East Watertown: Plenty of Cool, Old Stuff Amid a Changing Landscape

From Dave Brigham:

Like much of the city of Watertown, Mass., the east end is undergoing significant change. This is especially so because the neighborhood borders Cambridge and Boston's Brighton neighborhood, which are also witnessing growth. Many of the changes in East Watertown are centered around the former Watertown Arsenal complex, which is split between the Arsenal Yards retail/restaurant/hotel development, and the Arsenal on the Charles site, which comprises office and arts space. I recently covered the former arsenal extensively (see June 28, 2021, "From Munitions Factory to Suburban Mall and Office Complex...and Beyond"). In addition to new places to shop, live, stay and play, this area is increasingly home to lab space for biotech firms that have been priced out of Cambridge's Kendall Square (see June 8, 2019, "UPDATE: Strolling Among the L7's in Kendall Square").

The Watertown Arsenal was a huge part of the city for more than a century, but it wasn't the only industrial behemoth in East Watertown. The land where the Watertown Mall (which features a Target store) now stands, directly across from the former arsenal, was once home to the Hood Rubber Company. Incorporated in 1896 by rubber-industry veterans and brothers, Frederic and Arthur Hood, the company built its facility along Melendy Avenue, located just northwest of the Watertown Mall site. Over time, Hood Rubber expanded its footprint across the railroad tracks (now a bike path) and onto the site where the Mall now stands. The rubber plant used water from the nearby Sawin's and Williams ponds to cool its equipment. As you might expect, those bodies of water shrank and became incredibly polluted over the life of the factory, which closed in the late '60s after having merged with B.F. Goodrich in 1929.

At its height, Hood employed roughly 10,000 people and produced rubber products including sneakers, boots and tires. The company for a time was Watertown's largest employer; many of those who worked at the factory were immigrant Armenians. To read more about the Hood plant, check out Alfred Glidden's A Brief History of the Hood Rubber Company; for more about the two ponds, and the battles between the landowner and the city, read Brian LeBlanc's opinion piece in the Watertown Tab.

Below is the Watertown Mall parking lot, looking from the eastern end near Target.

The mall was recently acquired by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, a major developer of lab space in and around Boston. There is speculation that the developer may erect new buildings in the large parking lot, while keeping some of the stores, especially Target, in place for the time being.

Below is part of the boggy remnant of Sawin's pond, which is totally polluted and gross.

I'm hopeful that as more development occurs in this area, this wetlands area will finally be cleaned up.

In my rambles through other parts of the east end, I was happy to find plenty of cool backside stuff that doesn't involve boring old parking lots and nasty water features. For links to other recent posts about this city, see the bottom of this post.

Alright, let's get to the good stuff!

I'll start in the immediate area surrounding Arsenal Yards and the Watertown Mall. The Arsenal Street corridor, as I said, is undergoing changes, and there are surely others to follow. On the north side of the street there are several small businesses -- a restaurant, an oil change place, a furniture retailer, a service station -- that have either gone under in recent years, or appear on their last legs. I imagine many of these sites will be redeveloped in coming years, as the area becomes a high-tech and retail hot spot.

Directly across from one of the entrances to Arsenal Yards is Zaven's Furniture

The dichotomy between the company's building and its web site is shocking. Based on Zaven's Internet presence, one would think the company was located in a sleek, modern space that may even include a coffee bar. Based on its Arsenal Street site, one could be forgiven for thinking there was a serial killer living in the basement. There isn't much about this company or property available online. I have no idea if it's still in business.

On the south side of Arsenal Street, just past the western edge of Arsenal Yards, is the former site of VFW Post 1105.

I was psyched to see the old neon sign hanging along the side of the building.

What will become of this site? The club has since moved to a new location on Mount Auburn Street, below.

Along Arsenal Street just past the Watertown Mall is Sarris Auto, below.

The company services, buys and sells cars. Located two doors down from a relatively new hotel, and across the street from Home Depot, this site seems ripe for redevelopment. I love the old-school antenna on top of the Sarris building. I wonder if it was once used to dispatch cabs.

North of the Watertown Mall, along Nichols Avenue and surrounding streets, I easily found evidence that Watertown is home to the third-largest population of Armenians in the United States.

The Hairenik Association (enlarge the photo to see the organization's name inscribed across the bottom of the building) is a publishing and media company that is, according to Wikipedia, "owned and operated by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation," a political party that operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and other countries. I can't vouch for that information.

Across the Hairenik back parking lot is the Armenian American Social Club.

Next door to the club is Shiraz Persian Cuisine, whose chef is originally from Iran.

According to Wikipedia, the Armenian diaspora includes Iran, which the online encyclopedia refers to as Eastern Armenia.

Just down the street from the restaurant is a cool old building known as the Mugardichian Block.

Designed by architect E.E. Eisenberg, this building rose in 1915. I haven't found out much about this building, but I'll pass along a conjecture: the family that grew the Star Market grocery chain into a regional powerhouse is named Mugar. Upon their arrival in America from Armenia in the early 20th century, they shortened the family name from, you guessed it, Mugardichian. The first Star Market was located not too far away from this building, on Mount Auburn Street. The family bought the store in 1915. I'm guessing that the building in the photo above was originally known by another name, but that the Mugar family eventually owned it. Someone please tell me if you know more.

Just up the street from the Hairenik Association is the Iranian Association of Boston.

In a future post, I will cover more of the Armenian community that is centered in and around Coolidge Square in Watertown. For now, I'll move along to other stuff in this area that caught my eye, before moving on to other parts of East Watertown.

Heading west along Nichols Avenue I spied this nice old retail/apartment building.

All I've been able to find out about 109 Nichols is that it was built in 1921.

Next to the Mugardichian Block is the sad-looking building below.

Looks like B&G Heating & Air Conditioning has been out of business for quite a while. I can picture a small apartment building rising here.

Across Bigelow Avenue from the Hairenik site is an older brick building that's home to the Abaka Dance Academy. The dance school seeks to "enrich the Armenian cultural life of youngsters in our community, creating a small corner of Armenia in America," per the organization's web site. So I guess I'm not done with the Armenian community yet....

The other half of that building, which dates to 1930, is home to catering company Sensational Foods. That company also has space in the amazing building next door.

Abutting the purple palace is Donahue's Bar and Grill, which has been around since 1998.

Arguably one of the funkiest restaurant spaces in Watertown is located along Nichols Avenue.

Yes, that's an old train car attached to a building at Lo Bodega by Salts, a Uruguayan eatery opened in 2018 by Gabriel Bremer and Analia Verolo. The pair formerly operated Salts in Cambridge. La Bodega serves "farm-to-table cuisine with influences from Uruguay and the Basque region of Spain," according to this article. The train car dates to the 1950s, per the article, and was a dining car on the Congressional Line linking Boston and Washington, D.C. I'd like to try La Bodega's food sometime.

Just up the street is the former Matilda's, a sandwich shop that got great Yelp reviews.

Just up Coolidge Hill Road from the Matilda's site is Gerry's Custom Cabinet, which was established in 2007.

I love that sign, with Gerry carrying a tool box and whistling while he works.

Continuing up the road, I came across Bon Ton Cleaners.

The building dates to 1927, but the company has been cleaning and repairing rugs and carpets for more than 100 years, per its web site.

Across the street from Bon Ton is the former Minas Kondazian and Sons Men's Suit Factory.

Now home to Eastern Clothing -- in business since 1937 and formerly the clothier (possibly still, not sure) of Boston Red Sox legend Jerry Remy -- the building dates to 1924. The property was developed by Minas Kondazian, "a member of Watertown's large Armenian community," per MACRIS, who began business in 1903. The factory eventually employed 300 workers, many of them Armenian.

The building was purchased in 1963 by Eastern Clothing, per MACRIS. The company was founded in 1937 by "Peter and John Aerasian, brothers who came to this country in 1912 around the time of the Turkish genocide of the Armenians," according to MACRIS. "They made boys topcoats and sportcoasts for retail outlets such as Sears Roebuck & J.C.Penny."

In between Eastern Clothing and the Watertown Mall, along Elm Street, is a branch of the School of Rock.

I'm not sure if there's anything significant about this building, beyond the fact that my son took drum lessons here about 10 years ago. I loved hanging out in the lobby during his lessons, eavesdropping on the awkward teens there talking about music and their lives. It seems like a neat community.

Next door to the school, on Arlington Street, is the International Natural Bakery.

Again, I love the sign on this place, with its depiction of two bakers doing what they love. I'm not sure how long they've been in business, but judging by the wear on the sign, seems like quite a few years.

Continuing north on Arlington Street I spied a partial ghost sign on the side of the Therma-Flow/Everhot water heater company building.

I think I see the first half of the word "peerless" up there. How about you?

Across the street is the Watertown Evangelical Church, which may be small, but it has a great origin story.

Founded by Armenian immigrant Vartan Bilezikian in 1920 when he began preaching in private homes, the church was based in Boston during most of the 1930s. In 1938, "Yeprous Bilezikian, Vartan's sister-in-law, sells her jewelry to start a building fund and encourages other women to do the same. Although the average salary at the time is a mere $12 per week, other members generously donate to the fund. In 1938, the church's foundation is laid in Watertown, Massachusetts. As a community, the church raised a grand total of $15,000 to make the church building a reality," according to the church's web site.

Just up the street from the chuch is the Canadian-American Club.

The club "has its roots in Boston politics of the 1930’s. In 1937, when James Michael Curley was mayor of Boston, many felt that Canadian-Americans would also soon advance politically , and the Canadian-American League was chartered," according to the group's web site. "Over time, it evolved into a social and charitable organization and became one of the most prominent and active clubs in New England. During World War ll, however, the organization nearly ceased to exist. In 1950 a small group of the League’s original members came together to reestablish the Canadian American Club." The organization purchased its current building in 1969.

Nearby on Arlington Street is the Italian-American Club building.

I'm pretty sure this place is vacant. I wish its back-story was as cool as the Evangelical Church's. Built in 1890, it was home to Charles and Edward Stearn, brothers who were electricians, according to MACRIS. "There was, by the 1920's an extensive Italian community located around Arlington Street. In 1946 the Italian-American Social club bought this house."

Over on Calvin Road is one of my favorite local buildings.

Located behind the main office for P & M Brick and Block, this place is three buildings in one: the lower level seems to be a cinder-block garage; the second tier is shingled and looks almost like a barn; the topper appears to be a shed. I can't figure out what the hell is going on with this place. What's in there? The Internet isn't giving up much info about the age or history of this place. The brick and block company's main building has been around since 1976, according to the Watertown assessor's office. But no details are given about this place.

I'm going to wrap up this post with some beauty of a different kind.

These shots are from the southwest quadrant of the world-famous Mount Auburn Cemetery, part of which is located in neighboring Cambridge. I could spend hours walking through this place, taking photos and just soaking up the amazing landscaping and fantastic gravestones and the Washington Tower, whicn provides sweeping views of Watertown, Cambridge and Boston. Among the luminaries buried in Mount Auburn are Buckminster Fuller, Julia Ward Howe, Isabella Stewart Gardner and, ahem, Peter Bent Brigham.

For more Watertown posts, see:

March 20, 2021, "Shining a Light on Watertown's Bemis Neighborhood".

February 20, 2021, "Making Things Right in Watertown Square, Part II" and February 13, 2021, "Making Things Right in Watertown Square, Part I".

August 31, 2012, "I Wanna Walk".