Scrambling Through Boston's Egleston Square

From Dave Brigham:

I've danced around Boston's Egleston Square quite a bit over the years I've been publishing this blog. I've roamed Jackson Square, the Fort Hill Tower area, Franklin Park and parts of the nearby Jamaica Plain neighborhood (see the bottom of this post for links to those articles). Recently, I finally checked out the Egleston area, using as motivation my hope that there was an old sign still hanging outside the final Skippy White's Records store to close.

My jaunt through the square was part of a one-day whirlwind tour including Jamaica Plain (to make photos, once again, of Boston's old breweries), the outskirts of Nubian Square and the gritty streets of Newmarket Square (where I've also been before).

I recently decided that I want to make photos of as many Boston-area record stores as I can. I included Skippy White's on the list, even though the store in Egleston Square had closed in January 2020. I noticed on Google Street View that as of October 2022, there were signs promoting "CD's - Videos - DVDs" above the windows at 1971 Columbus Avenue. Alas, when I arrived in early spring of this year, those signs were gone. The good news is that another small business now fills the space -- I forget what sort of outfit it is, and a Google search did not provide an answer.

I never had the pleasure of going to any Skippy White's store. Founded in 1960 in Boston's South End as Mass Records, the chain grew to include shops in other Boston neighborhoods, as well as Cambridge, Providence and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as well as New Orleans (!), according to this Bay State Banner article.

"For more than six decades, White sold gospel, R&B and soul music to Boston’s African American community and other lovers of Black music," the article indicates. I encourage you to read that Bay State Banner article.

The Skippy White signs were gone, but there were other things that caught my eye in Egleston Square, which straddles Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

Right across Columbus Avenue from the old record store is the circular residential tower known as the Doris Bunte Apartments. Completed in 1970 for the Boston Housing Authority, the cylindrical building was originally known as Walnut Park. The architecture firm of Richmond & Goldberg designed the project. The firm, which was in business from 1946 to 1973, also designed the Egleston Square branch of the Boston Public Library; a number of temples in Brookline; and many other municipal and religious structures.

The building reminds me of Chicago's Marina City, a mixed-use residential and commercial complex along the Chicago River. I mentioned those towers in a post about the Windy City several years ago (see May 18, 2018, "Rollin' On the River").

The Bunte building is slated for renovation.

The tower was renamed for Doris Bunte, who was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1984, and administrator of the Boston Housing Authority from 1984 to 1992. She was the first African-American woman to hold either position, according to Wikipedia.

I've taken a liking to storefronts of late, be they old or new.

On the corner of Weld and Columbus avenues stands Violeta Appliance, a store that I believe is relatively new. I really love the bold colors in the lettering and background.

Around the corner on Washington Street is Egleston Liquors. I like that the sign tells potential customers in both English and Spanish what type of store it is.

On the corner of School and Washington streets, I found a beautiful doorway.

Erected in 1905, the Queen Anne / Richardsonian Romanesque commercial/apartment block was built for D.F. and W.S. Littlefield, brothers who owned a fruit market. Currently the ground-floor retail space is occupied by a market and a barber shop.

At the corner of Washington Street and Chilcott Place stands Pika Pollo, a Jamaican fried chicken joint. On the side there is a fantastic mural.

Painted by Philadelphia-based artist Betsy Casañas, the work is a vibrant addition to the neighborhood.

The furthest west I went on this jaunt was the former Franklin Brewery building, which towers over Washington Street. If you enlarge the image below, you can see the beer brewer's name chiseled into the stone rectangle in the middle of the entryway.

I wrote about (and shared images of) this place in the blog post linked above about Boston's old breweries. In part, I wrote: "Built in 1894, this Queen Anne fortress was a brewery until...1918," shortly before Prohibition kicked in. "In 1900, 'the Franklin Brewery became a branch of the Massachusetts Brewery Co., a consortium which included the American Brewery at 249 Heath Street, the Alley Brewery at 123 Heath Street, H. and J. Pfaff Co. at 1276 Columbus, and the Robinson Brewery at 55-71 Amory,' per MACRIS."

"'The brewery was named for nearby Franklin Park....Around 1918, the Franklin Brewery building was vacant and a year later was owned by the Union Wool Co. and used for storage. By the 1920's, 3179 Washington had become the home of the D.W.. Dunn Storage Company,'" MACRIS continued.

Today, this beauty is home to Extra Space Storage.

At this point, I headed north-northeast to Columbus Avenue. Standing at the corner of Washington and Atherton streets, I had to rub my eyes as I looked across Columbus. "Is that part of the old elevated railway?" I said out loud, to nobody but myself.

No, the 14,000-square foot Egleston Center isn't a relic from Boston's transit days gone by. But is an homage. Located on the site of the former Egleston Station stop on the Washington Street elevated rail line, the commercial development was built in the mid-1990s by Urban Edge, a community developer founded in 1974.

Pretty cool!

Check out this image of the old elevated station, from Digital Commonwealth.

Heading north on Columbus Avenue, I passed #1945, a large triangular property that was once a used car lot.

(The former sales office for Columbus Auto Sales and, more recently, Roxbury Motors.)

Looking at Google Street View, I saw that the last business to occupy this lot was Roxbury Motors. For years prior, it was home to Columbus Auto Sales. Sometime between August 2019 and October 2022, Roxbury Motors vacated the lot. The site has been owned by Larosa Development Corporation of Norwood, Mass., since early 2019. I haven't been able to determine what, if any, plans there are for the property.

At the corner of West Walnut Park and Columbus Avenue sits my favorite site of that day.

I love the layers of history here. In reverse order: El Cruce Market, which replaced Salcedo Market within the last three years; Columbus Market, which, judging from the plastic sign, dated back at least a few decades; and the name carved into the building, C.J. Spenceley Block, and the date "1888."

Of late, I've focused my lens on storefronts such as this one. I love the bold colors, the variety of food and other products catering to local ethnic groups, the sense of community they engender. As painter Debbie Shirley writes to describe an exhibit of hers showcasing immigrant-owned convenience stores, "Each piece celebrates the cultures, communities, and everyday encounters that give these storefronts their stories."

So, who was C.J. Spenceley?

"Christopher Jackson Spenceley was born in Wicasset, Maine on August 16, 1840," according to this Jamaica Plain Historical Society article. "He...came to Boston at the age of 17 [where] he learned to be a carpenter and by 1863 had started his own business. He became engaged in the building and selling of structures in the South End and Roxbury."

Spenceley served three consecutive terms on the Boston Common Council, a precursor to the Boston City Council. He also served a Trustee for the Boston City Hospital (now known as Boston Medical Center) for several years. He married Rebecca Staples (from Truro, Nova Scotia) on August 16, 1863 and they had three children: Joseph Winfred, Fred and Mineola, the article continues.

The family lived at 367 Walnut Ave, just a few blocks from the C.J. Spenceley Block. He died on August 12, 1903 and is buried at Fox Hill Cemetery in Billerica.

My final Egleston Square image is of a simple yet effective and eye-catching sign, in front of IAO Auto Repair, at Columbus Avenue and Bancroft Street.

The sign seems to date from when E & J Auto Tech was on the site, in early 2016, according to Google Street View.

Check back soon for my write-up about a stretch along Dudley Street on the outskirts of Boston's Nubian Square.

Below are links to posts referenced above:

March 4, 2025, "Nubian Square: New Name, Old Buildings"

October 19, 2024, "Beyond the Standpipe: I Find Black Jesus and Other Cool Stuff in Fort Hill"

September 21, 2024, "Franklin Park is Ruin-ed"

May 18, 2024, "Stadium Tour in Franklin Park"

February 26, 2022, "Jamaica Plain, Part II: The Return"

December 18, 2019, "Having a Bear of a Time at the Zoo"

January 26, 2018, "Jamaica Plain Has Plenty of Flair"

December 9, 2017, "Artist Thinks: I HAF to Fix That Smokestack"

Prowling Around P-town

From Dave Brigham:

I just realized that the headline on this piece makes it sound like I was cat burgling around the easternmost tip of Cape Cod. I promise you, dear reader, that I was not. Not that I couldn't have, given how quiet it was when I visited on a cold and cloudy day this past February.

I've been to Provincetown -- aka P-town -- each of the last three summers, but only for short periods of time. I picked up my wife there after she completed the Pan-Mass Challenge bike ride, a massive event that raised bajillions of dollars for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The streets of the funky resort town -- a very LGBTQ+-friendly enclave -- are jammed with tourists, summer residents and PMC participants and their friends and families the first weekend of August. Bottom line: since we don't stick around long after the ride, I don't get to soak in the atmosphere and make photos of all the great buildings and such.

So I figured a Saturday in the dead of winter was my opportunity to explore.

I stuck mostly to Commercial Street, which, if you haven't been to P-town and/or don't know what the word "commercial" means, is the main retail/restaurant thoroughfare. After parking next to town hall, the first thing that caught my eye was the trio of windows on the second floor above The Cotton Gallery, a shop stocked with tons of funny t-shirts, novelty items and souvenirs.

MACRIS indicates that the common name for this circa-1840 Greek Revival building is Scrimshaw. I'm not sure if that was a restaurant or a retail store. Over the decades this place has been occupied by a furniture store, a restaurant and a post office.

I continued west-southwest. I found the sign for Marine Specialties to be quite charming in a no-frills way.

The store, which bills itself as "Provincetown's Landmark 'Army Navy Store,' has been in business since 1961. It is located in a pre-fab warehouse building that dates to the 1930s, per MACRIS. Previous uses include a gas or service station.

Next up, the hard-to-miss Ladyslipper, "a cocktail spot," per its minimal web site.

This little Greek Revival building is known commonly as The Little Shop, according to an old MACRIS report, which doesn't indicate the date it was built.

There are so many great old buildings along Commercial Street, but I didn't make photos of every one. The next one I found to be camera-worthy was an old firehouse.

"Constructed around 1868 under the direction of John D. Hilliard, Chief of the Board of Engineers, 189 Commercial Street served as the 'Excelsior' Engine #4 so named after the fire engine," per MACRIS. "The original engine was built in Boston by Hunneman & Co. in 1854."

These days the old station houses public restrooms.

I continued in the same direction along Commercial Street for a bit before doubling back. The Kiehl's store facade looked good to me.

The skincare store is one of dozens located around the country. The brand dates to 1851.

As for the building, it dates to 1920 and is known as the Provincetown Advocate / Advocate Press building, after newspapers that were located here from the 1940s to the 1970s, according to MACRIS. Also of note: this was also the location of Gallery 200, which in the 1940s "exhibited many famous painters including first showing of Jackson Pollock," per MACRIS.

Currently occupied by Cape Tip Sportswear, the Second Empire building at 224 Commercial Street was built in 1865 as King Hiram's Lodge, a Masonic hall.

"King Hiram's Lodge was organized on December 12, 1795," according to MACRIS. "It is one of the oldest lodges in the country, and certainly one of the oldest in Massachusetts. The Charter of King Hiram's Lodge was signed by Paul Revere on December 12, 1796." The Masons evidently still meet in this building.

At this point, I was back next to Ladyslipper, looking up at the sign for The Provincetown Bookshop, which has been in business since 1932.

The shop has been in various locations over the decades, only moving to 229 Commercial Street in 2022. The book store is located in a circa-1916 Classical Revival building known commonly as Treasure n' Trash, MACRIS indicates. I'm guessing that was a second-hand store. MACRIS also reports that the building was "formerly the Consolidated Cold Storage plant for fish freezing."

Always cool to uncover a connection to part of a town or city's past that many people, especially tourists, know nothing about. I'll get to another such place in a minute.

On the side of the aforementioned Marine Specialties building is a fantastic work of art I dubbed the Wolf Mural.

It's actual title is Time and the Town, and it was painted in 2021 by Esteban del Valle, a Brooklyn-based artist originally from Chicago. And those are foxes, not wolves, according to the artist, who I guess should know.

"Early on I realized that it was impossible to physically represent the wide range of people that have and continue to pass through Provincetown in its history," del Valle says in this article. "Normally some community murals take a selective icon approach, where they’re picking and choosing historical figures or community figures to focus and highlight. And I just wanted to talk more about the spirit of the place and less about specific people, so foxes became a great way to kind of talk about different time periods, different people passing through, and the overall history versus focusing on individuals," he said.

The mural takes its title from Mary Heaton Vorse's 1942 memoir, Time and the Town: A Provincetown Chronicle.

Between the book shop and the Army-Navy store there is an alley that leads to a harbor-front beach. So of course I had to walk that way. And I'm glad I did.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Lewis and Brown Fish Shed.

Built in 1870, this ramshackle place has served as a lumber wharf, a coal shed and a restaurant down through the years, according to MACRIS. There are remnants of a pier in the harbor adjacent to this property. After a pair of fires in recent years, the building was condemned. A developer has pitched a plan to raze this structure and redevelop the site, along with the building housing the book store.

Across Commercial Street from the book shop and the Army-Navy store is the fabulous Benjamin Lancy House, with a storefront tacked on the front.

This Second Empire gem dates to 1874. It was built for Benjamin Lancy, a merchant and ship owner, per MACRIS, who also owned the wharf across the street that I discussed above. For a time last century, this architectural marvel was home to the Provincetown Historical Society. Current tenants include Cortile Gallery, Sol Optics and Henna Tattoo.

Continuing north-northeast, I passed Whalers Wharf, which I had paid little attention to when I'd walked by earlier. This is an open-air arcade that features small shops and eateries, as well as an intimate movie theater. The original building rose in 1919, but was destroyed by a fire in 1998. A new structure was erected on the same spot.

Below are some images taken inside the arcade.

Across Commercial Street from Whalers Wharf is the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House of Provincetown (on the right in image below).

This house of worship was erected in 1847 and is the oldest extant church in town. On the left in that photo is a lovely Italianate / Victorian Eclectic building with, I believe, a gallery and art studio on the ground floor. I assume the upper floors are residential. In the middle of that image is a small blue outbuilding that MACRIS says dates to 1970. I like how it mirrors the architectural style of the main house. I'm guessing that smaller building may also be a studio.

I walked past the old Scrimshaw building again, and noticed a crusty ghost sign on the side facing Gosnold Street.

Given its location on the side of a building that currently houses a gift shop, I'm guessing The Family Jewels was a similar type of store going back a bit in time.

At this point, I was back to where I parked, in front of the beautiful town hall.

Built in 1886, this Queen Anne stunner was built on land that "was partly donated...and partly bought," according to MACRIS. "[I]t had business buildings fronting Commercial St., an apple orchard on the northern end."

I continued east-northeast on Commercial Street, across Ryder Street, until I was in front of the wildest storefront in P-town, which was created by artist Joey Mars.

Shop Therapy calls itself an alternative lifestyle emporium, and sells "Beads, Bells, Incense, Clothing, Tie Dye, Jewelry, Tobacco Shop, Patches, Stickers, Posters, Sun Glasses, Tapestries & Way More," per its web site.

The store is located at 286 Commercial Street, a place with a colorful history. "In 1912 the 'Star' was born, Provincetown's first movie theater, in time converted into 'Bowlaway' Candlepin Lanes, where the tid-bit diner was a favorite of Capt. Manuel 'Sea Fox' Zora, a legendary rumrunner," according to the Historical Marker Database. "In 1983 Isaac Saada (aka Zukie) introduced his Rubber Chickens. Other tenants included the Hatbox, Cheap Thrills, and Bored Stiff. In 2012 Zukie sold the property to Ron Hazel, who moved Shop Therapy, an 'Antiestablishment,' here."

Hazel passed away in May 2025.

Next door to the eye-popping storefront is Bob Gasoi Memorial Alley.

"This vibrant alley...contains jig sawed figures from murals by artist Bob Gasoi that once adorned the old Shop Therapy store from 1987 to 2010," per this Atlas Obscura article. Prior to moving to this address in 2012, Shop Therapy was located elsewhere on Commercial Street.

Born in 1931, Gasoi earned a degree from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. He moved to P-town in 1983, and was commissioned by Ron Hazel to create art for the original Shop Therapy store.

"The murals were a collaboration. Shop Therapy’s owner Ronny Hazel would feed stories about his own world travels and experiences to the artist Gasoi who would regurgitate the tales into scenescapes from the Renaissance, The Bible, Alice in Wonderland, 60’s psychedelia, Eastern erotica, comic books and science fiction," according to this Camp Provincetown article.

"There were cherubs, men wearing nothing but wristwatches, lactating figures (an ode to the Giambologna’s Fountain of Neptune), monsters crushing the Pilgrim Monument, mermaids, flesh-eating aliens and men holding fruit trays. Faces and bodies were morphed into the likeness of members of the Shop Therapy family along with local hangers-on, local politicians and members of local law enforcement."

Many of the local muckety-mucks were not happy with such artistic expression, but the works remained in place.

Gasoi passed away in 1997, in Mexico.

A little further along, on the south side of Commercial Street, is the Post Office Cafe & Cabaret.

From the venue's web site: "It was home to the original Lands End Marine Supply in 1940, and converted into the Wreck Club in 1960. In 1974, Phyllis Schlosberg, a theatre MFA and former educator, brought the Post Office to life. Phyllis would go on to launch many artists’ careers from the Cabaret’s stage, including Provincetown’s long-reigning drag sensation Varla Jean Merman, as well as camp queen Elvira, Mistress of the Dark."

I will discuss Lands End Marine Supply below.

As for the building, it dates to 1870 and was presumably at some point a post office, although neither the club's web site nor MACRIS make any mention of such a function.

Upon reaching Standish Street, I headed southeast toward Provincetown Harbor. On the corner, I spied a plain but nevertheless eye-catching sign for John's Foot Long Hot Dogs.

The eatery, which serves a lot more than just hot dogs, seems to have been in business for quite a few years.

The building dates to 1860 and is known commonly as Turner's Candies Store, per MACRIS.

On the MacMillan Pier, I was charmed by numerous small, shingle-covered buildings.

(I think this building is used for storage.)

(Irene's Little Art Shop is one of several art shacks on the pier.)

Back on Commercial Street I made a photo of the legendary Lobster Pot looking a little less iconic, but still gorgeous, with piles of hard-packed snow gathered at its base.

The restaurant's neon sign is well-known on the Cape and far beyond, and the food is prized among tourists (and probably locals). Established in 1943, the eatery has been going strong ever since in the circa-1890 building. "Ralph Medeiros and his wife Adeline opened the Lobster Pot," per Wikipedia. "After Ralph died in 1965 Adeline remarried and kept the restaurant in the family until 1979. It was at this point that a second family would take over as Adeline sold the business to Joy McNulty."

The McNulty family has run the place ever since.

Next door is the Old Colony Tap, which was launched in 1937, in the building now occupied by the Lobster Pot.

In 1943, the bar relocated to its present location. "The structure first appears on the atlas of 1880 and was owned by E. Gayland," according to MACRIS. "In 1901-1907, it was the home of Mrs. Charles Baker. In the mid-20th century, the house was converted to use as a bar on the first floor and a studio above."

The bar provides a little bit old old P-town for locals and visitors alike. "This is the Old Colony Tap, the town’s oldest surviving dive bar, a place where the past clings to the walls and the music never quite stops," reads a line from this Ptownie article.

A little further along is Mad as a Hatter, which is a great phrase and, guessing from its web site, a very cool shop.

The shop has been providing "hats for people with heads" for more than four decades. As for the phrase, "mad as a hatter," of the various possible origins, the one I prefer is this one offered by Wikipedia: "In 18th- and 19th-century England, mercury was used in the production of felt, which was commonly used in the hat-making trade at the time. Long-term use of mercury products often resulted in mercury poisoning-induced erethism among hat-makers....[erethism] was characterized by slurred speech, tremors, stumbling and, in extreme cases, hallucinations."

I doubled back at this point, and of course had to make a photo of the adorable Respoke building.

Founded in 2016, Respoke built its business on the concept of crafting espadrille shoes with Hermes's Eperon D'Or scarf (this sentence barely makes sense to me, a fashion idiot). The store now carries handcrafted footwear, as well as ready-to-wear apparel, accessories, fine art, home decor and more.

As for the building (which is what I really care about), it dates to 1858 and was originally a fire station known as Relief Hose #1, per MACRIS.

Continuing to walk back toward my car, I passed the aforementioned Lands End Marine Supply.

Now part of the True Value hardware chain, the store has been around since at least 1940, as was discussed briefly above. The building dates to 1942.

Arnold's Bike Shop - "Where you rent the bikes" -- is located at 329 Commercial Street, attached to Shirts 'N' Stuff.

"Provincetown Bicycle Rentals by Arnold’s Bike Shop has been selling and renting bikes to local and vacationing bicycle riders since 1937," per the outfit's web site. The building dates to 1950 and was formerly Arnold's Furniture and Appliance Store.

The Governor Bradford is a restaurant/bar/entertainment venue that also features apartments, in a pretty large circa-1840 building. Naturally, I shot the place from the less-glamorous side.

Last, but certainly not least, is The Mayflower, a family-owned restaurant that's been in business since 1929.

The building rose around 1860, and also includes apartments.

Many of these establishments were closed for the season when I passed through Provincetown. These places will surely be hopping soon, if not already. Make sure to check back in two weeks for some cool photos of cottages in neighboring Truro.

Committing Myself to the City of Sin

From Dave Brigham:

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in

You ask for water, but they give you gin

The girls say no, yet they always give in

If you're not bad, they won’t let you in

It’s the damndest city I’ve ever lived in

Lynn, Lynn the city of sin

You never come out, the way you came in.

Thanks to the blog of a guy named Jason Stadtlander, I learned the lyrics to this poem, of which I'd only ever known the first line. I don't recall at what point after moving to the Boston area in 1990 that I first heard the North Shore city of Lynn referred to as the City of Sin. As with so many former mill towns and cities, I've had the eighth-largest city in the Bay State on my mind for quite a while.

After stumbling across an Instagram reel mentioning Bobby from Boston, a vintage clothing store at 545 Washington Street, I finally made a plan to check out that part of the city. And when I learned that there's a cool old diner right around the corner from the store, I moved that plan up on my Backside agenda.

While this was my first trip to downtown Lynn, I'd been to the city once before (see October 21, 2016, "Rockin' in the Dungeon," for a description of a quick visit to Lynn Woods with my kids).

"Settled by Europeans in 1629, Lynn is the 5th oldest colonial settlement in the Commonwealth," according to Wikipedia. "An early industrial center, Lynn was long colloquially referred to as the 'City of Sin,' owing to its historical reputation for crime and vice."

I started my tour in front of Zimman's, a Lynn mainstay that's been selling fabrics, furniture and furnishings since 1909.

Morris Zimman founded a dry goods shop at 6 River Street in Lynn, about a mile and a half west of the store's current location. "Morris, who was always searching for GREAT BARGAINS, purchased the entire contents of a sunken ship, and [sold] slightly soggy muslin on the sidewalk for 15 cents a yard," according to the Zimman's web site. In 1948, Morris's son, Barry, opened a department store elsewhere on Market Street, moving it to the present location nine years later.

The store is located in the former Goddard Bros. Department Store.

"The firm of Goddard Brothers was founded in 1899 by Franklin L. and Wallace I. Goddard of Boston," according to MACRIS, "who purchased a business from T. E. Parker." I'm not sure of the fate of the Goddard Bros. store.

Around the corner on Andrew Street, I had to make a photo of #58. I figured it was "something."

Sure enough. This is the Grand Army of the Republic Hall and Museum, which "was erected in 1885 with funds raised by local Civil War veterans as a memorial to the Union Army veterans of the Civil War," per the organization's web site. "It soon became the largest G.A.R. post in the country with 1,847 members. Post 5 held a position of prominence in the City of Lynn, the Commonwealth and the Nation for many years.

"Its crowning glory is the enormous 56′ x 46′ main hall on the third floor, which retains the original furnishings and has walls filled with photos of Civil War veterans. Six more rooms have memorabilia from the Revolutionary War through the Korean War."

The hall is currently under renovation, as you can see in my photo. "The structure is in urgent need of repair, and the first phase of that reconstruction has begun with the installation of an elevator, handicapped accessible bathrooms, and updates to the first floor storefronts," per the web site. "These changes make the building compliant with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and will enable broader use of the building and access to funding for further efforts.

"In addition, the Trustees of the GAR Hall and Museum are working on finding new uses for space in the building, building on the wishes of the Civil War Union veterans, who gifted the building to the city in a Home Rule Petition in 1919. To that end a community engagement program is also being launched to discover needs of Lynn veterans and nonprofit community organizations."

From there I headed north, and then east on Central Avenue. Cal's News caught my eye.

Opened in 1937, Cal’s News is the city’s oldest family-owned news retailer and tobacconist, according to this Item Live article
.

Steps away, across an empty lot, is a work of stunning beauty.

Located on the side of The Oxford Lynn apartment building, this mural of a rhino and other animals was painted by Miami-based artist Ernesto Maranje. As with many old industrial cities I've visited, Lynn features loads of such work, some of which is featured below.

Nearby along Washington Street is a lovely pastel work by a Los Angeles-based artist who goes by Free Humanity.

Around the corner in Central Square, the teenage boy inside me demanded I make a photo of buildings labeled R.A.W. and GAS.

Raw Art Works is a creative youth development organization rooted in art therapy, per its web site. Great Art Studio "was born with one intent: to develop and support the relationships between local creatives, business owners and their communities," according to its Internet home page.

I continued under the commuter train tracks that cut across the southern portion of the city, headed southwest on Union Street and suddenly I was standing in front of a rare gem of a diner.

The Capitol Diner is one of a select group of early metal diners to survive intact on its original site, according to MACRIS. "The Capitol Diner is a [J.G.] Brill [Co.] from 1928. This is believed to be the last operating Brill diner in the country," according to this Roadside Architecture post (scroll down). "It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The diner was originally known as the 'Miss Lynn Diner.' When it changed hands in 1938, it was renamed to refer to the Capitol Theatre across the street which is now gone."

Around the corner, under the train bridge across Washington Street, is a cool mural painted by artist Anna Dugan, who goes by Annadidathing. A detail from the work of art is featured in the image below.

The Guardians | Mga Tagapagtanggol "represents her Filipino culture and serves as an image of power, femininity, and protection," according to this statement at the Beyond Walls web site.

Based in Lynn, Beyond Walls "introduce[s] public art, curated experiences and outdoor museums into the fabric of our communities by partnering with local community members and experts to design, produce and manage collaborative projects and programs," per the non-profit group's web site. "We serve cities and towns where there are changes due to the loss of industry, shifts in population, or where there is underutilized infrastructure."

The group brought its Retrolit program, in which it restored and installed vintage neon signs, to the Bobby from Boston building I mentioned at the top of this post. That building is located just steps from the above mural, on Washington Street.

For Retrolit, Beyond Walls partnered with Dave and Lynn Waller, well-known local collectors (and conservators) of neon signs (for coverage of the Wallers, see April 22, 2023, "Walking Around Belt-Bottom," August 9, 2018, "Backside, Out in the Open" and March 22, 2010, "Gettin' My Kicks").

I believe both of the above signs were once located on local businesses. Lynn was once known as the Shoe Capital of the World, "with dozens of factories producing millions of pairs of shoes each year," according to this blog post.

Bobby from Boston is located in the Frederick E. Abbott Building, a nicely restored Romanesque Revival building dated to 1890. In the late 1890s, the Munsey Shank Company occupied this building, manufacturing shanks, which are long, thin pieces of material between the insole and outsole intended to support the foot and provide structure, according to Wikipedia.

Munsey was in business here until 1938. In 1940, according to MACRIS, the Prime Company rented the building. Prime was "a shoe sole equipment manufacturer, remaining in operation through 2001 as the last shoe manufacturer in Lynn," MACRIS continues.

I'd like to return to this place when the vintage clothing store is open, which is only on Sundays.

I continued southwest on Union Street. In front of the parking garage for the commuter rail station is a statue that seems somewhat forgotten to the world.

The site is slightly overgrown, and there is no plaque providing passers-by with information about the statue's name, or who the artist is, or why it's on this spot. The man is bald and striated, and appears naked. He's sitting on a stack of books, staring into the middle distance. Perhaps he is attempting to absorb knowledge through his tuchus?

I've searched on Google and can't find anything about this work of art. Maybe this forlorn guy knows Worcester's Turtle Boy.

Anyway...moving on.

The statue of the nude bookworm stands across from one of the imposing Harbor Loft apartment buildings.

Known as the Vamp Building, this massive structure -- the south facade extends 400 feet along Broad Street -- rose in 1903 as part of a complex built by a syndicate of investors known as the Lynn Realty Company (the edifice is known alternately as Lynn Realty Building #4).

"Following a disastrous fire of 1887 when a 30-acre area employing over 7,000 employees burned to the ground, there was a short flurry of rebuilding activity," MACRIS indicates. "This slowed considerably by 1891 and the next decade saw little construction in downtown Lynn. By 1900, the shoe industry had re-emerged as a significant economic engine and Lynn was once again in a leadership position in that industry. The Lynn Realty Company, headed by one Edward Strout, financed major construction in the fire-zone by financing and constructing several large manufacturing structures."

I'm not sure when this old factory was converted to residential use.

From there, I headed northeast on Broad Street, as I saw something in the distance I wanted to check out.

This place turned out to be a two-fer. Located in what is known as Bank Square, the former Hotel Edison is an Art Deco building that looks pretty good. "The Hotel Edison...site had served as a prominent intersection with a previous hotel located after the Lynn Fire of 1889," per MACRIS. "The present Hotel Edison was constructed in 1931 by the Lincoln Reality Trust and served as a retail complex with street shops along Broad and Exchange Street. It was among the first buildings in Lynn to be air conditioned in 1937 and was...remodeled for commercial space in 1988."

This building is also the headquarters of The Daily Item newspaper, which was founded in 1877.

Next I cut west on Exchange Street, where I saw the fabulous sign below.

Unfortunately, Charlie's Junction Deli closed in the fall of 2019. This "classic old breakfast and lunch spot" was in business for more than 20 years, according to this Boston Restaurant Talk post.

I absolutely love the Charlie's sign. I'm surprised it's still there.

Around the corner, on Spring Street, is yet another of the many great murals of Lynn.

Painted on the side of the Breed Estate Building -- one of the few survivors of Spring Street's rebuilding between 1890 and 1908, according to MACRIS -- this work by Argentinean Mariela Ajras was completed in partnership with Beyond Walls. I've dubbed this one the UFO mural.

I wandered around and found myself at the Silsbee Street underpass, where I saw this dcool guitar painted on a pillar.

One of many paintings under and around the commuter train tracks, this one was done by that famous artist known as I Can't Find Information On the Internet.

Silsbee Street to the east, and Exchange Street to the west, are the end points of the old Eastern Railroad Station Viaduct. This structure, which runs along Mount Vernon Street, features more nice murals, but I'd like to know what's behind the facades.

When it was built in 1913, "it served as the passenger platform for the adjacent 1895 station (non-extant) located on the west side," according to MACRIS. "The station was left at grade, but the waiting room was extended under the viaduct and steps to the platform were provided." At that time, trains were operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

"Exterior stairs located at either end of the viaduct also service the platform which is sheltered by a flat-roofed concrete awning," MACRIS continues. "Space under the viaduct was utilized for the baggage room and shops on both the Central Square and Silsbee Street ends. Although the 1895 station has been demolished and many of the original/early storefronts have been removed or altered, the viaduct itself survives basically unaltered and in its original context."

Old photos show some of the viaduct's archways, seen in my photos above, open. I'd love it if this place could be opened up for retail/restaurants businesses at some point. The only indication of a former business here is the sign on a door for the National Fire Escape Association.

At 305 Union Street I spied a ghost sign of sorts for the old McLellan's department store.

I haven't been able to find out any history of this retailer.

At the corner of Washington and Oxford streets is A&S Pawn and Used Jewelry, which has been around for at least a quarter-century, from what I've been able to figure out.

I headed back toward my car, which I'd parked at the Lynn Marketplace mall along State Street, but then I decided to wander just a little bit more. Along the Lynnway, in front of the parking lot for Lynn Motor Sales, I spied this nice old clock.

A quick online search turned up a Facebook post in which somebody who had taken a photo of this clock asked for any background information. This guy said the names on each of the faces are "F.L. Conte" and "Chery Conte." I haven't found any information about the clock, the maker or the Contes.

Coincidentally, on the opposite side of the busy four-lane roadway is an old factory building with a clocktower.

My first thought when I saw this place was, "It looks like the Schrafft's building in Boston." The candy company building pre-dates this one by about 15 years and may have inspired the architect, Harold Field Kellogg. Kellogg's other local buildings include the Batterymarch Building in Boston; the Pierce-Arrow auto showroom (now a Star Market) in Boston's Packard Corner; and the Longwood Towers in Brookline, for which he was a consulting architect.

Built in 1922 as a shoe factory for Albert Creighton, this structure was seen as "a landmark of modern reinforced industrial design after the First World War," per MACRIS. "The corner clock tower highlights the Gothic profile of the Creighton-Champion Buildings along the Lynnway with vertical piered windows in the upper story, capped by a stepped copper roof with flagpole."

When Creighton's company cratered in 1928, the building "was purchased by the Consolidated Electric Company as the Champion Lamp Works, for light bulb manufacturing from secondary General Electric patents," MACRIS continues. "The Champion Works continued to expand with radio assembly by 1937 with a substantial addition to the original Creighton Building in 1948-1951....In 1969 the Champion works was acquired by International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) and again in 1975 by North American Philips Company (Norelco) with renovations of the original Creighton Building during 1987-1988."

It is now known as the Clocktower Business Center; tenants include a driving school and a law office.

Back across the Lynnway, at the corner of Blossom Street, there is an Enterprise car rental facility. It's located in a building that was previously home to Ron Costa's Auto World.

From what I've deduced online, Costa started that business in 1995. By 2011 this space was occupied by another business. I love that little reminder sign.

I next walked north-northwest on Blossom, then swung east on Alley Street. I had spotted a smokestack, and I needed to get closer.

I really love that image for Traditional Breads, which was established in 1999, a year after the founder, Fitzroy Alexander, sold his previous company, Signature Breads, to Hazelwood Farms, which is owned by Pillsbury.

Around the corner on Pleasant Street, I fought the sun to get a picture of Pudgy's Towing & Auto Repair.

I love the color combination, the slogan, the lettering - everything about this place. Unfortunately, Pudgy's closed down, evidently right around the time that I made this photo. The place was in business for 57 years.

The last shot I made was of a giant mural above the Jamaica's Flavor restaurant.

This work is by Wellington Naberezny, a Brazilian-born artist who goes by SIPROS. According to this Beyond Walls bio, the artist "started in the graffiti world in 1997 and was known for his character 'Big Ears' which makes an analogy of children as his source of inspiration and reflection."

I bid you adieu, City of Sin. Hope to return soon!