From Dave Brigham:
Welcome to the third and final installment of my series on New Bedford, a one-time whaling port located on the Acushnet River in southeastern Massachusetts (see Part II here and Part I here). In this post I will discuss more great historic buildings, an old bank that's been turned into a music venue, a beautiful chapel, a sculpted monument to the whaling industry, and much more.
This leg of the journey starts at The Cozy Crib, a spa offering hair, nail and waxing services - and a neat piece of New Bedford's history on the exterior of its building.
While the business is located in a handsome, circa-1915 building and I'm sure it provides excellent service, what caught my eye was the interesting feature on the side wall: a gigantic tea kettle.
The copper kettle, which has been dated to before 1850, was recently restored and attached to this building at 1 Johnny Cake Hill. The city used $12,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to refurbish the kettle, which over the decades has been showcased on several buildings in New Bedford, according to this South Coast Today article.
Heading west on Union Street, I decided to make a photo juxtaposing an old New Bedford building with a future one.
Built in 1865, the brick building to the left is known as the Moby Dick Chandler Building. As part of the construction project evidenced by the rising elevator tower on the right side of the photo, the Moby Dick building will be restored. The project will feature 45 units of mixed-income housing, including 14 studio apartments, 21 one-bedroom apartments and 10 two-bedroom apartments, according to this article from The Standard-Times. There will also be approximately 3,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
A "chandler" is a dealer of provisions for ships. Moby Dick, of course, was written by Herman Melville, who spent time on a whaling ship that sailed out of New Bedford.
Around the corner from the new development, along Acushnet Avenue, I spied a great and greatly appropriate mural, next to Wing's Court, a pocket park located where the former Wing's Department store once stood.
The ship mural was painted by artist Greg Pennisten of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and is titled, "Winds of Change," according to this article from The Providence Journal. I'm not sure whether the milk-carton art is related.
Along William Street, in the Rite-Aid building I mentioned in the second New Bedford post, is a storefront church that goes by the name of King of Kings Christian Church.
Next, I headed south on Purchase Street, where I saw a former bank that's been converted to a music hall and pub.
The Vault is located in the former New Bedford Five Cent Savings Bank building, which dates to 1891.
Across an alley is a Family Dollar outlet, which is located in a great building that dates to 1884 (or 1914 - you choose between the assessor and MACRIS).
From MACRIS: "The Saltmarsh store has been the location of various merchants for many years. The original proprietor of the building was Steiger-Dudgeon Co., a dry goods store. Steiger-Dudgeon occupied the building from 1914 until 1932. Charles H. Cox who had previously been employed by Steiger-Dudgeon purchased the business in 1932. The Cox Company was in existence until 1937. In 1937 a large New England based chain of department store known as 'Lincoln Stores' opened for business in the building. The firm closed their doors in 1961. In 1964 Robert C. Saltmarsh bought the property which included the old Steiger-Dudeon (sic) Building from the trustees of the Maria T. UpJohn (sic) Estate. Mr. Saltmarsh opened his bookstore the very same year. Prior to the opening of the Saltmarsh store, Mr. Saltmarsh operated Hutchinson's Book Store located on Union Street."
Directly across the street is the Bristol Building. I was captivated by the old tile entryway for what I believe was a Kay Jeweler's store.
This space is currently occupied by Hewn, which calls itself a non-binary boutique. As for the Bristol Building, it dates to 1914.
Back on Union Street, I really dug the three buildings below.
I will discuss the building on the left below. In the middle is the Phinney Building, which rose in 1915. From MACRIS: "Seth J. Besse built this structure in 1915 and named it after his wife's maiden name (Clara Phinney). It was used as an office building with a ground floor storefront. Mr. Besse was the president of The New Bedford Textiles Company - and was active in the business community until his death in 1939."
On the right is the circa-1913 New Bedford Dry Goods Building, also known as Star Men's Clothing Store.
Below is a shot from a different angle of the other building in the above trio: the Star Store.
I love that the name of the store is carved into the facade. These three buildings were erected at different times and were once all part of the same business. "The New Bedford Dry Goods Company opened the Star Store at 715 Purchase Street at the corner of Union Street in 1844," according to this WBSM article. "As New Bedford grew, so grew the Star Store." In 1969, Boston-based department-store chain Gorin's acquired the Star Store. In 1983, Almy purchased the store from Gorin's, but two years later the outlet closed.
The City of New Bedford acquired the building in 1995, and shortly thereafter signed a 20-year lease with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, which operated its College of Visual and Performing Arts there. Unfortunately, last fall the campus closed in a funding dispute, according to the WBSM article. I'm not sure what the plan is for the building.
At 555 Pleasant Street is the Standard Times Newspaper Building.
I made that photo because I like the simplicity of the Cafe Italia awning. Little did I know that the restaurant closed back in 2022. As for the building, here's what my old friend MACRIS has to say: "The four story building was built in 1894 by the Pleasant Street Trust Co....In 1954 the site was sold to E. Anthony & Sons by Mrs. Basil (Mary C.) Brewer. The Standard, under E. Anthony and Sons purchased the Union For Good Works (later Boys Club) in order to house its expanding operations. The original building had equal frontage on Market and Pleasant Sts (sic). The present site is half the size of the original due to the widening of Pleasant St. in 1923 & 1925. A fifth story was added in 1912 along with the building to its South."
In between the the police department and Our Lady's Chapel (which I will discuss below), I made a photo of Sears Court, assuming it was named for a local outlet of the nearly-defunct retail chain. There may have been a Sears in downtown New Bedford at some point, but this little alleyway is named for a local denizen.
"Sears' Court, as originally named, runs from Purchase to Pleasant Streets, an area formerly called Cheapside," according to this Digital Commonwealth photo description of a house that no longer stands. "The New Bedford Five Cent Savings Bank (site of the aforementioned Vault) occupies the land where this house stood....[F]ronting on Purchase Street...was the home of the late Willard Sears. Willard Sears once operated a tannery on the south of Sears' Court."
Cool. If you want to know more about Cheapside, check this out.
Now, let's talk about Our Lady's Chapel.
With an absolute stunner of a facade, the chapel really stands out amid the old commercial blocks and the rather staid library across the street. Operated by the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the chapel was built in 1950. The friars conduct Mass there every day.
In front of the library is the very dramatic Whaleman Statue.
Sculpted by Bela Pratt, the statue was gifted to the City of New Bedford on June 20, 1913, by William W. Crapo, according to Explore New Bedford. Pratt's works include ones for the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Mint and the Boston Public Library.
The final stop in my tour of downtown New Bedford was the Genensky Samuel Building on Pleasant Street.
The two-story building has stores on the first floor and offices on the second, and was built in 1924.
At this point, I hopped back in my car to hit a few outlying destinations. Whenever I'm planning to explore a town or city, I search online for any old/current diners, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and the like. My first stop was the old Orpheum Theatre on South Water Street. It's decades past its prime, but holy cow is it an amazing building.
Designed in the Beaux Arts style, the Orpheum opened on April 15, 1912, the same day that the Titanic sank. It was built by -- get this -- the Club of French Sharpshooters, "a benevolent fraternal organization comprised of French Canadian residents that immigrated to the city to work in its burgeoning textile industry," according to MACRIS. The organization was looking for a building "that would house a theatre, an armored shooting range, a ballroom and several meeting rooms," MACRIS continues.
(Rear of the theater, seen from South 1st Street.)
The Sharpshooters leased the building to the Orpheum Circuit of Boston, which was one of the largest vaudeville and entertainment franchises in the country, according to MACRIS. As New Bedford grew into a bustling city, it was able to support two dozen theaters across its miles. The Zeiterion, which I mentioned in the first part of this series, is the sole survivor.
From MACRIS: "In 1962, the City of New Bedford came into control of the building for tax title causes. In 1971, the Lesco family purchased the building and operated a wholesale beverage company out of the building. In 1998, the Diaz family purchased the building and [operated] an ethnic grocery market on the first floor of the building."
There is more history buried in this place. When I posted photos of this place on Facebook, a friend did some detective work and determined that the old sign on the front facade is for a McCrory’s five and dime store. This was the same company that operated the J.J. Newberry’s chain.
I'm not sure whether Central Foods Market is the same store the Diaz family operated, and whether it's currently still in business.
As of the 2009 MACRIS report, the theater remained unaltered and intact. "The ornate plasterwork and detailing is in poor shape, yet remains....The building, which was once surrounded by other architecturally rich structures, now stands alone, a gentle reminder of what it once was. The French Sharpshooter’s Club, which once boasted hundreds of members, quietly disbanded in 1974."
What ever will become of this place?
From here, I trekked over to 805 Rockdale Avenue, site of the former Angelo's Orchid Diner.
The diner was in business from 1945 until its closure in 2019, according to this Fun 107 article. "After owning the diner for more than three decades, owners Geraldine and Angelo Carvalho were both ready to hang up the spatula. They had worked into their 70s and they were tired."
In early 2023, developer Dave Vermette made an offer on the diner, looking to fix it up and sell it, or rehab it and lease it to someone who knows restaurants. "I don't know how to run a restaurant," Vermette said. "I can barely cook breakfast at home, but I'm hoping this could be a great opportunity for the right type of person."
I'm not sure of the status of that plan.
Next, I made my way to the Acushnet Avenue Commercial District in the city's North End. "The...[d]istrict survey area in New Bedford represents the core section of the North End’s retail business zone, which developed chiefly between 1900 and 1910 as hundreds of new houses were built on intersecting streets in response to the spread of textile mills north of the old city," according to MACRIS. My tour of this area was quick; I hope to check out more in the future.
The first place that caught my eye was Frem's Jewelry.
The building dates to 1907, and I'm assuming there are apartments or offices above the store. As for the jeweler, I haven't found out much information. MACRIS indicates that the storefront appears to be from the 1950s or 1960s. I really dig the sign.
The reason I headed to this area of the city is because of two old theaters located along Acushnet Avenue.
Currently home to the Cape Verdean Cultural Center, the former Vien Theater/Strand Theater/Loews Center Theater was completed in 1910 and was owned initially by Cordelia Vien and her son, Eugene, according to MACRIS.
"In 1903 [Cordelia] moved from Worcester to New Bedford and bought the Park Hotel in Weld Square....She managed and lived in the hotel with her son, and in 1906 they formed E. H. Vien and Company," MACRIS indicates. "That same year she acquired the Strand lot, and in 1909 she filed a plan for what she initially called Vien’s Theatre, a two-story brick structure."
(Side view of the former theater.)
The theater hosted movies and live performances. In 1916, the Viens renamed the building as the Strand. Six years later, they sold the theater to Manuel Senna, who, in turn, sold the place to E.M. Loew Theatres around 1920, per MACRIS.
Like so many theaters from the early 20th century, the Strand went through quite a transformation in the following decades. Again, from MACRIS: "In 1950 Loew’s closed the Strand to install larger seats, which reduced the theater’s capacity from 850 to 650 seats, and reopened it as Loew’s Center Theater. Six years later, apparently attempting to create a niche for itself, the theater began to show foreign and 'arthouse' films and to offer exhibitions of area artwork.
"From its first foreign film — Bread, Love, and Dreams with Gina Lollobridiga — the theater’s offerings slowly descended into what [Theater historian Arthur] Gartaganis described as 'soft core pornography and by degree into hard core porno films abounding in the 1970’s. The Center straggled on for many years in a lascivious cinematic miasma.'"
!!!!!!
By the mid-1960s the Center was offering strip shows. In April 1992 the Cape Verdean Association in New England bought the property.
Our final stop in New Bedford is the old Capitol Theatre.
Completed in 1920, the Allen-Charrette Building "contains six street-level storefronts [and] a long row of windows for offices above that concealed the 1580-seat Capitol Theater running the full length of the building in the rear," according to MACRIS.
As with the Vien/Strand theater, the Capitol has a colorful history. "In 1929 the theater was leased to Olympia Operating Company," according to MACRIS. "About 1944 New England Theaters, Inc., part of Paramount Pictures, acquired the theater and in 1962 sold it to Zeiterion Realty Corporation. Zeiterion, owned by the Zeitz family of New Bedford, also owned and operated the State, Empire, Olympia, and New Bedford Theaters.
"By the end of the 1960s, according to [historian Carmen] Maiocco, 'the films shown at the Capital were getting a little ragged, such as one highbrowed offering entitled I Spit on Your Grave. In the 1970s there were rock concerts and other special events. Sometime around 1980, the lights came down at the Capital (sic) Theater for a final time.'"
Zeiterion sold the property in 1971, and the theater closed. Two years later, according to MACRIS, Andre J. and Olivia Fournier bought the building and "by April 1975 reopened the theater, but attendance was poor, and by winter that year the theater again closed in November 1976. In July 1979 they sold the property to Harold C. and Barbara G. Nelson."
The former theater lobby has been occupied by various businesses over the ensuing years. Changes may be afoot for the building. The Community Economic Development Center (CEDC) and the Waterfront Historic League Area League (WHALE) have struck a partnership to rehab the old theater, adding coworking and community space, as well as affordable housing.
To see photos of the inside of the Capitol, check out this link and scroll down.
Whew! That wraps up New Bedford. I have a feeling I'll get back there this year, so stay tuned.
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