Wandering in Waltham...Again

From Dave Brigham:

On Father's Day I spent quite a bit of time trying to come up with a backside adventure destination. Should I explore Everett some more? Venture into Malden for the first time? Maybe tromp through the woods of Concord? Perhaps find a corner of Boston with some interesting sites?

I wasn't motivated to travel too far. So I started looking a little closer to home on Google Maps and quicker than you can say "Watch City!" I zeroed in on Main Street in Waltham, between Elm and South streets. "How have I not taken pictures there before?!" I asked myself. I've driven down this strip countless times, yet I'd never made photos along this commercial drag, despite all the posts I've done about Waltham (see bottom of this post for links to past work).

So here are some photos, most of them black and white, all of them edited a bit more than I usually do for the blog, with just basic information about the places, as opposed to the usual deep-dive history. There will be no rhyme or reason.

Located at 808 Main Street, between CVS and Wendy's, this place has sat vacant for years. The property is owned by CVS, and was once a medical center of some sort, according to the ghost sign on the facade.

Is CVS just sitting on this building to prevent Walgreens from opening a competing operation? Does the pharmacy store products here? Maybe after dark the drug store's pharmacist leads a rollicking band through ecstatic jam sessions as they prepare for the chain's annual summer jam. Or maybe I wrote this while I was half in the bag.

Baan Thai Food was located at 659 Main Street. I'm not sure when it closed.

I like the pagoda designs at the bottom of the window.

Next door (OK, so there is a little bit of rhyme and reason) is the former space of Gustazo, a fantastic Cuban restaurant now located on Moody Street in the old space where The Skellig Irish bar was.

This space has been empty for a few years. I hope that both the Gustazo site and the Baan Thai space are filled before too long.

Also in this block facing Waltham City Hall is Leo's Place Diner.

Originally located in Cambridge's world-famous Harvard Square, Leo's Place moved to Waltham several years ago. I love the tip of the hat to Bruce Springsteen and the Beatles in the window.

The Chateau on School Street is an old-school, family-style Italian restaurant. I dig the hand-painted sign.

Founded in 1933, the chain now includes eateries in Andover, Braintree, Burlington, Franklin, Norton, Norwood, Stoughton and Woburn.

Over at the Ira B. Gordon Center for the Arts, named for a prominent local businessman and leader in the transformation of the downtown Waltham area, some waggish artist has posted some absolutely f***ing brilliant signage.

Food for thought for train commuters.

Some may find it odd that there is a place in Waltham called Cowboy Supermarket. This former mill town is located thousands of miles from the Wild West of American history, you might think, so why is there a place trading in the ultimate American superiority stereotype?

Opened within the last three or four years, the market has a butcher shop and bakery and offers plenty of grocery items (I haven't been inside, but I imagine there are many bright colors and a great soundtrack). I like the bravado. The name stands out in a crowd of small markets. I'm guessing the name was inspired by the many Mexican and Central American immigrants in town who come from farming and ranching backgrounds, as evidenced by the cowboy hats, boots and jeans they wear around town.

Over at 685 Main Street, at the corner of Common Street, Foster & Cannon Attorneys have been rendering legal opinions on behalf of clients since 1963. Or perhaps not, as the only evidence I find online of the firm's ongoing existence is the LinkedIn page of one of the partners, which hasn't been updated in a while.

In that same building is another sign of the olden times.

Opened in 2004, the Cafe on the Common makes me think of a time when web access wasn't near-universal, people raged to burn CDs and many folks still listened to Usher.

Down on Moody Street, across from Enterprise Rent-a-Car, is Jimmy the Tailor.

According to one review I found online, "Jimmy the Tailor is actually a small, asian (sic) woman who likes to listen to hymns." A few other reviews confirmed that Jimmy is an Asian woman, but didn't find it noteworthy to mention anything about religious music. Some reviews say Jimmy the Woman is excellent, with soft hands that work miracles on wedding dresses. Others beg to differ, countering that she is a no-talent hack. Still in business, so she-Jimmy must be doing something right.

I like that Joe Sent Me on Main Street is named after the phrase people used during Prohibition to gain entry to speakeasies.

Joseph's Two on Main Street serves breakfast all day, and has been doing so for more than 40 years.

I don't know if there ever was a Joseph's One.

I don't know why the nail and spa shop below spells its name with a "Z." To stand out from the crowd, perhapz?

Main Street Music is located in a building along Main Street known historically as the Knights of Columbus building.

When I first saw the sign for Mister Monut, I thought I wasn't seeing clearly.

At the store's web site, I learned that a monut is "a pastry which combines the light fluffiness of an American donut with the chewiness of Japanese mochi into one delicious, satisfying pastry." The shop also sells kroffles, which are a hybrid of croissants and waffles, originating in South Korea.

Located on School Street, Moody and Regan Printers has been in business under various names since 1890, despite what the company's sign says.

Back on Main Street is Nickerson & Hills, a paint supply store founded in 1946. The shop also offers interior and exterior painting contract work.

Coming up a side alley, I spied a cool doorway to Formalwear Ltd. on Elm Street.

Located in the former Victorian Eclectic Music Hall, the store sells and rents tuxedos, suits, shoes and accessories. I believe the door is where customers can return their outfits.

At the back of the aforementioned alley is Frank's Auto Repair, the exterior of which inspired me to switch to the vivid color setting on my camera.

Frank's Spoke 'N Wheel, located on Main Street near the corner of Hammond Street, is one of three stores in the area; the other two are in Sudbury and Westboro. I'm not sure how long they've been in business, but I'm guessing quite a few years.

Stazione di Federal, a high-end Italian restaurant, is located in a nicely restored brick building that dates to the 1880s.

Finally, Watch City Cigar, which is located in the same building as J & J Variety.

I know I said I wasn't going to get into history here, but what the hell, it's what I do. The building at 851-857 Main Street is known historically as the Antonio Cincotta Building, and dates to 1921. From MACRIS: "The 1925 Directory lists the Cincotta Brothers Confectionery store at 851 Main Street with the Alyce Food Shoppe and Tilton Dry Goods. The 1941 Directory shows Peter Raimondi as the Confectionery store at 851 Main sTreet (sic) with the Alyce Food Shoppe and the Liberty Lunch. By 1952 the corner store at 851 Main Street had become the J&J Variety store...with Star Lite Cafe and Tavern at 855 Main Street in 1962."

Cool to see that the variety store has been around for more than 70 years.

In case you need more Waltham:

May 7, 2022, "Getting Moody in Waltham"

January 15, 2022, "There's Always More Waltham"

March 20, 2017, "Brigham in Waltham, Part III"

January 5, 2017, "Brigham in Waltham, Part II"

November 9, 2016, "Brigham in Waltham, Part I"

August 15, 2011, "Goodbye Reed, So Long Bill"

February 27, 2011, "UPDATE: What a Dump"

May 12, 2010, "Dead-End Tracks, Part I"

Gettin' Maverick-y

From Dave Brigham:

Located between Boston Inner Harbor, Route 1A and the Mystic River, the Maverick Square and Jeffries Point neighborhoods were the earliest areas of East Boston to be developed, back in the 1830s, per Wikipedia. In short order, the East Boston Company laid out a street grid and built a bridge connecting to Chelsea. During this time, the East Boston Lumber Company and the Boston Sugar Refinery were founded in the area, and several wharves were built.

Shipbuilding became a mainstay of the economy; in 1836, Boston annexed its eastern neighbor. This is a simplified history, but here you go: eventually railroads came, as did immigrants over the decades, from Ireland, Canada, Russia, Italy, Southeast Asia and, more recently, Central and South America. This is the kind of neighborhood I love to explore. And so I did. Here's what I found.

What better place to start than a mural about East Boston's history.

Located on the side of the Americano Espresso Bar along Meridian Street, facing the Walgreens parking lot, this giant mural is somewhat faded, but is a great work. Noteworthy people, sites and events include the Battle of Noddle's Island (the former Noddle's Island now consists of much of the southern end of East Boston; the battle was the second Boston campaign of the Revolutionary War); Wood Island, a former park, much of which was razed to expand Logan Airport; the first underwater tunnel in America, linking East Boston's trolleys to downtown Boston; the East Boston Shipyard; and Amelia Earhart, who took off from the then-East Boston Airport on her historic flight as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. There also appear to be random folks who I'm guessing represent the neighborhood's history of welcoming immigrants.

Let's look at another wonderful work of public art.

When I shot this photo this past winter, I assumed this was part of the church you can see in the background (the Central Assembly of God), but I was wrong. This beautiful mural is on the side of the Consulate General of El Salvador. That Central American nation is one of the top 10 countries from which new immigrants to Boston hail.

Want more public art? You got it!

This work showing an astronaut floating in space while looking down at Earth is located in what's called Our Garden, a community project located between Border and Meridian streets near the East Boston Skate Park. Artist Gretchen Schneider worked with the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing to turn this park from an unsafe passageway to a brightly lit, welcoming space.

The painting below is on the same building.

This one is signed Enivo, which is the name of a Brazilian street artist. Not sure if it's his work or somebody biting his moves.

The next work of art is on the side of Mi Pueblito, a Mexican/Salvadoran/Guatemalan restaurant on Border Street.

The mural faces the Eagle Hill Community Garden, which is operated by a partnership between the Trustees of Reservations, the Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics and TD Bank. The painting is of an East Boston wharf scene, with the Bunker Hill Monument in the background.

The next one is a little different. A street mural.

This art is on the street in front of a former candy and gum factory. Backing up to the East Boston Greenway (a former Conrail train line), at the corner of Orleans and Grove streets, the old factory rose in 1917 and was home to the Cox Confectionery Company for 15 years. In the 1930s, San-Man Chocolates took over the property, per my old friend MACRIS. In the 1940s, the brilliantly named Gum Products, Inc. took over until 1982. It is now condos, and known as the Gumball Factory.

Heading northeast on Orleans Street, I couldn't miss this ugly, hulking behemoth at the corner of Porter Street.

Built in 1911 and known as the Engel-Cone Shoe Company Building, this eyesore has caused neighborhood folks trouble for quite a few years. "Since 2016 residents living in the Gove Street area have compared the dilapidated building on the corner of Porter and Orleans streets to something you would see in wartorn regions rather than East Boston," is how this February 28, 2020, East Boston Times article begins.

The developers, referred to in the article only as "the Patels," bought the building in 2017 with intentions of turning it into a boutique hotel. Their representative told the newspaper that the Patels have made progress in negotiating with companies that own telecommunications antennas on the building's roof. "When dealing with the relocation of telecommunication antennas there [is a] very complicated and legal choreography that has to occur before you can move forward. Because moving them causes a disruption in service there a whole host of issues that come with that," attorney Richard Lynds said.

As of that February article, the developers said they were awaiting city approvals, and that they hoped scaffolding would rise soon so a contractor can begin prepping the building. I have no idea if that has happened.

Across the street from this possible future chic hotel is 156 Porter Lofts, located in a former bra factory.

Prior to housing the Goddess Bra Factory, 156 Porter was home to General Electric's Edison Lamp Works, per this article. The property rose in 1913 to manufacture tungsten filament lamps, and later was used to make miniature Christmas lights, per the article.

Along Cottage Street, heading toward Maverick Street, I spied the cool detail below on an apartment building.

I next headed southeast on Maverick Street and spied the neat building below.

This is a former facility for B.M. Jones & Company, which manufactured railroad equipment. This space is now home to an auto body shop.

(Cool little door on the former factory.)

I turned around and headed northwest on Maverick Street and came across a pre-redevelopment scene.

Maverick Street Market and Swish & Swash Laundromat have been closed for a while, as you can see by the fencing surrounding the property.

In July 2018, developer Joseph Nogueira proposed replacing these businesses with a five-story apartment building. He said the market and laundromat would be invited to reopen on the ground floor. I have no idea where this project stands.

At the intersection of Maverick and Orleans streets stands this eyesore, which I hope is under renovation.

There is storefront space on the ground floor, apartment space above. The public phone doesn't work.

Continuing southwest on Orleans Street, I saw the newer face of East Boston: nice apartment buildings, the Cunard Tavern, a yoga space. Naturally, as you head toward the waterfront, things get greener and pricier. Along the East Boston Greenway is the relic below.

This old Conrail caboose is evidently similar to one that was stationed nearby and which served as a kitchen for dock workers. The Greenway -- officially the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway (she was a teacher and activist who died in 2019) -- lies along a former railway right-of-way for the Grand Junction Railroad, as well as a route once used by the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad, per Wikipedia.

Near the Maverick Street overpass for the greenway stands the former Saints + Angels giftware store.

On the corner of Maverick and Bremen streets stands the one-time City of Boston Overseers of the Public Welfare building.

This is the second one of these former welfare buildings I've seen in Boston (see February 15, 2020, "A Vital Shelter in Boston"). To quote that February post: "Boston's history of sheltering and aiding its citizens dates to at least 1772, when the legislature created the Overseers of the Poor in the Town of Boston.... In 1864, the agency's name was changed to Overseers of the Poor in the City of Boston. The name morphed again in 1921, to Overseers of the Public Welfare." This place is now home to several businesses, including La Tia Smoke Shop, Ayda Custom Tailoring, Penguin Caterers and Didi's Spa.

Along Meridian Street I found El Diamante Billares, a pool hall.

Nearby is the wonderful Iglesia La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which is "a nontrinitarian Christian denomination with international headquarters in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico," per Wikipedia.

Also along Meridian Street is the Brazilian Soccer House.

Are you getting the picture that East Boston is home to a lot of immigrants?

Here's more proof. This storefront church is located further north on Meridian Street, next to the previously mentioned Our Garden, home to the outer space mural.

Keeping the religious theme going....

I believe this is along either Border Street or Liverpool Street, near the Mystic River.

Also along Border Street is one of my favorite signs, which I photographed several years ago and then again more recently. The first time was a lucky stumble-across, the second pure chance that I found it again.

Wigglesworth Machinery was founded in 1928. The company is still in business, although no longer at this location, as far as I can tell. This building appears to be for lease or sale (or was back a few months ago).

Just up the street is Atlantic Works Gallery, located in the former Atlantic Boiler Works building, which dates to 1901. The old Wigglesworth building is also a former boiler works property, per MACRIS.

I'm not sure if this sign is historic or new.

Also along Border Street is a cool sign that is one of my favorite ghosts that I've stumbled across, mainly because of the setting.

Located near Central Square, the former Mystic Shore Warehouse appears to have been vacant for quite some time. I love the combination of the faded sign, the bright graffiti and the yellow dumpster.

Across Central Square Park, along Meridian Street, I spied this named building.

Payless ShoeSource closed all its U.S. stores in 2019, so this sign may have come down by now. But the W.T. Grant Building sign is etched into stone, so it ain't going nowhere. "In 1906 the first 'W. T. Grant Co. 25 Cent Store' opened in Lynn, Massachusetts," per Wikipedia. "Modest profit, coupled with a fast turnover of inventory, caused the stores to grow to almost $100 million annual sales by 1936, the same year that William Thomas Grant started the W. T. Grant Foundation. By the time Grant died in 1972 at age 96, his chain of W. T. Grant Stores had grown to almost 1,200."

The chain stores were eventually known simply as Grants. There was one in my hometown when I was a kid.

Another business along Border Street, not far from the previously mentioned Mi Pueblito restaurant, is John Smith's Automotive & Sales.

"Let Me Work On Your Body."

Um, no thanks.

Also on Border Street I saw this old sign for a liquor store, hanging on a building that appears to have been recently converted to condos.

At the corner of Border and Lexington streets I had the view below.

I see this a lot around Boston - buildings standing alone, their former neighbors having been torn down around them. In this case, a low building abutting the purple wall has been razed, leaving an L-shaped space. I'm gathering something will go up here before too long, probably something with high price tags. This building was once an outpatient clinic.

Two doors down is the back door for Iglesias Senda de Fe ("Church Paths of Faith"), which I referenced above.

Last, and certainly not least, is an old-fashioned bowling alley.

Before my second trip through this area, I'd seen something about Central Park Lanes online and knew I had to seek it out. A candlepin facility, Central Park looks like it's been in business for quite a few decades.

For more of my adventures in East Boston, check out December 14, 2018, "Eastie Ramble" and November 3, 2018, "Pictures of Eastie Pride."