source of power and heat to buildings across the Arsenal," according to the Arsenal on the Charles web site. "The oldest part of the building was constructed in 1913. Steam engines on the upper level produced electricity. Three boilers on the lower level generated steam for heat and to power large steam hammers in the smith shop....By 1919 cheaper electricity rates led the Arsenal to shut down its electric power production, and the old steam-powered generators were sold off in 1926. At the start of WWII, a second 150-foot chimney was built next to the building. In 1953, the original chimney was taken down, and six boilers were replaced with three more efficient models. Building 60 supplied steam heat to buildings on the Arsenal until the closing of the Army Materials Technical Laboratory in 1995."

Below you see what I assume are former officers' quarters. The building at the far right of the photo was built as a cow barn in 1906, per the Arsenal on the Charles web site. It was converted to the warrant officer's quarters in 1936.

Next is Building 131, the Administration Building.

"The building’s location on Talcott Avenue, near both the Arsenal’s manufacturing complex and the research labs, is a testament to the critical roles that both activities played in the Arsenal’s operations in the first half of the 20th Century," sez the Arsenal on the Charles web site.

(I love the juxtaposition of the elaborate War Office plaque with the plain sign on the door behind for Enanta Pharmaceuticals.)

I love the cannons lined up on the administration building's lawn.

A tree-lined drive takes you to the only spot on the former arsenal campus where you can get married: the Commander's Mansion.

Built in 1865, the mansion has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.

At the bottom of the road running north past the mansion stands a former guard house.

Just steps from the guardhouse is a locked entrance to some sort of underground passage.

I've driven past here many times over the years and wondered about this tunnel. I finally have my answer. "Mr. Magoon said the two metal doors in the earth at the bottom of the Commander’s Mansion property are bunkers," according to a 2014 Town of Watertown Zoning Board of Appeals document I found online. "Mr. Schreiber added that they are connected to the tunnel system. Boats would pull up and unload there."

Well, that's pretty much what I'd hope was going on behind those doors!

Across from the mansion is Arsenal Community Park and Skate Park, a great resource. When I was there I saw an outdoor yoga class, some guys playing soccer and other folks just strolling around. There is also an amphitheater.

The skate park is below.

The park is behind one of the buildings of the Arsenal Yards shopping complex. Below is a Watertown Arsenal insignia on the side of that building, which I believe was the materials and mechanics research center.

I'm going to interrupt the flow of my tour here to talk about the building at the eastern end of the Arsenal Yards complex, which I shot on a follow-up trip.

Mount Auburn Hospital occupies the easternmost portion of the building. The other half is a combination parking garage and former restaurant space. Most recently, Miller's Ale House filled that slot. Prior to that it was a Bugaboo Creek Steak House, where I went once with my family.

While set apart from the main campus of Arsenal Yards, this building will also be redeveloped. The plan calls for life science lab space to be added here, according to this Wicked Local article.

Across Arsenal Street from this outlying building is the former arsenal's nuclear waste dump site.

I've written two posts about this site, where for decades the Army dumped radioactive material from the nuclear reactor (see April 5, 2013, "Nuclear Dump Playground: UPDATE" to read the most recent post, and find a link to the first post).

In 2014, the U.S. General Service Administration (GSA) announced it would transfer the old dump site back to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation said it planned to use the site for "passive recreation," which I believe means walking paths. As of June 26 of this year, however, the sign posted on the fence shown in the photo above indicates that it is federal property.

I've been unable to find an update on progress for this site.

OK, back to the Arsenal on the Charles property.

Below is the facade of the West Timber Storehouse, mentioned above. It "is the oldest standing industrial building in the Watertown Arsenal Historic District," per the Arsenal on the Charles web site. "It was built in 1851 for storing and drying lumber used in wooden field and siege gun limbers, carriages and caissons. By the 1890’s iron had replaced wood as the primary material for gun carriages, and building 37 was converted into an iron and brass foundry."

The last building I want to discuss is Building 43, the Smith Shop.

"Built in 1861, Building 43 is one of the oldest buildings in the Watertown Arsenal Historic District," according to you-know-which web site. "[I]t was a part of the original Seacoast Gun Carriage Complex. While most buildings at the arsenal would be adapted and changed to meet the evolving needs of the Army’s ordnance department, the smith shop was the only building that would retain its original use throughout the arsenal’s history."

I love the details on this building.

In front of the old arsenal complex are two old cannons.

As with the other cannons on the grounds, I'm not sure if they were manufactured at the arsenal, or are more recent replicas.

Well, that wraps it up! Make sure to check back for an upcoming post about the rest of East Watertown.

Covering a New Hampshire Blanket Mill

From Dave Brigham:

When I drive by a place like this, and I don't have my camera....

....you know I'm gonna return to shoot it. Took me several months to get to the former Troy Mills complex in New Hampshire with my camera in hand, but I never doubted I would.

In the late winter of 2020, after jamming with The Slade Wiggins Band in Keene, NH, I took a funky way home to Massachusetts. I was a bit lost as I cruised through Marlborough and into Troy, but not worried. As I wound my way along Monadnock Street, all of a sudden I found myself staring at that industrial behemoth in the photo above.

"Where the hell am I?" I wondered. I slowed down and marveled. "I need to get back here," I told myself. Within 20 seconds, I was back on South Main Street, my usual route heading southeast back toward home. So I knew exactly where to go whenever I was able to return.

Earlier this month, I finally got my chance to kick around the town of Troy, including, of course, the complex that was once home to Troy Mills, which made horse blankets. I will write about other backside features of Troy in another post.

This old mill, which was established in the mid-19th century (I've been unable to pin down an exact date), is suffering like so many other industrial complexes I've featured on the blog over the years. And of course the town -- population 2,145 at the 2010 census -- is suffering too, both in terms of having a gigantic eyesore in its midst, and a loss of potential employment and tax revenue. But there may be hope on the horizon.

From Wikipedia: Troy Mills "served as the backbone of the town's economy for nearly 100 years. In 1865, the company was sold by founder Thomas Goodall, who in 1867 would establish Goodall Mills in Sanford, Maine. Troy Mills declared bankruptcy in late 2001, and ceased operations in 2002."

For a time, the mill complex housed two spin-off companies: Knowlton Nonwovens and Cosmopolitan Textiles, Wikipedia continues. The former company was acquired by Northeastern Nonwovens and moved elsewhere. I'm unsure what became of the latter outfit. In 2008, a plan was announced to renovate Troy Mills into a retirement community, according to to Wikipedia. I'm guessing the financial calamity of that year put the kibosh on that plan. At this point, there is little to nothing going on at the old blanket mill.

Here's a quick history of the years since the mill shut down, courtesy of this Keene Sentinel article:

"[T]he textile operation had left the land and buildings polluted enough that it was designated a federal Superfund site, and it’s easy to see how the closure could wreak havoc with the town for decades....The town’s signature business wound up in bankruptcy court in West Virginia, where the company’s headquarters had relocated. The town, seeking to protect a major source of revenue — Troy Mills accounted for about $1 million, or 8 percent, of the town’s tax receipts — and nearby property owners and residents, held a lien on the property. The court eventually awarded the entire site to the town.

"And that was the beginning of a lengthy saga that included the selectmen setting up a new panel specifically to deal with the property, multiple developers expressing interest, millions of dollars spent cleaning up the pollution, and lots of infighting and scandal. Much of this might have been avoided had the selectmen opted simply to auction off the property immediately. Planning board members and others argued for that approach, and brought the issue to voters, but as with other huge, vacated industrial sites in the region, the potential was too much to ignore.

"So it has sat, though not inactive. At times, parts of the buildings have been leased to other businesses. And there’s been [an] ongoing cleanup effort. The EPA substantially finished its Superfund work in 2005, but that was only part of the pollution. The rest was cleaned up over the next decade or so using more than $1.5 million in Brownfields grants and other funding.

"[T]he Troy Redevelopment Group, appointed by the selectmen, entertained a variety of developers and plans. Among the various visions woven for the site: residential condo units; senior assisted living; an upscale grocery store; a heated indoor swimming pool; a pharmacy; a health club; rooftop gardens; a movie theater; a hydroponic fish farm, distribution network and farm-to-table restaurant; storage units; a conference facility; high-speed Internet service; educational and research facilities; a charter school; and, of course, manufacturing.

An out-of-state developer announced a plan to spend upwards of $30 million to convert the mill into some of the above-mentioned uses, but eventually bowed out. In May 2020, a group called Cougar Capital offered to buy the site from the town, and to create 135 apartments there.

I'm not sure if an agreement was ever made with Cougar Capital, which, among other projects, has converted a former toy factory in Leominster, Mass., to apartments. I'll update this post if and when I find out more.

In addition to site clean-up and demolition, another thing a potential developer would have to deal with is the river running through the site.

Also on site (I think; this might be a separate property) is an old barn that looks great from the front....

...but which is collapsing in the rear.

I hope something gets developed at the old mill site. So many places like this have been turned into apartments/condos, senior living, artist lofts, etc. Hard to know what would work best in a quiet town in southwestern New Hampshire....stay tuned for a post about other stuff I found in my trek through Troy.

A Tribute to Dr. Farber and "Jimmy"

From Dave Brigham:

I've been a Red Sox fan for as long as I can remember, thanks to my dad and older brother. And for all of those years, I've heard about the Jimmy Fund, a cancer charity, both on radio and TV broadcasts of the team's games. A few years ago, I stumbled across the organization's Boston headquarters, and a really nice sculpture devoted to the fund's namesake, as well as the founder of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (see March 8, 2019, "A Short Walk Through Longwood...and Mission Hill").

Recently, I had a chance to shoot some pictures there again, which led me to dig a little deeper into the charity, the sculpture and Einar "Jimmy" Gustafson and Dr. Sidney Farber.

Founded in 1948, the Jimmy Fund raises money through community-based events, some of them centered on the Red Sox, with all monies going directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Launched in 1947 by Dr. Sidney Farber as the Children's Cancer Research Foundation, the organization expanded its base to include patients of all ages in 1969. In 1974, the organization changed its name to the Sidney Farber Cancer Center. "The long-term support of the Charles A. Dana Foundation was acknowledged by incorporating the Institute under its present name in 1983," per the organization's web site. "Today, the Institute employs more than 5,000 staff, faculty, and clinicians supporting more than 640,000 annual outpatient visits."

Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund are Boston institutions. The fund is an official charity of the Red Sox, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, the Pan-Mass Challenge, and the Variety Children's Charity of New England. It benefits from hundreds of events, including the B.A.A. Half Marathon, the Falmouth Road Race, the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon and more, according to the Jimmy Fund web site.

So who was Jimmy?

"Jimmy's story began in 1948 when Dr. Sidney Farber's 12-year-old leukemia patient, Einar Gustafson...was an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of people," per the Fund's web site. "Dubbed 'Jimmy' to protect his identity, Gustafson was selected to speak on Ralph Edwards' national radio program, 'Truth or Consequences,' which was broadcast from the boy's hospital room on May 22, 1948. During the broadcast, Edwards spoke to the young cancer patient from his Hollywood studio as Boston Braves baseball players, Gustafson’s favorite, surprised him with a visit to his hospital room. The show ended with a plea for listeners to make donations, so Jimmy could get his own TV set to watch his beloved Braves play. Not only did he get his wish, but more than $200,000 was collected and the Jimmy Fund was born."

Einar's favorite team, the Braves, left Boston for Milwaukee in 1953 (and then Atlanta). That year, the Red Sox became linked to the Jimmy Fund, and have remained steadfast champions for the cause of raising money for cancer research ever since.

The statue was designed by sculptor Brian Hanlon, and erected in October 2013 across from the Jimmy Fund headquarters, below.

Based in New Jersey, Hanlon has completed more than 550 public and private pieces since 1986, per his studio's web site. He is the official Master Sculptor for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Among his higher profile works are an Evander Holyfield sculpture in Atlanta; a firefighter memorial in Worcester, Mass.; Harriet Tubman for the Equal Rights Cultural Heritage Center in Auburn, NY; and the Women's World Cup in 1999 for the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., per Wikipedia.

No Post Office. No Bank. Just Quiet Beauty.

From Mr. Nutmeg:

I used to fill these pages with posts about various Boston neighborhoods and towns and cities in eastern Massachusetts. Since the pandemic lockdown went into effect in March 2020, however, I have only taken the subway into Boston with my son a few times (see September 2, 2020, "Back At It" and September 10, 2020, "This Former Baking Supply Business Has Cooled In a Hot Market"). More recently, he has traveled by himself into the city. I think the days of our joint trips have come to an end.

I've been focusing on towns and cities closer to home of late, such as Waltham and Watertown. But circumstances no longer allow me to venture too far afoot to check out other locales. So I've come up with a new approach: about once a month, when I'm in Connecticut visiting my mother, I pick a spot that I can explore either before or after my visit (or sometimes both). I have written about Windsor, the town where my mom lives (see December 17, 2020, "A Towering Discovery in Tobacco Country" and March 12, 2021, "Blowing into Windsor"), as well as the Rockville section of Vernon (read this and this).

While I love checking out old mill towns and cities, I am also a big fan of quieter, more rural towns. So recently I pulled off I-84 into Union, the smallest town in the Nutmeg State, population-wise. No post office. Nary a bank.

Bordering on Massachusetts, Union was the last town to be settled east of the Connecticut River. Incorporated in 1734, the town was originally home to lumbering and sawmill operations. In more recent years, the quiet town has become a place of small businesses, with forestry and agriculture the main industries, per the town's web site.

The closest thing to a "downtown" in Union is the intersection of Buckley Highway (Route 190), Town Hall Road and Cemetery Road. I parked in the nearby Union School parking lot and started strolling.

I shot that nice-looking barn/garage and headed down the hill toward a small green next to a quaint white building that I'm guessing was once the town hall or perhaps a school. My walk was quite peaceful.

I love the memorial to soldiers who fought in the War of the Rebellion. For such a small town, it sure provided a lot of men!

I walked past the library, but the lighting wasn't great, and the large tree looming over it made it difficult to get a good shot. I did snap a picture of a memorial rock in the sideyard.

I'm not sure who Mary Rizner Hattin was, but I'm guessing she was a librarian or town clerk or served some other important role for the town.

Next I ventured up Cemetery Road.

These beautiful ground-hugging flowers were everywhere!

I just love what nature does to older gravestones.

Thanks for your service.

Heading back to my car, I poked my head into a wooded area across from the school.

The town's first meetinghouse was on this hill, from 1741-1844. Now on this site there is the Pavilion in the Grove, which was built by townspeople during the town's bicentennial, per the Union web site.

My final stop was Camp Pomperaug, a Boy Scouts of America site.

The camp was "originally property of the Wells family, for whom Wells Pond is named," per Wikipedia. "The camp includes old stone foundations of the buildings once comprising Well's Mill, and also includes a small Revolutionary War cemetery where, among other soldiers interred, lies a brother-in-law of Benedict Arnold. The burial site is thought by some to be haunted."

I did not tarry long at the camp, so did not find said supposedly haunted cemetery. Nor the old stone foundations. The camp operates year-round, and even though I didn't see anybody as I drove around a little bit, I saw a few cars and just didn't feel right poking around too much on private property.

Still, the barn and house at entrance to the camp were plenty photo-worthy for me.

Hope you enjoyed this little jaunt through Union. Who knows what town I'll explore next!