I Seek Newton, Part XII: West Newton (Section 1: The Barn Redevelopment)

From Dave Brigham:

First, I want to let you know that The Barn (or The Bahn, as locals call it) lives on, in a new location not far from its longtime home just outside West Newton Square. In the final section of my long-in-the-works Newton series, I will talk about the new development in Newtonville where the shoe and clothing retailer moved. In this first post about the village of West Newton, however, I will feature photos of the retailer's old location, and discuss the project that will replace the sprawling complex where The Barn and other businesses once stood.

For all of the prior posts in my I Seek Newton series, see the bottom of this post.

The Barn began its life in 1948 when founder Russell Wennberg began selling overstock sneakers from the trunk of his car in the parking lot of Kempton Place, the location where he eventually opened a brick-and-mortar store, according to the retailer's web site. The business, which sells high-end shoes and accessories, has been family owned and operated ever since.

(Front facade and main entrance to The Barn's adult shoe department.)

The store operated a second building across the driveway, where kids' shoes and accessories were sold.

(The Kids Barn.)

Just to be clear: all of the buildings in these photos have been bulldozed in recent months. Photos of the current state of the site are below.

(Rear of The Barn.)

There were other buildings near The Barn, and frankly I don't know what was in them.

In addition to The Barn and the unknown buildings, here is what else was torn down: the R.L. Tennant Building, which was home to Eastern Insurance and other small businesses; J.N. Phillips Auto Glass (it may have been a Safelite outlet most recently, I'm not sure); Jack's Auto Service; a former private home that contained offices; a professional building and some industrial/garage buildings.

There is one more building that merits special mention, because it has a great history and I have a personal connection to it, albeit a tenuous one. The C. G. Howes Dry Cleaning—Carley Real Estate building was sandwiched between the service station and the former private home. "The single story buff brick building was constructed in 1928, to a design by Boston architect William Drummey, to house the dry cleaning and fur storage business of C. G. Howes," per this Roadtrippers web page. "In 1937 the building was purchased by Doris Carley, founder of the Carley Realty Company, the first female-owned realty business in the city. Ms. Carley was also one of the founders of the regional multiple listing service, and was active in the real estate business for fifty years. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990."

Pretty cool, right? I knew this place as the Vault, so named because of the fur storage area in the basement. I visited there a handful of times many years ago, when I began working with a local artist on my first children's book. She had a studio in the Vault, and I was quite entranced by her subterranean space, filled with completed projects, half-finished ones, quirky things hanging on the walls and spooky things littered across several surfaces, music playing in the background. Margie is a great artist, but we realized after a while that her vision for my book didn't match up with mine, so we parted amicably. The book, A Wicked Good Trip! is available for purchase here.

Do I care that these buildings have been torn down? With one exception, no, I don't. Am I hopeful that the new residential/retail buildings that rise on the grave of the old Barn will bring new life to the neighborhood, and that maybe I'll get at least one decent restaurant out of the deal? Yes, I am.

Before I talk about what will rise on this large site, I want to share a few photos of what the properties looked like as of early July.

(Construction equipment where the Tennant and Safelite buildings once stood.)

(The view from Sullivan Tire.)

(Looking east from Dunstan Street.)

(Remnant -- sprinkler post indicator (thanks to a Facebook reader!) -- at the corner of Washington and Dunstan streets.)

So let's take a look at what Mark Development is planning here. The developer is somewhat of a polarizing party in Newton, as many residents are opposed to the urbanization of the city. I'm not going to get into any of that here. I'm also not going to discuss the pros and cons of large developments like this.

The new development, dubbed Dunstan East, after the name of an abutting street, will feature three mixed-use buildings ranging from three to six stories on two blocks, per the development's web site. There will be 292 housing units, ranging from studios to three bedrooms. Seventy-three of these will be affordable, with 10 of them permanently set aside for households earning 50% of the area median income, or less. There will be approximately 8,000 square feet of retail space.

(Cheesecake Brook, which runs through the rear of the property.)

Check out this video, which features a boardwalk running parallel to the brook, a body of water that today isn't much to look at.

Mark Development has numerous other projects in the pipeline or on its dream list in Newtonville and West Newton, in addition to the Riverside MBTA complex in Auburndale.

Make sure to check back for two more posts about the backside of West Newton.

Here are the previous posts in the series:

"I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 3)"

"I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 2)"

"I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 1)"

April 10, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part X: Newton Centre (Section 3)"

April 3, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part X: Newton Centre (Section 2)"

March 27, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part X: Newton Centre (Section 1)"

November 15, 2020, "I Seek Newton, Part IX: Nonantum (Section 3)"

October 29, 2020, "I Seek Newton, Part IX: Nonantum (Section 2)"

September 24, 2020, "I Seek Newton, Part IX: Nonantum (Section 1)"

March 14, 2018, "I Seek Newton, Part VIII: Upper Falls (Section 3)"

March 8, 2018, "I Seek Newton, Part VIII: Upper Falls (Section 2)"

March 1, 2018, "I Seek Newton, Part VIII: Upper Falls (Section 1)"

March 7, 2017, "I Seek Newton, Part VII: Thompsonville"

December 5, 2016, "I Seek Newton, Part VI: Chestnut Hill"

September 26, 2016, "I Seek Newton, Part V: Oak Hill"

June 3, 2016, "I Seek Newton, Part IV: Waban"

March 23, 2016, "I Seek Newton, Part III: Newton Highlands"

September 20, 2015, "I Seek Newton, Part II: Auburndale"

May 21, 2015, "I Seek Newton, Part I: Lower Falls"

A Nice Walk in Natick Center, Part II

From Dave Brigham:

In my first post about Natick Center, I covered many cool historic buildings in the downtown area, along with a historic burial ground, some ghost signs, a fantastic diner and much more (see August 7, 2022, "A Nice Walk in Natick Center, Part I").

In this installment of my two-part series, I'll bounce between a neat ice cream shop; a closed-off bridge; a historic church and its soon-to-be-demolished former school; some awesome murals; a converted armory; and much more.

I'm going to start with Johnny Tailgater and his van.

Parked in the lot for Birchler's Automotive on South Avenue, this amazing testament to one man's love of the New England Patriots is worthy of several gigantic Gronk spikes. It appears to be a converted "short bus," to use the politically incorrect term for the smaller vehicles that often drive special education students or those with disabilities to and from school. I didn't check the inside, but since it's got "Johnny Tailgater" on the side, I'm hoping there are comfortable seats, a mini fridge and a grilling set-up of some sort in there, to maximize the pre-game in the Gillette Stadium parking lot.

I don't know whether this amazing fan-van is at Birchler's for some work, or whether it's for sale. And just who is Johnny Tailgater? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Frankly, I was expecting to find a lot more about JT on the InterWebs, what with the success of the team in the last 20 years. Seems his real name is John Person, which seems like not a real name at all. If you're at Gillette this upcoming season, keep your eyes peeled for Mr. Tailgater.

I'm making the executive decision (since I'm the only executive at this blog) to move on to the former home of The Neighborhood Wrench on East Central Street, based simply on a color scheme that matches Johnny Tailgater's bus.

I''m not sure how long ago this auto services shop shut down; it opened in 2003. I like the ghostly remnants of the sign. There is a sister location open in Medway.

Next door to the shuttered station is Pizza by Rocco.

I love this little building, which dates to 1900, according to the Natick assessor's office. That's often a default date, so I'm guessing it could be older. I suspect there have been restaurants here prior to the pizza place, as well as maybe small stores or barber shops.

A little further east on East Central Street is Castle Condominiums.

Can you guess what the older, brick building used to be? If you said the Natick Army National Guard Armory, you're correct!

Built in 1911 in the English Revival style common to many of the armories built in New England, this place was built for the town's Company L of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, many of whom had been called to service in the Spanish-American War in 1898, per MACRIS. While I've seen plenty of old armories in Greater Boston, and written about a few of them (scroll down in this post about Marlborough, Mass.; scroll down in this post about Boston's Charlestown neighborhood; and check out this post about Waltham's long-neglected armory, I learned just recently, thanks to a follower of mine on Instagram, that these heavily fortified buildings were erected in response to community fears about domestic terrorism in the last half of the 19th century, and first half of the 20th. Read this Hartford Courant article for more information on the subject.

The armory was redeveloped into condos many years ago.

A few blocks west of the armory, closer to the center of town, is St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church.

Built in 1892, this High Victorian Gothic house of worship was designed by James Murphy, an ecclesiastical architect based in Providence, Rhode Island, according to MACRIS. "His commissions...include the Saint Louis Church (1885) at 440 Bradford Street, Fall River [Mass.]; Gothic Revival Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church (1871) at 133 Main Street, Greenfield [Mass.]; and the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (1888) at 387 Chestnut Street, Springfield [Mass.]."

The church merged with St. Linus to form what is called the Natick Catholic Community. With Catholic churches shuttering all around Greater Boston in the last 20 years, it's no surprise that the former St. Patrick's School, located across East Central Street from the church, closed down.

In June of this year, the Natick Zoning Board of Appeals approved a mixed-use redevelopment project planned by Stonegate Group. The project will include 54 housing units, 14 of them classified as affordable, as well as restaurant and retail space, according to a Metrowest Daily News article.

Along East Central Street, across from the fire department headquarters, is St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which was looking grand when I walked by.

Built in 1920, this Neo Gothic Revival church was designed by Charles Coveney of the architecture firm Brigham, Coveney and Bisbee, whose firm also designed the Christian Science Church in Boston's Back Bay among many other buildings.

At each entrance/exit to a parking lot at the corner of Washington and Court streets, I spied landscape design features the likes of which I've never seen.

I assume there are lights inside each of these glass-enclosed mini-towers. I hope they still work.

Steps away, along Adams Street, is what I've dubbed an artsy alley.

The Studios @ 3 Adams is the location with the large butterfly painted on the front. I'm not sure whether the studios are currently open. Next door is Uni-T, a gift shop that sells unique, eco-friendly t-shirts. I bought some online!

At the left of this photo, the work featuring the rainbow of colors is the "We the People" mosaic, created by Carol Krentzman. To find out more about the artist and this specific work, check out this video. Krentzman also created the series of smaller mosaics all the way to the left of her larger work, as well as the "History of Natick" work (with dark blue at the top) and the "Smiling Faces" one closest to the corner of the building.

As for the studio/Uni-T building, it is known historically as the William D. Parlin Storehouse, according to MACRIS. Built circa 1882, it was used by Parlin to store merchandise (hardware, plumbing supplies, stoves) for his store on Main Street.

Located in the middle of the block, 13 Adams Street was also a storage facility, known historically as the John M. Fiske Warehouse, per MACRIS. Built around 1889, it was also used for hardware merchandise storage.

While going through these photos, and looking at Google Maps Street View, I realized that I'd completely missed a small ghost sign in this alley. So I made another trip to Natick, just to shoot that sign.

(I believe it says HARNESS MAKER.)

I'm going to feature a few random things, before getting back into more artsy stuff.

The Spring Street bridge spans the commuter train tracks, but appears to have been closed for quite some time.

Over on Pond Street is Bruno's Barber Shop ("Probably the best barber shop in Natick"), which was established in 1959 by "Bruno DeMasi after honing his craft in the Italian Military," according to the shop's web site.

This is one of the cutest ice cream shops I've seen. I thought, given the small tower, that this was a former church. But it wasn't. According to MACRIS, both this building and the house next door were built between 1899 and 1904 on the same property. Previous tenants include a florist and a cobbler shop. The tenant for the last 42 years is Park Street Ice Cream.

OK, back to artsy stuff. Below is The Center for Arts in Natick, which goes by TCAN.

Complete on Summer Street in 1875, a year after a catastrophic fire destroyed much of downtown, the former Central Fire Station was converted to an arts center in 2003. So what goes on here? Quite a bit. Concerts (upcoming acts include The Blind Boys of Alabama and Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention), movies (the latest "Elvis" movie, for instance) and comedy shows.

Below is the former entrance to Calliope Paperie, a gift/stationery/card store that moved to Main Street in Natick in 2021.

This inviting doorway -- check out the little old mailbox! -- is located in a cluster of buildings that I've dubbed the Architecture Riot, at the intersection of North Avenue and Main Street.

What the hell is going on here?! I'll get to the red building in the background in a moment, along with the building at the right edge of the photo. First, let's talk about the Greek Revival building in the middle of this conflagration.

As you can see, Robert's Barber Shop appears to occupy the space between the stately old yellow home and the one-story building next door. But the Modern Beauty Salon (or is it the North Ave. Salon? Or nothing at all anymore?) seems to take up part of the first floor of the old home. There appear to be apartments or offices here, as well.

Known historically as the Nathan Brooks Goodnow House, this place was built in 1865. Goodnow was a banker, a hospital trustee, a director of Natick Gas Light and proprietor of the Natick Grand Opera House, per MACRIS. The storefront to the left of the front door (with the yellow and white paint job), is the former Calliope location. I just don't understand why someone - anyone - would desecrate such a wonderful old home with these additions.

The building to the right of the Goodnow house, with the Spanish tile roof, is something different than what I figured.

I assumed it was an old market, but it turns out that the great little building, which is currently home to the Hanna Hearing Aid Center, was once a service station (!). "[T]he current style and detailing cues of the building suggests that the structure dates from the 1920s and was likely used as a service station," per MACRIS. "In the 1930s the property is associated with the Shell Eastern Petroleum Corporation."

Who woulda thunk?!

OK, back to the red building.

Known historically as Belger's Block, this building dates to 1873. "Tax records indicate that Patrick Belger paid tax on 1873 for the Belger House (new house) and 1/8 acre of land," according to MACRIS. "The 1889 Directory lists a Patrick Belger in charge of the Cochituate Street Crossing, B & A R.R. residing at Belger’s Block on North Main Street." Interesting to think that there was a time when someone's job was to oversee a street crossing for railroads, doing their best to keep folks from getting nailed by trains.

(Former entrance for Meridian Massage Therapy.)

Next door is an old house that is currently home to Bake It Yours.

I'm going to finish up just across North Avenue from the Riot.

This impressive mural, called "Next Stop Natick 2000," is located along the commuter train tracks in the center of town. Painted by artist David Fichter and students from Natick High School and the Wilson and Kennedy middle schools, who also designed it, the mural emphasizes Natick's "connection with the railroad," according to Fichter's web site. "Highlights of the mural include a cutaway of an Amtrak commuter train with historical figures including Vice President Henry Wilson, football legend Doug Flutie, African American Civil War veterans, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Other scenes feature Natick Native Americans, the Underground Railway in Natick, and the Boston Marathon."

I have featured Fichter's work before, here and here.

Below are some details of the artwork.

Like many commuter train stops in Massachusetts, Natick doesn't have a proper station. Oh, but it used to.

"The imposing...1897 station was built by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, Boston architects who installed most of the stations of that period on the Boston and Albany line," according to the Natick Historical Society web site. "Constructed of granite and brownstone, the station stood at track side with a sloped pathway that led down from South Avenue. The rear of the station was accessible to horse-drawn wagons and carriages, and later, to motorized vehicles."

Many Shelpley, Rutan & Coolidge stations have been torn down. The Natick one has just...disappeared.

"The old 1897 station is now the basement of the [Dion's] liquor store, where a bay window in the north wall that may have served as a passenger ticket window is still visible. The original canopy on the inbound track platform is still in use." Check out this link for more information and some nice photos.

There are so many cool old buildings in Natick Center. It's too bad that residents and visitors can no longer see the old train station among them. Hope you enjoyed this exploration of yet another great old industrial Massachusetts town.

A Nice Walk in Natick Center, Part I

From You Know Who:

For a long time, Natick was living in the back of my brain, behind memories of the firemen's carnival in my hometown and the time I hit a triple in old-guy baseball and seeing my first hardcore punk show at a grimy VFW Hall at age 17. I'd driven through the center of this old town a few times over the past 20+ years and somewhere in my mind I knew I would get back and make photos of what I didn't even really remember.

How's that for a welcome to the first of a two-part series about the town settled by white folks in 1651? And not just any Colonials, but John Eliot, the so-called Apostle to the Indians.

"Beginning at Natick, where he preached biweekly until he was past 80, Eliot was instrumental in organizing fourteen Indian villages," according to this article on the Boston University web site. "No whites were resident, and a form of self-government was instituted according to the pattern given in Exodus 18. Interested neighboring pastors were encouraged to participate in regular instruction. Although most of the evangelization was carried out by personally trained Indian evangelists, Eliot himself traveled on foot and on horseback, taxing his strength to the utmost, sometimes drenched by rain, in order to bring the gospel to the people. He brought cases to court to fight for Indian property rights, pleaded for clemency for convicted Indian prisoners, fought the selling of Indians into slavery, south to secure lands and streams for Indian use, established schools for Indian children and adults, translated the Bible (1663) and twenty other books into Indian languages, and attempted to train Indians to adopt a settled way of life."

I wrote about Eliot in a post about Newton Corner that included mention of a memorial to his efforts (see December 18, 2021, "I Seek Newton, Part XI: Newton Corner (Section 2)"). His legacy is complicated. He worked hard to make the lives of native people better, but he also did it within the context of converting them away from their spiritual beliefs and toward living an English lifestyle.

Anyway.

Natick Center is where the town's municipal offices are located, alongside numerous great old buildings and new murals and ghost signs and churches and fraternal organizations and restaurants and, well, you get the point. I made two trips here to make sure I captured as much of it all as I could. Here's some of what I found.

I'm going to start, logically, with the Natick Praying Indian Burial Ground.

The spot along Pond Street marks "the site of one of the burial places of the Natick tribe of Indians," according to the plaque in the photo above. "This land was set apart from the [Eliot] ministerial lot, as a burial place for the Indians, about 1750 and is all that remains of the original one hundred acres set aside May 11, 1719 by twenty Indian proprietors towards the support of their preacher."

The site also honors Native Americans who fought alongside the colonists in the Revolutionary War.

Moving to the northern edge of downtown, I found a building that, during my first swing through here, I knew I should've photographed. When a friend clued me in after the fact that this certain building was once home to a baseball factory, well, I knew I had to make a photo of it.

Founded in 1858, Harwood and Sons manufactured baseballs and softballs until 1976, when its parent company, Dart Industries, moved the operation to Georgia. The company is credited as the first in the world to make baseballs. The building was converted to condos in 1988.

(Cool electrical box art outside the former baseball plant.)

I love baseball, and have posted several times about America's (former?) favorite pastime. See March 31, 2019, "A Slow Jog Around the Bases of My Memory"; September 28, 2017, "No Yachts, No Mansions," which features photos and info about one of the oldest baseball fields in the country, located in Newport, Rhode Island; and June 18, 2011, "Play Ball?"

The old factory overlooks the Walnut Street railroad bridge, which crosses train tracks used by commuter trains (there is a stop here); Amtrak trains (which just fly on by); and freight trains.

Built in 1895, this plate girder bridge once carried auto traffic. These days, it's for pedestrians and bikes only.

Steps away, along Middlesex Avenue, I was quite taken by the House of Service clock and the old air pump.

This place is now home to Central Service Garage, which has been in business since 1979.

I'm going to continue skirting around the edges, before diving into all of the great stuff in the center of town.

A few streets away is Greg's Repair Service, which specializes in Audi and Volkswagen models.

(I love the juxtaposition of the angular old VW Thing with the smooth and classic bus.)

The shop has been in business for more than three decades.

Below is a building that was most recently a Santander Bank.

Located at the corner of Union and East Central streets, this place dates to around 1940. I'd love to know the history of this place.

OK, let's start moving into downtown. Below is the home of Aikido Natick on Summer Street.

The building dates to around 1900, but I haven't found any other information about it. Judging by its look and style, I'm guessing it was a market of some sort when it rose, and probably many other types of stores over the ensuing decades.

Across from the aikido place is the former home of Rudy's Valet Cleaning Service, as you can see in the ghost sign.

Built in 1943, this relatively plain brick building was also home to New England Shoe Repairing during that period. More recently, this place was home to The Kells Beer Company, which purchased the previous tenant, Barleycorn's Craft Brew. The taproom shut down in July 2021.

Next door is the lovely little mansard building below.

Allegedly built in 1900 (per the Natick assessor), this place seems to be in good condition, but I'm not sure if there are any tenants. Next door, on the corner of Summer and Main streets, is the really cool Walcott Building, which I had a hard time shooting photos of because of the sun. I did, however, manage to capture a cool detail on the Summer Street side

Erected in 1888 by shoe manufacturer John B. Walcott, this building had a two-story meeting and banquet hall, which served originaly as the headquarters of the, ahem, Improved Order of Red Men, per MACRIS. I'm not sure whether the "frescoed portraits of American Indian life in the vaulted ceiling" still exist. As for the Improved Order of Red Men, per Wikipedia, it is "a fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. Their rituals and regalia are modeled after those assumed by men of the era to be used by Native Americans. Despite the name, the order was formed solely by, and for, white men. The organization claimed a membership of about half a million in 1935, but has declined to a little more than 15,000." I find it hard to believe -- OK, no I don't -- that this organization is ongoing.

Currently home to home decorating store Debsan, the Walcott Building was previously the location of R&L Furniture, as evidenced by the cool entryway ghost below.

Across Summer Street from the Walcott is the Clark Building, which dominates downtown Natick along Main Street.

As the plaque indicates, the Nathaniel Clark Block was originally built in 1872 on this site, but it burned in the downtown fire of 1874. Clark built the current structure on the same spot, increasing its length from 100 feet to 260. It originally housed various town offices, a concert/town hall, a district court, a bank, a newspaper office and other businesses.

Currently, stores along the ground floor include Optica Eyewear, Orange Theory Fitness, clothing store Baylee Bee and Lola's Italian Kitchen & Market, seen below.

(I love the leaded glass details on the Clark building, which MACRIS says is High Victorian Italianate architecture.)

Another prominent building on Main Street is the Leonard Morse Block.

Built in 1874, this High Victorian Gothic building is unlike anything else downtown. The builder was Leonard Morse, who during his life in Natick was a shoemaker, a factory owner and a real estate investor, per MACRIS. The MetroWest Medical Center in Natick was built as the Leonard Morse Hospital. The Morse building is also known as the Masonic Block, as that fraternal organization was its original tenant.

The Meridian Lodge A.F. & A.M. was chartered in 1797 by the one and only Paul Revere, who was a Freemason almost his entire adult life. "The pinnacle of his Masonic career came in 1794, when he was elected Grand Master of this united Massachusetts Grand Lodge. During his three-year term, Revere chartered 23 lodges and energetically carried out his duties," per the previously linked article.

The Masons continue to meet in this building.

Continuing the theme of fraternal organizations, let's check out the fantastic Odd Fellows Building, at the corner of South Main and Pond streets.

Currently home to a franchise of The Bagel Table, the Holly Chin Vocal Studio and other businesses, this great building rose in 1887 "to provide meeting and banquet quarters for the Takawambpait Odd Fellows Association, per MACRIS. "Daniel Takawambpait was a Christian Indian who succeeded John Eliot as minister of the first Church in Natick founded in 1660," MACRIS continues. "A tombstone marks his gravesite in South Natick, the original settlement of this town. The meeting hall is frescoed and furnished in solid cherry, and there are stained glass windows."

I'm unsure whether the chapter is still active.

Above is a view of the Odd Fellows Building from across a vacant lot at the corner of Pond and West Central streets. In July 2019, a fire tore through the buildings here, leaving them a total loss. Businesses in the circa-1900 block included King Wok restaurant, where the fire started; Iron Horse, an arts supply shop that reopened in Sherborn; a Christian Science Reading Room, which relocated; Nancy Kelley Dance Studio, which found a new home next door; Clip and Dip Dog Grooming, which has a new home; and Natick Center Graphics, which merged with Minuteman Press.

A new building is slated for development here, to be called The Block Natick. "[T]his innovative project will host a rotating mix of dynamic local art and retail, emerging brands, food and drink, when it makes its debut," per the development's web site.

Heading south along South Main Street, I found two terrific old buildings.

The Doherty Block, which MACRIS calls Victorian Eclectic, dates to 1896. It was built for Patrick Doherty, who operated a grocery and liquor store here, and lived in the building as well. That store was in business through the middle of last century, per MACRIS. In 1952, the Italian American Club used the property. Currently, the building is home to Mr. Sweeper Vacuum Cleaner Sales and George's Pizza.

Two doors down from the Doherty Block, at 49 South Main Street, is a place called the Doon Block.

Another Victorian Eclectic, this building rose in 1882, although MACRIS indicates that date may not be correct. The original owner was J.W. Doon & Sons, which was a coal, wood, grain and feed distributor, according to MACRIS. The building is currently home to Gallery 55, which replaced an old cobbler's shop, according to its web site.

The building was also home to Frank Lee Laundry, which was here for many years, but which appears to be out of business.

Along West Central Street, near the future home of The Block Natick, is the E.P. Clark Post of the American Legion #107 building. Wow, say that five times fast.

Currently home to C&T Design Center and farm-to-table restaurant Buttercup, this panel-brick building dates to 1880. The Legion post is no longer active here.

I had a good feeling about finding a ghost sign in Natick Center, and my gut was right.

Located on the side of the Buttercup building, this old sign was for Cleland, Healy and Underwood, a furniture company in business from the late 19th century until around World War I, when it became home to a district court, according to this article. There was also a Woolworth store here in the middle part of last century. The building had fallen into disrepair, but was renovated and upgraded by Stonegate Group in 2016.

Back north across Main Street, near the former baseball factory, is a great building with a tenant that caught my eye.

The Fiske Block on South Avenue was erected in 1875, yet another Victorian Eclectic building. This building was where John M. Fiske operated Fiske and Co., which sold stoves, hardware, plumbing supplies, paints and sporting goods, per MACRIS. While there are other cool buildings in this area that I could have made photos of, I chose this one because Listen Up Music, which sells new and used albums, CD's and cassette tapes, is my kind of place. I didn't shop there, but I might someday, as I do like to shop for records. The store has been in business since 1996.

I've saved the best Natick Center icon for last.

"Casey's Diner was first established in 1890 with a 4-stool, horse drawn wagon that Fred Casey purchased from the Brooks family," according to the little eatery's web site. "The current diner was built in 1922 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and has been located in downtown Natick since 1927. It has passed from father to son for four generations. Famous for its steamed hotdogs, Casey's is a local landmark in Natick, serving generations of families for more than a century. The Diner is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the oldest operating diners in Massachusetts (possibly even the United States!)."

Hot dog! That's some fantastic history. One of these days, I need to grab a bite at Casey's, and then head over to Listen Up to do some record shopping.

Make sure to check for part two of my review of Natick Center, in which I will feature cool murals. a neat ice cream shop, an arts center in a former fire station, an armory that's been turned into apartments, and much more.