From Dave Brigham:
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich) was a legendary actor who starred on Broadway (Arthur Miller's "All My Sons," Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire") and in countless films ("On the Waterfront," "Baby Doll," "Birdman of Alcatraz"). I remember him best from "The Streets of San Francisco," a cop drama co-starring Michael Douglas that ran on ABC from 1972 to 1977.
The city of Malden, Mass., on the other hand, hasn't landed one stage, film or TV role since being incorporated in 1649. The small city located just a little north of Boston has, however, produced some famous folks: Tony/Oscar/Emmy winner Jack Albertson, whom I loved in "Chico and the Man"; Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason detective stories; musician Norman Greenbaum, about whom we'll learn more later; Edna May Oliver, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for 1939's "Drums Along the Mohawk"; and drummer David Robinson, who played in both the Modern Lovers and the Cars.
Ever since taking my son to Boda Borg, a "real-life questing" experience in downtown Malden several years ago, I've wanted to return to make photos. I recalled a main street with some cool old buildings. After a bit of research (An old diner!), last July I found time to explore. Below, you'll see and learn about what I found. You know how this works.
The first place I came across was one that made me say, out loud, to myself, not for the first time, "Oh, THAT used to be something!"
Currently home to a U-Haul Self Storage facility, this brick building along Eastern Avenue, near the intersection with Ferry Street, was originally Revere Knitting Mills.
From MACRIS: "The Revere Knitting Mills factory was built in 1921 with rear access to the Saugus Branch Railroad. In 1929 a rear addition was made to the original building along the railroad line. The Revere Mills suffered a serious fire in August 1938 and a strike in November 1938. After World War II the company moved to suburban Wakefield, closing operations in 1958."
The term "knitting mill" may sound quaint, as if a bunch of old ladies are rocking in sync in their chairs, nattering about the weather and slowly but surely completing scarves, hats and mittens. The reality was a bit different: low pay, long and grueling shifts, noisy and potentially dangerous machinery, children working without legal protection. Below is a video that gives you an idea of what it was like to work in a cotton mill in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.
I roamed quite a bit around downtown before I found my next photo target, but it was a damn good one.
This Classical Revival beauty was built in 1894 for Mrs. Edward L. Brown of Malden, according to MACRIS. It was "designed in 1894 by H.W. Hartwell & W.C. Richardson, noted Boston area architects, unrelated to H.H. Richardson," MACRIS continues. "The four story brick business block follows a standard plan for commercial buildings of the period with retail shops on the street floor and upper story offices, including a dining hall on the fourth floor."
"Sometime after 1930 the Malden Masonic Order relocated from the Yerxa (W.T. Grant) Building at 72-80 Pleasant Street to the Browne Building, renaming to the Malden Masonic Building," per MACRIS. "In 1972 a serious fire required substantial rebuilding of the Masonic facilities with a new entrance."
Nowadays, this building is known as the Residences at Malden Station, a pet-friendly apartment community with a 24-hour fitness center and two rooftop lounges.
Continuing east on Pleasant Street, I saw plenty of other nice buildings, starting with the old Malden Trust Company Bank.
Currently occupied by East Cambridge Savings Bank and Mixer eSports + Cafe (part of the Malden Gaming District, which includes Project: PUTT!, Rock Spot Climbing, Boda Borg [to be discussed below] and Station: Bistro & KTV), the Classical Revival Malden Trust building was completed in 1914. The building was acquired by Pioneer Bank in 1983, and by Eastern Bank in 1994, according to MACRIS.
Next door is Boda Borg, a questing entertainment business founded in Sweden in the mid-1990s, according to the company's web site. "Our Questing concept pioneered the Reality-Gaming business sector in an era of video games, reality television, and action movies," the web site continues. "People were drawn to a concept where they participate physically and mentally in exhilarating activities themselves. No movies! No video games! Just you and real-life Quests!"
My son and his friends had a blast here a few times back when he was in high school. Boda Borg took over the space formerly filled by Sparks Department Store, which had been in business for 94 years before closing in 2013.
Adjacent to Boda Borg is Super 99 Century, a discount store located in the former W.T. Grant Department Store space.
I've written a few times before about Grants, a department store chain founded by Malden native William T. Grant in 1906. Founded in Lynn, Mass., the chain grew to nearly 1,200 stores by the time its founder passed away in 1972 at age 96. Four years later, the company went out of business, "in part due to a failure to adapt to changing times [that] was probably accelerated by management's refusal until it was too late to eliminate the shareholder dividend," according to Wikipedia.
As for the Pleasant Street building, it was built in 1941 when Grants moved from its previous location in what is known as the Yerxa Block (located...somewhere in Malden), according to MACRIS. The Malden store closed in 1971.
Super 99's neighbor to the east is home to Zuru Zuru, a ramen restaurant, and The Downtown Paw, a doggy daycare facility. I've searched high and low online, but I haven't figured out any history for the building.
The place next door, on the other hand, was built in 1940 as an F.W. Woolworth store (aka Woolworth's).
Currently home to modern Asian restaurant All Seasons Table, this building was "named the 'most modern building in New England' when it opened in October 1940," per MACRIS, citing the Malden News. The Woolworth store closed in 1969.
Near the end of Pleasant Street, on the north side, is a little place named the Bychower Building.
I haven't found any information about this place, which is currently occupied by Gold & Diamonds, Etc.
Next door, close to the point where Pleasant and Main streets meet, is the Barrett Building, which has an interesting history and features a ghost sign.
(The Barrett Building, seen in the background.)
(Ghost sign for Black's Furniture on the side of the Barrett Building.)
From MACRIS: "Barrett's Building was completed and opened in March 1884 with a mix of craft-works, including a crockery shop and furniture factory on the upper floors, along with a meeting hall. Advertising signs for BLACK'S FURNITURE are still preserved on the side brick walls and match with directory listings and photographs to 1898-1900, possibly earlier to the original building as the oldest remaining commercial art in Malden Square."
Damn, those are some old ghost signs!
A meeting room on the third floor of the Panel Brick building was used for a time as a Red Men's Hall. Known officially as the Improved Order of Red Men, the fraternal organization "claims direct descent from the colonial era Sons of Liberty," per Wikipedia. Established in Baltimore in 1834, the Red Men held rituals and wore regalia "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," Wikipedia continues. The group lives on today, although not at this location.
I wrote about another former Red Men's Hall on August 7, 2022, in part one of my profile of Natick Center.
Finally, in 1926 the Barrett Building's "middle bay was opened up at the ground floor level to become the entrance to the new Granada Theater which was built behind it," per MACRIS.
Around the corner, on Main Street, is the former home of another fraternal organization.
The Odd Fellows Temple, which has some impressively ornate details, dates to 1907.
Currently, the building is home to The Immigrant Learning Center, some law offices and other small businesses, I believe. Below is a ghost sign for a company called Insurance Express that was once located in the building.
On this exploration, I did a lot of walking without taking photos. Sometimes that happens on the backside. After checking out the IOOF temple, I doubled back along the other side of Pleasant Street, and then looped around to Exchange Street. In addition to some new apartment and office buildings, I found some cool public art and a ghost from the past.
"'Spirit in the Sky' is a mural painted...to honor Norman Greenbaun, who wrote the hit song 'Spirit in the Sky' and is from Malden....The mural was designed to be a vibrant piece of artwork for the City of Malden which fuels economic growth through Cultural Value, Educational Value, Historic Value and Community Engagement," according to a statement on the web site of artist Jesse Melanson. The giant mural is located on the rear of 110 Pleasant Street, facing Exchange Street.
At the rear of the former Woolworth's store, I spied an old sign for Woolworth Studios.
Surprisingly, I haven't found out any information about this part of the old department store chain's business. The current tenant for this space is the aforementioned Project: PUTT!
Along Irving Street, I spied a nice sign for Pleasant Smoke Shop, which has been selling cigars and accessories since 1982.
After a few minutes, I headed for the Northern Strand Community Trail, a bike path connecting Everett, Malden, Revere, Saugus and Lynn. I had no idea whether I would find some cool backside places, or whether I was putting undue strain on my bad feet and my sciatica for no reason. Over the years of exploring on behalf of this blog, I've found that old railroad rights-of-way that have been converted to community paths are pretty good places to poke along. Factories and warehouses that were once served by trains are often still standing witness to e-bikes, parents jogging with strollers, kids on bikes and middle-aged dudes with cameras limping along.
My gamble paid off once again, as I stumbled across the the top model train retailer in the USA.
Charles Ro Supply Company has been in business since 1972, offering "the largest selection and best pricing for all your model train & hobby needs," per its web site, which also claims the store is the world's largest dealer for Lionel Trains, a company owned in part by rocker Neil Young.
I visited the store twice many years ago when my son was young and totally into toy trains. My shopping trip was so many years ago, I thought Charles Ro was located in neighboring Everett, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the store and make a few photos.
I got off the multi-use path and headed north on Cross Street, as I was getting tired and needed to start working my way back toward my car. At the intersection of Cross and Salem streets, I saw a black awning with a faded sign for Salem Wood Cafe.
Shuttered in 2013 after what I'm assuming was at least a few decades in business, the restaurant received a good review from Boston's Hidden Restaurants, which described the joint as a "homey, well-worn working-class" eatery that offered good food in a no-nonsense location.
Further west along Salem Street I saw a one-story, four-bay retail building that has a Middle Eastern look to it because of the arched doorways and the red trim paint.
Known as the Zachary Zarsky Block, this Classical Revival building rose in 1925. Zarsky "was a pharmacist and business owner in Malden," according to MACRIS. "Zarsky was a native of Vilna, Russia. He began with ownership of the Red Cross Pharmacy in Gardner, Massachusetts. He came to Malden where he operated the Faulkner Pharmacy, also known as Zarsky’s Drug Store at 273 Salem Street....Zarsky acquired the land on which this building would be built in 1923 from Annie S. Towle....Original tenants included First National Stores, a grocery store, at 283, Roy Clough provisions at 285, Jacob Fitterman, tailor at 287, and Carmine DiMattia, barber at 289."
Tenants today include Casablanca Wireless and Bel Bebe, a beauty salon.
A little further along is a stunning apartment building: The Mount Vernon.
Located on the corner of Salem and Mount Vernon streets, this building was in the news more than two years ago, when the parapet at the roof line collapsed onto the sidewalk. Nobody was injured. As for the building, I haven't been able to find out when it was built. It looks to be in good shape now.
I followed Salem Street into Malden Square, near where I'd begun my adventure. I wanted to get a closer look at something I'd spied earlier in the day when I was making photos of the IOOF building.
There is a boomerang-shaped hole in the ground next to the brilliantly named Dentistry and Braces practice along Main Street, curving around to Ferry Street. As you can see, there are remnants of laths from the building that once stood on that semi-circular lot. I wanted to know what used to be there. I'm thankful that my old friend MACRIS and my newer friend Google Street View had some answers.
Known as The Auld-New Lounge, the building was built in 1912, remodeled in 1937 and 1974 and was considered by the MACRIS report author to be a "much-altered undistinguished commercial structure" that "may well be replaced," as of 1976. The building appears to have been torn down in late 2019 or early 2020. Below is a Google Street View photo of the building from November 2011:
As for what might fill the hole in the ground, I haven't been able to figure that out.
Heading south on Main Street, I absolutely had to make a photo of the building housing Kung Fu Tea, Thanh Danh tax services and Angel M Beauty Club.
Built in the Classical Revival style in 1902, 1-3 Pleasant Street wouldn't look out of place in a European village. Unfortunately, MACRIS doesn't have much to tell me about this place.
I continued south, across Centre Street, heading toward my car. I knew I had at least one building to shoot -- a recently revamped diner -- but another one caught my eye.
I'm used to seeing buildings with words carved into their facades, usually the name of a bank or a builder or a factory. This is the first time I've seen the name of a cleaning company: Golden Bell Cleaners. I wish I'd been more observant, as there is another business name carved into the south-facing facade: Boston Dye House, according to MACRIS.
"The Boston Dye House at 22-28 Eastern Avenue is dated 1927 by newspaper articles and archives blueprints," MACRIS indicates. "The present building is an addition to the original (1919) Boston Dye House building at 30-50 Eastern Avenue on a site occupied in 1912. The 1927 addition was constructed for the Golden Bell Cleaners, named after the founder Edward I. Golden, highlighted by gilded bells on the facade. The Boston Dye House building on Eastern Avenue remains a commercial landmark of Maiden Center, highlighted by gilded bells on the facade as signets of its identity."
After making the above photo, I crossed Main Street to get a better angle of the Breakfast Club, a diner that moved from Boston's Allston neighborhood due to redevelopment (see June 18, 2022, "I Love L.A.!").
Prior to the Breakfast Club, this was home to the Doo Wop Diner, from 1991 to April 2022. The eatery, so named because the owner's grandfather loved doo wop music, featured appropriately themed dishes such as The Chubby Cheddar, I Want to Hold Your Ham and Cheese and The Last Train to Belgian Waffles, according to this Neighborhood View article about the restaurant's closure.
Next, I made a photo of another neighborhood institution:
Jay's Pizza & Ice Cream opened in 2005, I believe.
Doubling back toward my car, I ventured again down the bike path, which cuts just north of the Breakfast Club. I followed it just a short distance, to Ferry Street. I then walked west along Eastern Avenue and past a few old buildings, including a former auto repair business. As I crossed the street, I looked back and was fortunate enought to spot the ghost sign seen below.
Most recently home to The King of Auto Repair, this lot is being redeveloped. I'm not sure whether this building will be torn down or included in the new project.
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