Somerville Junkyard Will Be Scrapped

From Dave Brigham:

Scrapyard, junkyard, auto recycler. The business goes by many names, but it's not one that many folks think about very often. Sure, do-it-yourselfers who love plugging away on cars -- dropping a tranny into a '68 Camaro, replacing tail lights on an '82 Corolla -- know their local junkyard owner and love to poke around looking for parts or maybe a rare find that they can transform into a hot rod. But if you're like me, and don't know a universal joint from a big fat spliff, a junkyard is a foreign environment, a place where Tuco beats No-Doze to death in "Breaking Bad," a place filled with a confusing array of tailpipes, rocker panels, side-view mirrors and eight-ball gear shifters.

And a place for junkyard dogs.

That one is for my friend, Andy.

I recall seeing junkyards along highways that I traveled as a kid, from Connecticut down to New Jersey to visit my grandparents, or up to Vermont to see my grandmother. I was fascinated by the expanses -- acre upon rusting acre -- of cars and trucks and buses, some of them stacked on top of each other, and I wondered what would happen to them all. I didn't understand then that junkyards are really recycling centers, places of reuse, feeding auto body shops and the steel and rubber industries.

But I don't see as many junkyards in my travels around Massachusetts these days. There used to be one in Waltham, 128 Used Auto Parts, but it closed down within the last few years. I'm not sure if there is a redevelopment plan. And today, I'm here to write about an auto recycler in Somerville that will soon fall under the wrecking ball: Nissenbaum Quality Used Auto Parts.

Founded in 1910 by Jacob Nissenbaum, the business evolved from using a horse and cart to pick up and deliver scrap items, to using trucks for those purposes, and, eventually, purchasing cars for scrap, according to the junkyard's web site. In the 1940s, Jacob's grandson, Max, "purchased surrounding land, expanding their facility to one acre. In 1955, Nissenbaum began to sell automobile and truck parts. This was handled in such a way that customers removed their own parts. To further improve the business, additional buildings were built for storage during the years of 1957 and 1962. The first state approved auto body incinerator was erected in 1964 and used until 1967, when vehicles were brought to the shredder."

When I wrote about Nissenbaum's in the spring of 2016, they were still in business (see "April 7, 2016, "Sweet and Junky"). But last year, the fourth and fifth generations of Nissenbaums who were running the scrapyard decided to sell the property for redevelopment. DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners and Leggat McCall Properties paid $150 million, and will add the soon-to-be-former junkyard to the Boynton Yards project.

When completed, Boynton Yards will sprawl across multiple buildings, comprised of 1.8 million square feet of lab/office space, apartments, an arts/community center and two acres of green space. Some of the buildings are already up and running; two more are slated to open their doors next year. The project is located within walking distance of the newly opened Union Square Green line station.

(Nissenbaum's corrugated steel walls no longer hold in any junked cars. In the background is one of the Boynton Yards buildings.)

As you can see from the photos below, the place was in pretty rough shape, which was true when I explored around the junkyard seven years ago.

I've begun doing field trips with friends, photographers and those who just want to explore ruins and other cool sites on the backside of America. At Nissenbaum's, I was joined by my college buddy Jim, who grew up in Somerville and once junked a car here; James Surprenant, a photographer, ham radio operator and cigar aficionado who I met years ago through Flickr and Facebook, and who I was glad to meet in person for the first time; and James's friend, Mike Zeis, who is a fantastic photographer.

(James and Mike exploring along the narrow street that separates the two parts of the junkyard.)

(James and Mike making photos of some great signage.)

The shot below sums it up: old Somerville on the left, embodied by the Nissenbaum's building; new Somerville rising in the background, across from Nissenbaum's, above a temporary poster extolling the virtues of the technology jobs that will soon be available here.

To see more photos and read plenty about Somerville's past, present and future, see the posts below, which are part of my ongoing series about the city.

March 25, 2023, "Square Dancing Around Somerville"

March 11, 2023, "The Pros and Cons of Winter Hill and Gilman Square"