From Dave Brigham:
Astute followers of the blog will recall this place, which I featured in my write-up about the Thompsonville village of Newton as part of my series covering my adopted hometown (March 7, 2017, "I Seek Newton, Part VII: Thompsonville").
Six years ago, however, I wasn't in the habit of using the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS), so I didn't provide much information about this old filling station. On a recent trip to make photos of some buildings across Route 9 from the old service station that are slated to be torn down, I decided to shoot this singular place again (see May 27, 2023, "Sushi Fortune Pants").
Currently functioning as the fitness center for The Residences at Chestnut Hill, an "apartment community" built in 2004, this lovely old structure is known historically as the Antonio Signori Gas Station, according to MACRIS. Built in 1933 in the Spanish Eclectic style, Signori's "is the only remaining pre-World War II gas station in Newton and is a simple but fine example of gas station architecture," according to MACRIS.
"Construction of the station coincided with removal of the street railway tracks and the widening of Boylston Street, begun the previous year," MACRIS continues. Working on this blog, I often bump up against mentions of street railways. I have a hard time picturing roadways with tracks laid down the middle, rickety trolley cars traveling to and fro, people getting on and off and making their way to school, work, shops, restaurants, home.
More from MACRIS: "Designed by local architect Albert M. Kreider, the station was altered in 1940 by the addition of a two car lubratorium, built by local carpenter Vincent E. Squires." Over the years, the station sold Jenney gas and Mobil, and was owned by the Signori family until at least the late 1980s.
Jenney was a local brand that I'm unfamiliar with.
Click here to see a photo of the station from its Jenney days.
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