Walking in Witch City

From Dave Brigham:

In most towns, if you walk around looking for signs of Halloween nearly seven weeks ahead of time, you may find a half-aisle of candy at the super Stop & Shop or an inflatable Frankenstein on the weird lady's lawn. Take an excursion through Salem, Mass., in mid-September, however, and you bump into scores of costume-clad folks happily filling the streets on their way to the Salem Witch Museum, the Witch History Museum, the Witch Dungeon Museum or the Witch House. That is, if you can successfully weave around the countless adults happily shopping for magic wands, black fishnet stockings and Jason Voorhees masks and taking selfies with street characters like the Predator, Michael Myers and Morticia Addams.

If you're me, you get a few chuckles at all the spooky hubbub and then move out of the stream of gore-loving humanity and into the gritty, lesser-known corners.

At 10 Boston Street in the Gallows Hill neighborhood (aka Blubber Hollow, which is an awesome nickname) is a rather unassuming brick building currently housing a dentist's office and other small businesses. Below is a crappy shot of the building, which was the best I could do given that big tree in front.

In one of the rare instances where MACRIS let me down, all the database has to say about this Colonial Revival building is that it was built circa-1920 and that the "facade features cast-stone details, including a second-story sillcourse, keystones and corner blocks." But what then, oh superhumans of MACRIS, am I to make of this detail?

For starters, this pinpoints the date of construction at 1916, something the MACRIS author should have seen. Secondarily, the cross on that chunk of concrete raises the question of whether this was originally a church or rectory or some other house of worship-adjacent structure, as opposed to "one of several commercial buildings of the early 20th century constructed at the intersection of Boston and Essex Street," as MACRIS tells us in incorrect grammar just before we nod off.

It doesn't look like a church, so I'm going with parsonage or church office building. I've looked online for maps that might be helpful, but haven't found anything more about this building. If anybody knows, let me know.

I passed through Salem on my way to a barbecue in neighboring Beverly, so I did a bit of research before my trip. I singled out a diner two doors down from the mystery building above as a must-see destination.

Built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as #725, this diner was installed at the end of 1936 and known as the Pilgrim Diner, according to MACRIS. "The diner was built for Louis Proulx and George G. Craigie," and replaced a similar business established on the site in 1929. Proulx operated the diner into the mid-1950s. In the ensuing decades, different folks ran the joint under a variety of names, including George's Diner, Boyle's Diner (aka Boyle's Elm Tree Diner) and Deb's Diner."

"The Pilgrim Diner is one of the better preserved examples in Massachusetts of the 1930s, barrel-roof lunch car built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company," MACRIS continues. "The...car rests on a foundation of rusticated concrete blocks. The exterior is sheathed in flat porcelain enamel panels with the name of the diner baked in."

Sigh...the porcelain enamel panels.

Before being partially obscured by the current Black Cat Diner banner sign, those original panels were sort of covered by one for Deb's Diner for more than 10 years. I understand that each new owner wants to put his or her own stamp on the business, and that, as one of my Instagram followers pointed out, perhaps owners want to distance themselves from the baggage behind the concept of "Pilgrim," but these temporary signs just cheapen the image. Maybe new signs could go on the roof, or painted into the sidewalk?

Steps away, on the east side of Essex Street, is a business that has had the same name for decades.

ASAP Drains, which covers the entire North Shore, has been unclogging things since 1979.

I started heading towards downtown, north-northeast along Essex Street. There are many beautiful old homes along here, the sort that one thinks of when imagining an old Colonial town, which Salem is, having been settled by Europeans in 1626. The one that caught my eye, because of the plaque on the front, was the Lindall-Barnard-Andrews House.

"HERE LIVED REV. THOMAS BARNARD," the sign says. "First Pastor of North Church Peace Maker at North Bridge Affair Feb. 25, 1775."

My initial assumption was that the North Bridge in question was the well-known one in Concord, Mass. That bridge was the site of "the shot heard 'round the world" that started the American Revolution. But alas, my Greater Boston bias is showing, because this is not the bridge in question. I mean, why would someone travel 28 miles by horse to be a peace maker?

Rather, Rev. Barnard was involved in an incident at a bridge about a half-mile walk from his home. On February 26, 1775 (a day later than the marker on the home indicates), Barnard and others intervened in an incident in which the British military sought to capture cannons on the north side of the North River from some Salem Minutemen.

Military Governor Thomas Gage dispatched "Lieut. Col. Alexander Leslie with the 64th regiment by ship to Marblehead with instructions to march to Salem with 240 troops and seize the cannons and munitions of war," according to this Historic Ipswich article. The Minutemen and residents of Salem were waiting for them, and had raised the drawbridge, preventing Leslie and his men from crossing the river.

There was a brief scuffle between the British and the Colonists, which may have "brought about what may have been the first bloodshed in a war that was yet to begin," per the article. "Capt. [John] Felt, Rev. Barnard, and Col. [David] Mason negotiated with Col. Leslie, who was at length persuaded to offer a compromise, pledging his word and honor that if the inhabitants would allow him to cross, he and his troops would in a peaceable manner proceed no more than fifty rods beyond the bridge and then return without molesting any person or property."

So the British proceeded, simply so Leslie could report to Gage that he crossed the bridge and couldn't find the weapons, which the Minutemen had told him they'd hidden. They weren't about to let him look for them.

Pretty funny.

As for the other two names on the historic record for this home, Judge James Lindall had the place built in 1740. "The house was purchased in 1816 by John H . Andrews, and remained in the Andrews family throughout the nineteenth century," according to MACRIS.

At the intersection of Essex and North streets, I looked to my left and saw lots of folks milling about outside the Witch House, "the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin...and...one of the few structures you can visit in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692," per the web site. I was more intrigued by what I saw across the street.

Man, what a mish-mash of holiday decorations! Happy Hallow-Easter-Mas!

Witch City Consignment closed in mid-December after nearly two decades in business. The store, which on the day of my visit had a line out the door, looks like it was pretty great. As for the building, it dates to 1897 and is known historically as the David Pingree Building, per MACRIS.

Pingree was one of Salem's wealthiest people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, per MACRIS. In the early years, this storefront was occupied by a bakery and a grocery store. After that, tenants included New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, Kingley Insurance Agency and Jerry’s men’s furnishings company. The store to this day still has signs indicating Jerry's Department Store and Jerry's Army & Navy Store. I'm not sure whether the consignment store was owned by the same folks who ran Jerry's.

I continued east along Essex Street, weaving in and out of the Halloween revelers, before heading south on Crombie Street. I saw some cool seasonal decorations and a sweet old muscle car before stumbling across the next site of interest on the corner of Margin and Gedney streets.

Steve's Quality Market has been in business for more than 80 years. Look at that sign!

A little further south, along Canal Street I spied another nice sign atop Sammy's Roast Beef.

The sandwich place has been in business for more than 20 years.

From there I wandered around until I ended up on Lafayette Street. As I walked south, I looked down Peabody Street and did my usual, "Whoa! Look at that!"

Beemans Gum was introduced to market in the late 19th century. "The product became a part of the American Chicle Company in 1898, and continued on after the purchase of American Chicle by Warner-Lambert in 1962," according to Wikipedia. "Production ceased in 1978 due to lagging sales. In 1985 the brand was revived in a nostalgia campaign, as an ordinary chewing gum without the medical claims, marketed along with Clove and Black Jack chewing gums."

Simultaneous to my noticing the ghost sign, I spied the Salvador Dali mural painted on a building just below it.

(I love how a door opens at the bottom of this painting - perhaps into the artist's soul? It was painted by an artist named Sipros.)

I continued east on Peabody Street for a short while, making photos of other murals.

(Painted by Don Rimx.)

(Painted by Ruben Ubiera.)

I was amazed at the size and quality of these works of art. Having done no research ahead of my visit beyond the Black Cat Diner, I had no idea that as I walked along Peabody Street I was seeing just the tip of the iceberg that is the Punto Urban Art Museum. There are dozens more -- 75 in all -- located in a three-block radius in this neighborhood!

The open-air museum has two primary goals, according to its web site: "To create a beautiful, uplifting environment for Point residents, particularly for children to grow up in" and "To break down the invisible divide between the Point Neighborhood and the rest of Salem by inviting visitors into the Point to experience world-class art first-hand."

The social justice art program was created by North Shore CDC, which invests in neighborhoods to create thriving communities, per its web site. As for the murals and artists, check the art museum's web site for artists and locations of their works. I wish I'd known enough to keep exploring this neighborhood. Oh well, gives me something to look foward to on my next visit.

Heading northwest along Washington Street I stopped to admire a quaint little house tucked between and across the street from several four-story apartment buildings. I make photos of funky places like this in hopes that MACRIS will come through for me.

"Although 259 Washington Street was not listed in a street directory until 1933, stylistically it would appear to have been built with the Audet Apartments next door [which date to 1916]....In 1933 it was listed as the office of Alfred Audet, (possibly associated with the apartment building) with Barry Printing, Peerless Paper Co., and Joseph Perron, millwright, in the rear. There is no front listing for 259 Washington Street in the 1935 street directory. In 1936 Henry Goudreau, a contractor, was listed as having offices here."

Thanks, MACRIS!

It is presently a one-family home.

I peeked down the driveway to a much newer building and saw something I needed to document.

This roached-out sign (tip of the hat to Mike Wolfe from "American Pickers") is for Paul N. Oulette & Sons Pianos, which is (or was) located in this building, which is located on Dodge Street. Currently occupied by The Salem Flea, the building dates to 1945, per MACRIS. As for Paul N. Oulette & Sons, the company was started in 1946 as a piano wholesaler, according to this web site. The company also restored, tuned and moved pianos.

From there I headed north along Washington Street, back toward the Halloween-loving masses. Outside Ledger Restaurant & Bar, I fawned over the clock.

The restaurant is located in the old Salem Savings Bank, which was completedin 1855.

I headed east on Essex Street and spied another ghost sign.

Located on the side of 209 Essex Street, which is occupied by the Hotel Salem, the sign advertised fine apparel, clothes and accessories for Newmark's Store, which moved to this location in 1965. I think I see another layer or perhaps two underneath the sign.

The building opened in 1895 as the home to Naumkeag Clothing Company, and was home to other clothing retailers businesss over the years.

At the eastern end of the Essex Street pedestrian mall is the Peabody Essex Museum. The institution is well known in Massachusetts, and traces it origins back more than 200 years.

"The roots of the Peabody Essex Museum date to the 1799 founding of the East India Marine Society, an organization of Salem ship captains and supercargoes who had sailed near or beyond either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn," per the PEM web site. "The society’s bylaws included a provision for the establishment of a cabinet of 'natural and artificial curiosities,' which we would now call a museum. Society members came back to Salem with a diverse collection of objects from the Pacific Northwest, Asia, Africa, Oceania, India and elsewhere. By 1825, the society had moved into its own building, East India Marine Hall."

The museum grounds include the hall and other buildings. You can continue reading about the museum's evolution here. Let's talk about East India Marine Hall. "As originally conceived, East India Marine Hall was intended to have third floor pavilions at both ends, and a main entrance on its west side," according to MACRIS. "Ultimately these were eliminated, and a two-story, pitched-roof, granite-facade-and-brick structure constructed, with business rental space at ground level and a commodious exhibition and meeting hall above."

The PEM is the oldest coninually operated museum in the country.

My final stop in Salem was a Quaker burial ground known as Friends' Cemetery.

I was tired and in a bit of a rush, so I just snapped a photo from the sidewalk in front of the graveyard. Established in 1718, the cemetery is Salem's third-oldest and smallest, according to the Historical Marker Database. "For the visitor, the only view into Friends Cemetery is through the Essex Street fence. There one sees a flat, compact, neatly laid out, peaceful cemetery landscape, which reflects its Quaker heritage, with its emphasis on simplicity," according to MACRIS. "Once inside, glimpses of the surrounding clapboarded houses, most of which are recognized historic structures, lend an air of inclusiveness and neighborhood."

I'll have to check it out more thoroughly on my next visit.

IC An Old Museum in Boston

From Dave Brigham:

What to do with a long-abandoned, modernist box of a building in the middle of a very popular Boston park that was once home to a horse-racing track and that for decades has been the finish line for the world's largest regatta? I'm glad I don't need to come up with an answer to that run-on question. After reviewing some photos and history, we will learn about possible plans for this place.

Nestled in a stand of trees just steps from an amphitheater in Allston's Christian Herter Park, this rectangular curiosity was completed in 1960. Designed by architect Nathaniel Saltonstall, the building became home to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) for the next two years. Saltonstall was a co-founder of the ICA.

The building and the amphitheater were collectively known as the Metropolitan Boston Art Center in the 1950s, and were sited on a moat-surrounded island a short distance from the Charles River. The project, while presenting a bold vision, was "at odds with the original concept of the Charles River Reservation as an open-space amenity," according to this State of Massachusetts document about Herter Park.

"The Herter Center (as the building is now known), built as a museum, for a time fulfilled that intent as the original home of the ICA, but poor location and low attendance finally closed it," the state document continues. Sometime in the 1980s the New England Sports Museum moved into the building, where it remained until the mid-'90s, I believe. The organization continued using the building for storage for many years.

I remember when this building housed the sports museum, although I never visited. Now known as The Sports Museum, the organization operates on levels 5 and 6 of the TD Garden, home to the Celtics and Bruins.

Since the sports museum moved out, this building, out of place amid the walking paths, canoe-rental shacks, playgrounds, pop-up brewery spaces and collegiate boathouses, has sat empty, gathering moss and graffiti.

At 45 acres, Herter Park is the largest park in the Charles River Basin. From the late 19th century into the first half of the 20th, Herter Park was where the Charles River Speedway was located. The what now?

Backside readers with strong memories will recall the post in which I found out about the Charles River Speedway (see September 6, 2010, "UPDATE: Horsing Around at the Old Barracks"). From the Brighton Allston Historical Society: "The Charles River Speedway was built in 1899 along the shores of the Charles River from Market/Arsenal St to Harvard Stadium and existed into the 1960's. The complex included a mile long race course used mainly for sulky racing and a 1.75 mile driveway, the original Soldier's Field Road, which paralleled the race course and extended up through Cambridge St. It was designed by the Olmsted Landscaping firm and included a bicycle racing course.

"The Superintendent's Building was located at the intersection of Western Ave and Soldier's Field Rd and is the only portion of the complex that still remains." Today, that building houses a fantastic space for eating, drinking, shopping and seeing live entertainment, known as The Speedway (I have an update post on that complex coming soon).

To return to my question: what to do with the former ICA/Sports Museum building, which is located on the grounds where a horse-racing track once stood? And yes, the park where each year, thousands of spectators, competitors and supporters gather for the Head of the Charles, and where during any given year lots of folks arrive for fundraising walks, family outings and theater performances.

Even in decay, the Herter Center shows its potential, with its large windows, well-shaded location and fascinating history.

In 2016, The Friends of Herter Park, which hosts events at the amphitheater, applied for funding from the Boston Redevelopment Authority (now known as the Boston Planning & Development Agency) in order to clean up the outdoor performance space. In that application, the group referenced the decay happening in and around the Herter Center, and laid out its vision for the building, tying its new uses to the stage productions.

The Friends at that time envisioned "gallery space for local artists, support facilities such as restrooms for event patrons, prep areas for caterers, staging rooms for event staff, costume changing rooms, green rooms for actors not on stage, or administrative support space to programs that utilize the amphitheater."

In the aforementioned State of Massachusetts document about Herter Park, there is a call for the Center's possible use as a home for environmental education programs or a ranger station; a space for public functions; or a cafe, or perhaps a combiination of those.

I understand the need for the amphitheater events to use the space, but I think it's important to make as much of this place available for public use as possible. Therefore, I love the ideas for gallery space, a ranger station/visitor center, a cafe, public event/programming space and restrooms.

I don't get the impression anything will happen here soon, but stay tuned.

Clinton Redux: Mills and Industrial Sites

From Dave Brigham:

Since I posted about Clinton, Mass., in early 2016, I've been jonesing to get back there (see January 27, 2016, "Finding Hope, But Losing a Mainstay, in Clinton"). I drove through a section of the old mill town after exploring nearby Sterling back in November of 2019, took a few photos and made a mental note to return (see March 26, 2020, "A Sliver of Sterling"). Finally, in mid-April of this year, I got back there.

This is the first of two "redux" posts about Clinton, in which I will cover former mills and industrial spaces. The second installment in this mini-series will cover the main drags and their great old buildings, as well as other stuff.

In my 2016 post, which I wrote back in the days before I really got into exploring a town or neighborhood as deeply as I could, I skirted around Clinton's industrial past, just briefly mentioning the old Bigelow Carpet Mill. This factory and others defined the town for decades, and the buildings today are still woven into Clinton's fabric.

Originally part of neighboring Lancaster, Clinton split off in 1850 after it became clear that the latter, with its burgeoning inudstries and highly concentrated population, was largely incompatible with its more spread-out, rural "mother" town. The largest and most successful mills of Clinton were founded by the Bigelow brothers, Erastus and Horatio, beginning in the early 1840s.

Erastus, the more mechanically minded of the pair, invented a power loom to mass produce ornamental cloth bordering known as coachlace, according to this Bigelow Society article. "Horatio created a company to manufacture [the cloth]," the article continues. "They chose the name, 'The Clinton Company,' because of their love for the DeWitt Clinton Hotel in New York. Thanks to this new industry, the district first became known as Factory Village, then Clintonville. Bigelow's invention dropped production costs of coachlace from 22 cents a yard to 3 cents a yard and created many new jobs in the area."

In time, the brothers developed the carpet loom, and their Bigelow Carpet Company "manufactured the world's best carpets from 1849 to 1933," according to the arguably biased Bigelow Society web site. "Its carpets could be found in the White House, the U.S. Senate and House, the State House, the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the SS Titanic, and many of the finest restaurants and theaters in the world."

The brothers also founded Lancaster Mills and the Clinton Wire Cloth Company, each of which I will discuss below. Let's get to the old Bigelow Carpet buildings for now.

I featured a photo of this mill building in my 2016 post. I just love the tower, and how boldly the name BIGELOW CARPET CO. and BUILT IN 1864 are chiseled into it. And of course the GIN RYE ghost sign near the base of the tower. I haven't found out why those liquors are painted there, but I assume there was a distillery or liquor warehouse here at some point.

Located on Main Street where Union Street intersects, this building's current tenants include Society Cannabis (not the only pot shop in a former Clinton mill building), carpet-cleaning business Pro Expert Services and H&R Auto Services.

There are multiple buildings between Main Street and the old railroad right of way just to the west. Bigelow Carpet also used buildings between Union and Pleasant streets.

(The above photo was taken in 2019.)

Part of the factory complex, now known as Blackstone Mills, is currently occupied by Phillips-Medisize, which manufactures various medical injection devices.

In my 2016 post, this smokestack was emblazoned with the corporate name INJECTRONICS. Phillips-Medisize acquired that company in 2016.

Across Mechanic Street, at the eastern end of the old Bigelow complex, is the Museum of Russian Icons.

The museum was founded at some point in the 1990s, in what the organization's web site refers to as a 150-year-old former mill building. I assume it was once part of the Bigelow complex. Plastics engineer, and member of the Plastics Hall of Fame, Gordon B. Lankston, who was president of an injection molded plastics company in Clinton, founded the museum after becoming quite enamored with icons during his first visit to Russia in 1989, according to the museum's web site. Lankston's company, Nypro, Inc., was located at the former Bigelow site. The company was acquired in 2013 by Jabil, Inc., which is now located at that site.

I was quite taken by two sets of rowhouses located a three minute walk from the mill complex. It's likely that factory workers lived here. The buildings may have been built or owned by the Bigelow company at some point.

(The Clinton assessor says these units were built in 1900.)

(This adjacent building rose in 1932, according to the assessor.)

Half a mile north along Main Street, we get to the next mill and mill-adjacent sites.

Located at 625 Main Street, the former Swift Cold Storage building rose in 1892, according to MACRIS.

Currently home to Country Dogs, a dog daycare and retail shop, this impressive and imposing building has seen better days. At some point in its history, it was also the site of the Witherell Shoe Factory. The Romanesque Revival-style building was designed by architect Warren B. Page. "Throughout the 20th century, the building was altered with additions, and the building has begun to deteriorate," MACRIS indicated in a June 2016 report. "In the early to mid-20th century, several window openings on the facade were infilled with concrete block."

The Swift/Witherell building is located in what's known as Depot Square, which features a nice little green space where Main, Sterling and Water streets meet. Directly across Main Street, on the southwest corner of Sterling Street, is Union Station, which dates to 1914.

I wish I'd gotten better photos of this gigantic slab of a building. "The station is a north and west-facing, Renaissance Revival-style, one- to three-story, brick building," according to MACRIS. "The building is seated on a brick foundation and topped with a flat and hip roof. The flat roof has an arched parapet at the north end, and is surrounded by a white terra cotta cornice. The hip roof has a white and red terra cotta cornice and is clad with terra cotta tiles."

I've never seen a brick train station with these types of details, which were obviously quite impressive in the depot's heyday. The station sits at the "intersection of two sets of railroad tracks, one at ground level, and the other, elevated set, crossing the Railroad Bridge over Main Street," MACRIS continues. "Union Station opened [in 1914], serving lines on two levels, the upper serving the Worcester, Nashua, and Portland Division (WN&P) and Central Massachusetts Branches of the Boston and Maine system, and the lower, the NYNH&H line linking Worcester and Fitchburg," according to the Pacific Coast Architecture Database.

When the mills in this area were running at full steam, I imagine this station was humming, with freight coming in and going out on one set of tracks, passengers arriving and leaving from the other. While the ground-level, north-south tracks are defunct, the east-west railroad is used by freight haulers CSX and Pan-Am, I believe. "Since the cessation of rail service to Union Station, the building has deteriorated and has been altered on the first story with the addition of commercial doors on the north and east elevations and infill of historic window openings," MACRIS reports.

To read more about the station and see some great photos, check out this blog post at I Ride the Harlem Line, a blog dedicated to transit.

Current tenants include Clinton Speed Wash Coin-Op Laundry, Six 20 Six consignment boutique and Regonini-Zoll Memorials.

North and west of Union Station, along Sterling Street all the way to Greeley Street, are several buildings that were originally part of Clinton Wire Cloth Company, another Bigelow brothers venture.

But first, let's discuss a building that I really love, from the painted brick to the mansard roof to the hint of a ghost sign.

Built in the 1870s for the Gibbs Loom, Harness and Reed Company, this beauty was converted to condos sometime late last century. "The building is a Second Empire-style, two-and-one-half story, nine-bay, U-shaped, brick building," MACRIS indicates. "The building is seated on a granite block foundation and topped with a mansard roof....The Gibbs company began as the Loom Harness and Reed company under George H. Foster and was taken over by 1868 by Gibbs, who incorporated the Gibbs Loom, Harness and Reed Company in 1874," MACRIS continues.

OK, let's get to the Clinton Wire Cloth Company, which was in business from 1863 to 1919, according to MACRIS. The former company's footprint is 11.49 acres and comprises nine parcels. Here are the technical details from MACRIS: "A combined 8.92-acre plot south of Sterling Street is bounded on the north by Sterling Street, on the east by the Springfield Terminal Railway’s north-south right-of-way, on the south by CSX Transportation’s freight line between Clinton and Leominster, and on the west by Greeley Street and consists of three parcels at 56 Sterling Street (...3.89 total acres), one parcel at 96–100 Sterling Street (...3.03 acres), and one parcel at 104 Sterling Street (...2 acres). The area also includes four parcels north of Sterling Street: a 0.59-acre parcel at 55 Sterling Street... a 0.36-acre parcel at 19 Parker Street...a 0.87-acre parcel at 10 Parker Street, and a 0.75-acre parcel at 89 Parker Street that is disconnected from the main area boundary."

Across the north-south railroad tracks from Union Station is the former weaving and winding mill for the wire cloth company, dating to around 1910.

Currently occupied by Consignment Gallery at 56 and Lloyd & Bouvier, Inc., a wire and cable manufacturing operation, this building was also the main office for the wire cloth company. The Romanesque Revival-style building rose in 1882, per MACRIS.

(Details from newer part of the weaving and winding mill. I took these photos in 2019; I don't believe these details still exist.)

(Clinton Wire Cloth Company office entrance.)

Across Sterling Street from the former main office building is #55, below, which was built in 1904 and served as a storage and electric welding building for Clinton Wire Cloth, according to MACRIS.

From MACRIS: "In 1911, the building stored wire and reels on the first floor and wire netting on the third and fourth floors, and the electric welding department occupied the second floor. It is a south-facing, Italianate-style, three-and-one-half-story, 8-by-14-bay, rectangular, masonry industrial building."

(Detail of Clinton Wire Cloth Company storage and electric welding building.)

(Boarded-up entrance to the former storage and electric welding buildng.)

55 Sterling Street is currently occupied by AIGA Eye on Design, something called Custom Window Treatments Drapery Workroom and perhaps other businesses.

I wish I'd taken more photos of the buildngs along Sterling Street on my most recent trip. I mistakenly thought I had more from my previous visit in 2019. Anyway, I did shoot photos of some buildings along Sterling and Greeley streets that were also once part of the Clinton Wire Cloth operation.

Located just north of the train bridge at Rigby Street, this is the former galvanizing building for the wire cloth operation. "A conveyor at the northeast corner originally connected the building to the annex of the No. 10 Hex Netting Building," per MACRIS. "The building was constructed in 1914 and is a west-facing, 13-by-8-bay, rectangular, masonry industrial building." A steel-frame building was added in the late '60s or early '70s, seen below.

Businesses in these buildings include Keith Industrial Group, Inc., which provides high-quality chiller solutions for industrial and commercial use, per its web site; Varise Bros. Florist, which has been family owned for more than 90 years; T.C. Lando's Sub & Pizzeria; and Breakaway Billiards Sports Bar & Lounge.

I will get to more outlying Clinton Wire Cloth Company buildings in a moment, but first I want to point to a site across Greeley Street from the former galvanizing complex. There I found a gigantic empty lot that had obviously been cleared of several buildings.

Here's the same view from Google Street Maps, from several years ago:

A company called Rockbestos Surprenant Cable Co. was here most recently, but I believe these buildngs were torn down around late 2007 or early 2008. I found a Town of Clinton Master Plan from 2009 that indicates oil and hazardous materials exist at this site. I don't know whether redevelopment is planned here. This site is listed alongside several others in a separate Town of Clinton Open Space & Recreation Plan from 2016 about contamination, but it's not clear whether this site is being considered for green space.

Now, back to the wire cloth outer universe.

At 89 Parker Street, about a five-minute walk due north from 56 Sterling Street, was once Clinton Wire Cloth's perforating building, according to MACRIS. "The building was constructed after 1894 by the CWCC as an offsite foundry connected to the main complex by spur lines on the B&M [right-of-way], converted to a perforating facility by 1915, and expanded northward between 1938 and 1963."

Today the building is home to cannabis operation New England Harvest.

As for Clinton Wire Cloth, the company in 1919 merged with Wright Wire Company, Morgan Spring Company of Worcester and two subsidiaries, the National Manufacturing Company and Miller Wire Company of Worcester, according to MACRIS. "The Clinton-Wright Wire was incorporated with a capital stock of $12,500,000. The Spencer Wire Company...joined shortly thereafter, expanding the organization to the second largest wire company in the country. The nextyear Clinton-Wright Wire Company purchased the Wickwire Steel Company of Buffalo and formed Wickwire-Spencer Steel Corporation, the second largest steel corporation in the world.

"During the Second World War, concertina and heavy wire netting for air fields were produced in the Clinton plant. In 1944, Wickwire-Spencer Steel Corporation was bought by Colorado Fuel and Iron. The Clinton operations were closed fourteen years later. Of the ten buildings, some were sold, to Standard Signal and Sign Company and Van Brode Milling Company."

Just a short distance further north along Parker Street, is another building that isn't listed as having been part of the Clinton Wire Cloth empire, but it served some sort of industrial/warehouse role for some company.

The building was most recently used by MPHW, Inc./77 Recycling, which specializes in the postindustrial recycling of plastics.

If you were to walk north-northeast across the railroad tracks, you'd see a remnant industrial smokestack next to the CVS (located on the former site of Mass Chair, Inc.), and then come to a partially demolished industrial building along Main Street.

Currently occupied by Continental Cabinetry, this very long, one-story brick building dates to 1960 and was once home to Quantum Chemical Corp. According to this LoopNet listing, the site is a proposed new retail development on 2.84 acres. "Initial concept plans include multiple pad sites with flexibility on the size of the buildings and opportunities for drive-thru establishments," the listing indicates. "The developer will accommodate specific tenant requirements upon request."

I'm going to wrap up this review of some of Clinton's mills with a gigantic complex on Green Street, hard by the Nashua River.

The Lancaster Mills was the Bigelow brothers' first venture, founded before the carpet mill and wire cloth company. "In 1845, Erastus Bigelow received a patent for the manufacture of ginghams of complex patterns as well as checks and the next year such cloth was being produced by his power looms in the Lancaster Mills," according to MACRIS.

"The site chosen for the new mill on the banks of the Nashua River was one of the oldest industrial sites within the present Clinton town limits," MACRIS continues. "Elias Sawyer settled there in the late eighteenth century, but apparently did not meet with success as little is known about his venture other than the fact that he sold the remnant of a dam and an incompleted building to James Pitts in 1810. Pitts, who did not occupy the site until 1815, had a fully operative multi-purpose mill powered by a seven foot water fall by 1816. During his tenure the mill produced a variety of products including cotton, lumber and wire.

"When the Lancaster Mills Co. acquired the property in 1844, the complex was entirely rebuilt, and the wooden buildings which housed Pitts' activities were moved to the Sidney Harris Comb Factory at 525 Water St....The first structure [for Lancaster Mills] measured 614'x46' and ran parallel to Green Street. The dam was reconstructed to provide a fall of thirteen feet and a canal was dug. Power was supplied by three 26' breastwheels each capable of producing 75 horsepower. This was supplemented in times of drought by a 250 horsepower steam engine. The original wood dam-works were replaced with stone in 1867; it has been rebuilt and strengthened many times since, the last being in 1930.

"The original structure was demolished and another one story structure (256'xl74') which housed carding, spinning and weaving operations and was lit entirely by skylights was erected. A three story packing house (181'x72') and a one story dye house (182'x96') were also constructed to the southeast of the Main Mill. By 1877 there were over 1,500 looms in operation at the Lancaster Mills."

The mills shut down in 1929 at the beginning of the Great Depression. In the 1930s the principal owner was the Colonial Press, which for a time was known as "the World's largest book bindery under one roof," per MACRIS. In 1977 the Press closed operations and the Lancaster Mills sat vacant and unused until 1981, when the complex was purchased by NIUNA Corp., a Massachusetts-based real estate development corporation, according to MACRIS.

The western portion of the old mill complex has been refurbished, renovated and redeveloped into The Lofts at Lancaster Mills, which comprises 202 apartment units.

The eastern section of the complex is rougher-looking and still used for commercial purposes.

Known as MacGregor Mills (and before that Amory Mill), this taller section of the old mill complex is home to Newton Bindery and Dunn & Co. Legacy Publishing Group, which offers a "full line of high-quality greeting cards and fine paper-based gift products," per the company's web site.

That's a wrap for Clinton's mills. Make sure to check back for a post about the town's main drags and other features.