The Shire of Worcester, Part the First

From Dave Brigham:

Worcester, Mass., is the second most populous city in New England, and located only about 40 miles from my home outside Boston. It is chock-full of Backside elements of all sorts, from diners to ghost signs to old factories to dive bars to cool neon signs. But until this summer, I'd spent very little time in Wormtown. I probably went to the city in 1983 to see my brother graduate from Clark University, but I have no recollection. In the mid-'80s I went to the city to see U2 at the Centrum (now the DCU Center). In more recent years, I explored Worcester briefly in the early days of this blog and only wrote about an old theater (see June 1, 2012, "We'll Always Have Paris").

I've wanted to return for a long time, and finally made time last August. After that visit, which I chronicle below, I decided I needed to find time to explore more of Worcester. So over the next several months, I will sporadically post about those trips, one of which I've completed as of this writing. This post is the first of three covering my initial trip in summer of 2023.

I chose as my starting point the Canal District area, not far from the relatively new Polar Park, home of the Worcester Red Sox (aka the Woo Sox), the Triple A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. I chose this area because on my brief drive through the city in 2012, I'd made a few photos there, including the one below.

The building that once housed The Salty Dog Saloon at 1 Kelly Square is now home to a Subway franchise. Known historically as the Vernon Theatre Block, it was built between 1914 and 1916, according to MACRIS. "Upon completion, the Vernon Theatre Block apparently contained several store fronts at street level and a theatre above. After 1922 the theatre ceased operation and the space was rented to the Young Men's Hebrew Association," MACRIS continues.

This area of Worcester, especially along Water Street, was once a heavily Jewish neighborhood. "[I]t wasn’t until the 1880s, when Eastern European Jews immigrated in large numbers to the United States, seeking a haven from pogroms triggered by the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, that Worcester’s Jewish population swelled," according to the web site for Worcester's Congregation Beth Israel. "Many of the new immigrants came from the Pale of Russia — significantly, from what had once been Lithuania — and settled on the city’s East Side, around Water Street. A bustling, tightly-knit Jewish community, Water Street was home to kosher bakeries, butchers, a mikvah (ritual bath), many small businesses, Jewish communal institutions and Hebrew schools. In 1924, there were also eight synagogues on the East Side."

In 1929 the Vernon Theatre Block "was bought by the Polish National Home Association of Worcester for use as meeting halls and club rooms," per MACRIS. "Groups which at the time of its purchase were intending to use the facilities were the Polish Falcons and its drill teams, the Roman Catholic Alliance and the Political Club."

Eventually, as often happens with immigrants, many in the Jewish community moved up to the middle class and left the neighborhood for other parts of Worcester and its suburbs. In the third post in this series, I will feature a mural memorializing a former Jewish deli.

As for the Canal District, it is named for the Blackstone Canal, which ran for 46 miles along the Blackstone River, connecting Worcester to Providence, Rhode Island. The canal was in operation from 1828 to 1848. The Canal District Alliance was formed as a "network for community and business leaders who work together to make the Canal District a neighborhood where people want to play, work, live and invest. This nonprofit volunteer led board of directors is committed to the continual revitalization of the district."

Twenty years ago the City of Worcester commissioned a feasibility study "to assess the potential impact on the City of Worcester and its neighborhoods, and to expose two of Worcester’s most significant natural and historic resources, the Mill Brook and the Blackstone Canal."

Yes, you read that correctly: there has been talk of bringing a small portion of the Blackstone Canal back to life by uncovering the former waterway that is now Harding Street. Check out this video representation to see what it could look like.

Some of the initial buildings in this post are part of the Canal District. From there, I ventured on past Polar Park and onto a section of Main Street.

The first thing that caught my eye on Water Street was part of an old sign for Charlie's Surplus & Athletic Equipment, at #114.

The four-story, brick apartment building rose in 1910. As for Charlie's Surplus, I haven't found out much about the store, other than it was a local institution for many years. I believe the owners, Charlie and Sarah Epstein, were Jewish.

Next door, at 108 Water Street, is Alanwar Market, an ethnic grocery store that also sells a variety of hookahs.

The lovely lady over the door is a relic from a prior business, Wycked Java. As for the low-slung building, it dates to 1910, according to MACRIS, and was once home to Lederman's Bakery & Coffee Bar. Lederman is likely another Jewish name.

Across the street, at 105-111 Water Street, I spied a nice old tile entryway.

This storefront was papered over when I visited; the one next door, at 107, has been home to 107 Tap since early 2023, I believe. The one-story, two-shop building dates to 1920, and was once occupied by Whitman Creamery, as you may have guessed.

Back across the street, at the corner of Water and Harrison streets, is The Broadway, a restaurant/catering/ice cream joint that's been in business since 1946.

Erected in 1910, this place is known historically as the Eisenberg Apartment Building.

At 64 Water Street is the Mendel Block.

Built in 1912, it is a "distinctive example of a brick apartment block with street-level stores; distinguished brickwork; [and a] historical association with a Jewish working-class family as owner," per MACRIS, which mistakenly refers to the building as the "Mandel Block."

This lovely building is currently home to Bombay Lounge. At some point a sports bar called Perfect Game was located here. I'd love to know what the ghost sign is on the side of the Mendel Block.

Next door is The Queen's Cups, a bakery that moved from neighboring Millbury to this former service station.

"Operated as Bob's Filling Station from the time of its construction [in 1936] until as recently as the 1960*s, this building [was later] occupied by a business that [sold] vinyl roofs and convertible tops for automobiles," per MACRIS. "Its original owner, Robert Sack, had run the earlier Sack's Filling Station since the early 1930's. The present building was apparently built both in response to a growing business and to the changing requirements of filling stations. The earlier station was closed after this one opened."

I love this building. It really stands out among so many other classic brick buildings. And I also love when buildings are repurposed for completely different uses than originally intended.

At the northern end of Water Street, where it meets Winter Street, is a former factory that's been turned into apartments.

Now known as Canal Lofts, this circa-1890 complex was built for the W.H. Hill Company, which manufactured envelopes. In 1897, Hill "became one of several Worcester envelope companies which were merged into the newly formed U.S. Envelope Company," according to MACRIS. "As late as 1970, the firm remained in this building."

At the intersection of Winter and Grafton streets, in the shadow of I-290, is a former long-standing business that shut down operations recently.

Harry Heitin Auto Radiator was in business for 70 years before the owner sold the lot to a restaurant chain in August 2022, according to an article I found online from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

Given that this area is close to Polar Park and filled with new apartments and bars, restaurants and other newish businesses, I wasn't surprised to see another former stalwart that has gone under after decades in business.

Fairway Beef, which was located just steps away from the radiator joint along Grafton Street, "abruptly closed its doors" in July 2021, according to this Patch article. "Fairway Beef was opened in the Canal District in 1946 by the Sigel family — who are still the owners today," the Patch article indicated at the time. "The store sold all types of meat cuts, plus staples like bread, eggs and deli cheese."

In September 2022, a developer appeared before Worcester's zoning board of appeals looking to demolish the Fairway buildings, with an eye toward redeveloping the site as a nine-story housing and commercial building, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. I'm not sure of the status of that proposal.

Next door to Fairway Beef is the MB Lounge.

MB calls itself "the oldest gay owned & operated bar/lounge in Worcester" on its web site.

At this point, I took a quick detour under the highway overpass to check out an old industrial area.

Tucked just east of I-290 between Franklin, Plastic and Grafton streets, the former Merrill & Usher Company complex, with its light-brick buildings, presents a different look than most industrial sites I come across. Founded in 1922 as Everett F. Merrill Company, the outfit grew to be one of the largest steel and aluminum supply businesses in New England, according to Wikipedia.

In September 2013, the city's planning board cleared the way for potential redevelopment of this site by removing one of the side streets from the official city map, as the roadway is private. The developer, DOK Realty sought to have the street removed from the official map so the street could be included within the scope of the development area, according to this Worcester Telegram & Gazette article. On my quick trip through here, I saw no evidence of any redevelopment.

I believe at least some of the buildings here date to around 1910. Merrill & Usher filed for dissolution in 1984. I hope to explore more of this area on a future visit.

I headed west on Franklin Street, thought briefly about checking out Union Station, but opted instead to head back toward Polar Park. At the corner of Franklin and Harding streets, I spied a few ghost signs -- one for a company that still exists, although not at this location, and another for a long-gone business.

The top sign is for a factory once operated by Charles Meiselman, according to what little I've found online. The lower sign is for Goldstein Scrap Metal, which is now located on Kansas Street.

I made a third photo of this building, from the rear, but there were a few homeless people setting up tarps and I didn't to upset them so I shot quickly and moved on.

Steps away, heading south on Harding Street, I saw a sign that I'd shot the last time I was in Worcester all those years ago. Making a photo of it this time around rewarded me with a two-fer, as there is a historic marker in front of it.

Samuel Heywood began manufacturing shoes in Worcester in 1864, according to MACRIS. S.R. Heywood & Co. made shoes here until 1941, and maintained an outlet here until 1961. I realized after the fact, while doing online research, that there is a much larger ghost sign on the facade of this building that faces Winter Street (as seen on this Fading Ad Blog post, which also shows the former Buckley's Store building featured in the historic marker in my photo).

Buckley's Store rose on this corner in 1870, along what at that point was the Blackstone Canal. The building served as a store and dwelling until the 1920s, according to the sign. In the 1940s Samuel Gaffin operated Gaffin Paper and Scale Company and Gaffin Refrigeration Company here, according to MACRIS. In more recent years, the building served "as a storage place for items salvaged from the trash."

The building appears in a Google Street View image (below) from August 2007, but has a white "X" on a red background on it, which indicates it was unsafe for habitation. I'm not sure when it was torn down.

I continued south, and then southwest along Harding Street, past the Worcester Ice Center and came across yet more ghost signs.

I haven't been able to figure out what this sign, located on the north-facing wall, advertised. Below is a sign on the south-facing facade for Wolf White & Son, which operated a dry goods store.

These two signs are located on the backside of the Bombay Lounge building mentioned above.

At the intersection of Harrison and Green streets is an amazing building with a great past.

The photo above shows the rear of what is currently the White Eagle Polish Club. "In 1937, The White Eagle was established as a Polish membership club," according to the group's web site. "It was established not only in the heart of the Polish neighborhood in Worcester, MA, but also the heart of the canal district."

Built in 1888, this Victorian Eclectic beauty started life as -- wait for it, because it's so damn good -- Father Matthew's Total Abstinence Society Hall. For real!

The date "1849" appears near the roof line. This is the year "an Irish priest, Rev. Theobald Matthew, visited the city while touring the United States," according to MACRIS. "Preaching against the evils of drink, he pledged 400 Worcester Irishmen to total abstinence. A few weeks later, some of these men formed the Father Matthew Total Abstinence Society."

(Side entrance to the club.)

The temperance society remained at least somewhat active until around 1930, per MACRIS.

Across Pond Street from the White Eagle, I spied a groovy mural.

Located on the back wall of Blackstone Herbs & Martini Bar, this work of art was completed by Guitars n Gang Signs, and features The Hulk and other superheroes.

Looking up Gold Street toward Polar Park, I spied a cool little guy I needed to check out.

According to this Mass Live article, the "large bobblehead" depicts "the title flailer" from "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888," a "mock-heroic poem" written by one-time Worcester resident Ernest Thayer and first published in 1888 in The San Francisco Examiner, according to Wikipedia.

The park, by the way, looks great.

After a brief stop by a new Worcester institution, I strolled past the ghost of an old one.

Table Talk Pies is still in business, don't worry. But the company is no longer located in this building along Green Street (although there is a pie store further north along the street), but rather on Gardner Street. Founded in Worcester in 1924, today the company employs more than three hundred people, baking in excess of 250 million pies a year at three automated bakeries, according to the company's web site.

Located due south of Polar Park, the former Table Talk site is under redevelopment, as you can see on the back of the building below.

"In total, Boston Capital has announced plans to build about 400 units on the old Table Talk site, including a forthcoming 317-unit building," according to this February 2023 article from the Patch. "The developer Quarterra is also planning a 375-unit building nearby on the site of the former Smokestack Urban Barbecue restaurant."

From the old pie-making site I headed west-northwest along Madison Street, past the Woo Sox park, under the train tracks and Francis J. McGrath Boulevard and straight into an Instagram-ready backdrop.

Located on the rear of the Guertin Graphics (offering screenprinting and custom t-shirts since 1968) building, this sign lured me into a set of buildings that were cool enough from the back, but which had me giggling with delight when I saw the fronts.

I love the brashness of the building color and the bold sign for Union Music, which has been in business since 1900. I'll include more details below.

Next door, I was pleasantly shocked by an even more amazing rear facade.

"Coney Island Hot Dogs?!" I said to myself. "Where the hell am I?"

The great contrast between the mustard-yellow building and the deep-blue food truck prepared me just a little bit for the front of this legendary joint.

I don't come across sites like this very often on my treks around Massachusetts. The light wasn't great, but I made a bunch of photos and just marveled that such a place exists.

George's Coney Island was opened in 1918 by Catherine and George Tsagarelis. "In 1938 they renovated the restaurant in the utilitarian art deco style that it boasts today," per the company's web site. As for the sign featuring a hand holding a weiner dripping with mustard: "George Tsagarelis died in 1980, and the famous Coney Island sign remains as a reminder of his legacy. The iconic neon sign was his idea. He held up a dog and someone took a picture. Then the sign was modeled after it."

Even the side of the building is great.

Next door, Union Music is much more understated, but still has some great signs.

Founded in 1900 on Front Street as a pawnshop called Union Loan Co. Inc., the business changed over to a music shop in 1973, according to an article on the Union Music web site republished from Worcester magazine. In 2018, the Barabash family took over ownership.

Next door to the music store is a building that I'm guessing may get torn down in the not-too-distant future.

Built in 1870, this Second Empire building originally had two storefronts at ground level and a boarding house above, per MACRIS. Two additional storefronts were added around 1890. It was most recently occupied by A-1 Wholesale Window & Siding Co. Prior to that it was home to Cornerstone Paint & Wallpaper. I'm not sure whether the upper floors remained residential, not am I sure what is to become of this place.

A short walk up Madison Street and I was in front of a building the likes of which I haven't seen before.

The Classical Revival Worcester Market Building rose in 1914, and "was believed to be the largest grocery supply store in the United States at the time of its opening," according to MACRIS. "[A]t the peak of its success the store handled the business of 25,000 customers 'in an ordinary Saturday's trade.' In addition to the main market hall and warehouses, the building housed a bakery (with 20 bakers), a shipping department (with 110 workers), a carpenter shop, an electrical shop, and a kitchen to prepare foods for its delicatessen."

"Upon completion, the building contained a variety of labor-saving innovations," MACRIS continues. "The first floor (of 25,000 square feet) served as the market, while the second floor and basement were used largely as warehouse space (50,000 square feet total). Storage was arranged so that goods for different departments were stored directly above or below their respective departments, connections to which were provided by elevators, thereby protecting customers from having 'to watch out for heavily laden trucks hurrying in with fresh supplies.'"

Nowadays, this space is occupied by the Arca Adult Day Health Center.

From the market, I swung left onto Main Street and spied the Aurora Apartments.

This beauty was built in 1897 as the Hotel Aurora. These days, the building consists of several studio apartments.

A little bit west on Main Street is a former Odd Fellows building that has been converted to loft apartments.

From MACRIS, a lovely descripton of the architecture: "Designed by Clellan Fisher of Worcester...the I.O.O.F. Building is an opulent example of Beaux Arts Classicism, a popular style of the early twentieth century. The building's facade (east) is faced with brick laid up in a Flemish bond and trimmed with dressed limestone. Three bays wide, the facade is symmetrical, rising from a low basement to a rusticated first storey (sic). Centered on the first storey (sic) is an elaborate limestone entry with a pediment (decorated by a shield) set on consoles with garlands. On either side of the entry at the second storey (sic) are stone balconies with original iron railings."

The final stop on this first part of the tour is another former fraternal organization building. Well, just a small detail from it.

Built in 1926 as the meeting hall for the Worcester Aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the building at 701 Main Street (MACRIS says it was previously #695) is currently home to the Ebenezer Church. When it was built, there were "two floors of ceremonial and meeting places above stores on the street level, including a huge, two-story, wood-paneled auditorium that filled the rear half of the building," per MACRIS.

The "L.T.J.E." inscribed below the eagle in the above photo stands for Liberty, Truth, Justice, Equality, and is the motto of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

The Worcester FOE chapter is now located on Norfolk Street.

From this point I cut south along Hermon Street because it looked promising. Make sure to check out the second part of my first Worcester adventure to see what I found.

Downtown Beverly, Part I: Cabot Street + Environs

From Dave Brigham:

I recently explored parts of Beverly, a small city about 26 miles northeast of Boston along Massachusetts Bay. I had more time than I usually take for tromping around, so I was able to make photos in the late afternoon and into mid-evening. Most of the shots featured in this post were made before dusk; in my second post about the North Shore city, I will feature more shots taken as the sun was going down.

After parking on Cabot Street, I started my tour across from the stunning and historic First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church.

Built in 1770, this Greek Revival beauty -- I mean, look at that yellow paint job! -- was altered significantly in 1835, according to MACRIS. The church "was remodelled, the whole interior was removed, the steeple, with its gilded chanticleer, was severed from the main body; the eastern porch was taken away and the stout oak frame, which had borne the storms of more than sixty years was alone retained."

The "1667" seen on the facade references John Hale’s Puritan Church formed in that year, according to the church's web site.

On the opposite side of Cabot Street I spied a cool work of art on the exterior of Bonefish Harry's, which calls itself a seafood saloon.

What next caught my attention was the Odd Fellows Hall, a High Victorian Gothic knockout built in 1875.

Currently home to businesses including La Victoria Taqueria, Tartine Kitchen & Eatery and Bonny Breads, the hall was built by "S.F. Ober and Sons (Samuel F. Ober, S. Ellis Ober and John T. Ober) -- leading builders of the day," according to MACRIS. The masonry work was done by Augustus Williams, who constructed many public buildings and private residences.

While built for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, this hall was used in more recent years as a Masonic Temple. The building also held the executive offices of President William Howard Taft during the two summers (1909 and 1910) of his residence at what is now Lynch Park (overlooking the Bay) and another at what was known as Paramatta, located at 70 Corning Street, per MACRIS. Taft's name will come up again below.

When I first saw the sign below, I thought the cleaning business was shuttered, but I was wrong.

Both Sam's Cleaners and the adjacent and similar sounding Siam Delight Thai restaurant are open.

You can tell by the sign above that Sam's has been around for a while. A Dun & Bradstreet listing online indicates the business was founded in 1955.

Continuing south on Cabot Street, I saw the sign for a restaurant named for a long-running radio program from the first half of last century.

Fibber McGee's Bar and Grill seems like a decent place serving typical bar food. But the fact that it's named for "Fibber McGee and Molly," an NBC Radio show that was on the air from 1935 to 1959, well, I just find that funny. "It featured the misadventures of a working-class couple: habitual storyteller Fibber McGee and his sometimes terse but always loving wife Molly, living among their numerous neighbors and acquaintances in the community of Wistful Vista," according to Wikipedia. "As with radio comedies of the era, Fibber McGee and Molly featured an announcer, house band and vocal quartet for interludes."

I remember my parents talking once in a while about this program when I was a kid in the 1970s. Anyway, according to the establishment's web site, scenes from the movie "Manchester by the Sea" were filmed at the bar.

In the same building as Fibber McGee's -- the Pingree Block, which was built around the turn of last century -- is Soho Cats Luxury Feline Hotel.

This is the first time I've posted a photo here of such an establishment. I'm "feline" OK about that.

I doubled back after the cat hotel, and got a nice shot of three distinct, mid- to late-19th century buildings.

On the left is the Woodbury House, located on the corner of Vestry and Cabot streets. Currently home to Beverly Holistic Health, this Second Empire Mansard building dates to 1860, according to MACRIS. In the middle is 150-152 Cabot Street, which MACRIS lists only as being from the mid-19th century. Its tenant is El Jalisco Mexican Grill. On the right is 156 Cabot, which is known as the Peabody Building. Built in 1890-1, this Romanesque Revival building "is architecturally valuable as a largely intact example of Richardson-influenced design, and as part of one of Beverly's most important clusters of commercial buildings," per MACRIS.

The current tenant is Unpacked Living, which calls itself a sustainable market.

At 222 Cabot Street is the Rogers Building, currently home to a Rent-a-Center franchise, and previously occupied by a Family Dollar store.

Here's the story, from MACRIS: "First listed in the 1899-1900 Beverly directory, this building was called the Rogers Building. Early commercial tenants were clothing and dry goods stores and the Beverly Gas and Electric Co. By 1901 more of the building was rented, with additional hardware and variety stores on the ground level, and offices and a hall rented to organizations on upper floors. Two of these were the Order of United American Mechanics...and the Golden Star Council No. 22. The building evidently was built with at least one more floor than it now contains. In 1933 a fire destroyed the upper two floors; the building, rebuilt, was called the Dana Building. At that time many fraternal organizations used the building, professionals had upstairs offices, and on ground level tenants were a department store, drug store, bakery, and a variety store."

Continuing north on Cabot Street, just past Church Street, is the local YMCA, which provides yet another presidential connection, as well as a chance to talk about its great sign.

"On August 31,1910, the cornerstone for the YMCA was set in place by the President of the United States — William Howard Taft. President Taft, who was spending his second summer here in Beverly, had earlier made the first unsolicited contribution of $100.00 to the building fund," according to MACRIS.

As for the great lighted sign, it's original, and older than I would've guessed, per MACRIS. "The original sign...still exists, projecting out over the sidewalk from the south end of the façade, anchored at the top and bottom and extending approximately from the top of the second floor to the top of the first floor between the southernmost window bay and the corner quoins....Below the 'A,' at the bottom of the sign, is the Federal Electric Co. 1903 patent mark."

Cool!

Just to the north of the YMCA is St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, one third of the Beverly Catholic Collaborative.

I was fighting the setting sun, so didn't manage to capture the entire brick-and-brownstone building, which is quite impressive. Built in 1908, this house of worship replaced a prior church building that burned down in 1896, per MACRIS.

"The parish of St. Mary's Star of the Sea was created in 1870 as a mission church of the Immaculate Conception Church of Salem," MACRIS continues.

Next up - a record store!

I'm always happy to see a record store, be it a holdover from the 1960s or 1970s or a relatively new one, which is what Soundtracks appears to be. The shop's founder goes by DJ 7L, and is a member of Czarface, a multimedia joint featuring lyricist and comic book artist Esoteric and Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan. Hey, he's famous!

A short distance away, on Knowlton Street, I spied a nice mural.

A quick search turned up a place at this address called The Backrooms Guild, but it seems to be defunct.

After shooting the mural, I looked up to where Knowlton crosses Dane Street, and my jaw just about dropped.

My photos don't do this place justice. As I was snapping away, a car drove by and a woman called out, "Isn't it beautiful?" Indeed, despite being a little rough around the edges, the Dane Street Congregational Church is quite the stunner. "The original Dane Street church was a large frame building with porches on either end. In 1832, the first meetinghouse was destroyed by fire, and the parishioners immediately built this building in the Greek and Gothic Revival styles, which work very well together in this design," according to this post at Buildings of New England. "The church expanded in 1896 and constructed a two-story addition on the side with a bowed façade covered with flushboard siding, full height pilasters, heavily molded arched windows, and a roof balustrade."

I returned to the church after the sun had gone down, and found it even more enchanting.

The building is currently occupied by Anchor Bay Church.

Next door to the church is another gorgeous building, this one a former house of worship that is currently home to the city's municipal inspections department.

From MACRIS: the building "was originally built at 248 1⁄2 Cabot Street for the First Baptist Church in Beverly to use as a chapel. The building was completed in 1863....The Church vacated the building a few years later upon completion of their new Meeting House, and the Town of Beverly then used the building as a High School until 1875....In March, 1876, the Town meeting voted to allow the Beverly Light Infantry Company, an organization of veterans of the War of 1812, to use the building for an Armory. From that time until the 1930s, other veterans’ groups utilized the building, in particular the John H. Chipman Post 89, Grand Army of the Republic. As a result of that use, the building is known as the GAR Building.

"In 1941 Beverly...decided to move the GAR Hall from Cabot Street to its current location at 8 Dane Street, land that was owned by the Massachusetts Department Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. In 1960, the Massachusetts Department Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War sold the land to the City of Beverly for $4,800, with provisions that it would always be known as the GAR Hall, that relics and memorabilia of the GAR would be exhibited in the building or elsewhere, and that the Massachusetts Department Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War could continue to use the building for two nights each month."

The building was used by the city's recreation department for a time, before the inspection department took over.

As I continued north on Cabot Street, I snuck a peak down Charnock Street and boy oh boy am I glad I did!

Painted on a building that is part of Montserrat College of Art's campus, this work by Erik Lomen, an alumi of the school, "depicts Willie Alexander's dream of Gloucester poets Charles Olson and Vincent Ferrini 'shooting poems and words like bullets at one another on a beach,'" according to this Flickr page featuring a photo of the work.

Olson was born in Worcester, Mass., in 1910, but he eventually made his home in Gloucester, about 15 miles away from Beverly. He published several volumes of poems and was a professor at Black Mountain College, the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Connecticut over the years.

As for Ferrini, he was born in Saugus, Mass., in 1913 and moved to Gloucester in 1948. He, too, published several volumes of poems. "Ferrini’s presence loomed large on the Gloucester literary scene," according to this profile at the Sawyer Free Library web site. "He had a precarious relationship with Charles Olson, one that had a mixture of respect, competition, and criticism. Many important contemporary literary figures, such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Robert Creeley, came to Gloucester to visit both authors."

And what of Willie Alexander? Born in 1943 in Philadelphia, the singer/songwriter/keyboardist has been based in Gloucester for quite some time, and is a Boston music scene legend. From Wikipedia: "He played with the Lost, the Bagatelle and the Grass Menagerie, before becoming a member of the Velvet Underground in late 1971, joining fellow Grass Menagerie alumni Doug Yule and Walter Powers and replacing Sterling Morrison, who had gone off to pursue an academic career.

"With the Velvet Underground, Alexander toured England, Scotland and the Netherlands in support of then-current album Loaded. After completing the tour on November 21, 1971, in Groningen, the band planned to start recording a new album, but band manager Steve Sesnick sent all of the band but Yule home, presumably to retain maximum control of the product (the resulting album was Squeeze, released in 1973) and effectively ending Alexander's time with the band. After leaving the Velvet Underground, he enjoyed a checkered career, both solo and with his Boom Boom Band, that lasts to this day. In-between, Alexander teamed up with Powers to tour France in 1982 for French punk record label New Rose Records."

He is featured in "Polis Is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place," a documentary directed by Henry Ferrini, the nephew of Vincent Ferrini.

(I love the VW bug front end tacked onto the building.)

I looped around on Cabot Street once I hit Elliott Street, where I saw the nice sign for Super Sub Shop.

The sandwich shop has been in business since 1970.

Ambling south now, I really dug, well, everything about the side of Pilgrim Church: the handmade cross, the unintentional two-tone paint job that nicely offsets the "JESUS LIVES" sign, the simple sign for the congregation, the air conditioning unit seemingly holding it all together.

According to MACRIS, this building at 300 Cabot Street is known historically as Hatch and Mitchell's Grocery Store, and dates to 1876.

Another, more traditional church, sits across Cabot Street, at the corner of Dane Street.

Living Faith United Methodist Church dates to 1920. I dig the yellow doors.

Next up is the showpiece of the cental commercial district: The Cabot.

A gem of a place, the theater "opened on December 8, 1920 as a dream palace for vaudeville and silent movies and it was hailed as 'the most impressive auditorium of its size east of New York,'" per the Cabot's web site. "Known then as The Ware Theater, it shared a distinguished architectural pedigree, designed by the architects of Boston’s Athenaeum and Olympia Theater and Dorchester’s Strand Theater."

The theater "was closed in 1950 for safety reasons following the discovery of a sagging roof beam," according to Cinema Treasures. "It was rectified and reopened on October 15, 1965 and renamed Cabot Theatre." The theater "has been open almost continuously, and was only closed briefly in the 1970’s before the Le Grande David magic troupe bought and refurbished the theatre for their magic shows. The famous magic troupe continued showing a large mixture of films to compliment the stage acts. It was closed in spring of 2014. In November 2014 the building was sold and re-opened in February 2015 as a performing arts center."

I have been here once, to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" fame. It's a great place to see comedy, live music and movies. And there are amazing murals on the exterior.

Down Judson Street, past the rear of the theater, is Herman A. Spear Post 331 of the American Legion.

I'll just about always make a photo of a fraternal organization, social club or veterans organization building. I like the way the light hit this building, especially on the bricked-up windows.

One block south, at the corner of Cabot and Pond streets, is The Cabot Lodge, a boutique hotel with a clever name.

Housed in a circa-1897 Victorian Eclectic building, the hotel seeks to capture "the coastal nostalgia of New England’s Clipper Ships and their trade routes through the West Indies," according to its web site. The decor mixes Caribbean and colonial American influences. As for the building, it is known historically as thte Marston and Sturtevant Grocers Building. In subsequent years, 278 Cabot Street was an auto supply store and then, in 1979, became home to Brown’s Bicycles. "The second and third residential stories mainly housed local musicians who formed their own community, Brown Town," according to the hotel's web site.

As for the name, the Cabot family is known as one of the "first families" of Boston, who rose to become successful merchants "operating a fleet of privateers carrying opium, rum, and slaves," per Wikipedia. The Lodges, a family that produced many well-known politicians, merchants and poets in Massachusetts, and the Cabots were part of the Boston Brahmin class of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the best known member of these clans is Henry Cabot Lodge, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts whose father was John Ellerton Lodge and mother was Anna Cabot.

To wrap up this post, I'm featuring murals on the side of Worthy Girl, a consignment shop "full of fresh styles, the latest trends, and your favorite brands," according to its web site.

I haven't been able to determine who painted these works of art.

After shooting the murals, I continued south to a bench looking across Cabot Street at the Universalist Church that kicked off this post. I still had time, so I checked Google Maps, headed west on Federal Street and...well, you'll have to check back for the next Beverly installment to see what I found.