The Shire of Worcester, Part the Seventh

From Dave Brigham:

For my previous Worcester post, I trekked along Shrewsbury Street, just east of Union Station, thrilled to realize I was in the city's Italian-American neighborhood (see July 5, 2025, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Sixth"). During the same trip, I dipped south on the other side of the railroad tracks and yards and checked out an industrial area with some interesting businesses and a tragic past.

Regular readers of the blog might recognize this building. I featured it in my first Worcester post (see January 27, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the First"). I couldn't resist making a few more shots of this old factory complex. As I mentioned in that post, in September 2013, the city's planning board cleared the way for potential redevelopment of some of the buildings in this area. Twelve years later, however, nothing has happened.

I also made a photo of a few other buildings in the area, as well as a large open space.

I knew from doing some online research before this latest trip to Wootown this general area was where one of the city's most tragic events in recent memory had taken place. On December 3, 1999, six Worcester firefighters died battling a massive fire in a warehouse. They "lost their lives while attempting to rescue people they thought were trapped inside the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse building on Franklin Street," according to this WGBH article marking the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.

I remember this event well. It was huge news not only in Worcester and Massachusetts, but across the United States. I assumed the open space was where the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse had once stood. If I had been more thorough with my research, I would've realized that the site was actually where there now stands the Franklin Street Fire Station, just to the west of where I made my photos.

From that somber site I made my way east to Suffolk Street.

Across from a late-19th century factory complex (which I will discuss shortly), I spied Cicero's Cafe, which a few sources online refer to as a biker bar.

I haven't knowingly photographed any biker bars for this blog. I wish there had been at least one Harley or Indian out front the day I walked by. I had no idea while on my adventure, but this joint is semi-famous. A scene from the 2023 movie "Confess Fletch" was shot inside the bar, according to this article (with accompanying video). Jon Hamm and John Slattery drink in the bar, shown in the trailer below (at the 1:12 mark):

Pretty cool.

Now back to that factory.

I'm so used to seeing factories that have either been a) abandoned or b) converted to condos, that I was shocked to see that the former Graton and Knight Company buildings are occupied by aerospace outfit David Clark Company. Established in 1941, the firm manufactures space suits for NASA, pressure suits for the Air Force, headsets for pilots and many other such contraptions.

As for Graton and Knight, that company was founded in 1861 and manufactured leather belting for industrial uses here until 1962. This factory dates to 1893.

The same industrial complex is home to Westerman Store & Restaurant Equipment, which has been in business since 1959.

In a separate but attached building is the former home of Come Play Products, a toy maker founded in 1948, per this Wordpress blog article.

The founder, Israel Freelander, "was committed to hiring people with physical and mental disabilities, and in 1966 he was named Employer of the Year by the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped and the National Association of Manufacturers," per the blog post. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

Across Suffolk Street from the former Come Play entrance is a bar that I knew from advanced research I absolutely needed to make photos of.

Vincent's Bar seems like a great place: "best meatball sub," according to one of my Instagram followers; live music; entertainment in the backyard, where there is a cabin of some sort, per the same IG person. And that sign - hoo boy is it great!

The building dates to 1875, per the Worcester assessor's office. I don't know how long Vincent's has been in business. I'm guessing there has been a watering hole here for generations.

The last feature on this leg of my trip (stay tuned for part eight, which is the final installment covering this jaunt) is a great mural on the back wall of Northeast Precious Metals and Coins.

Located where Franklin, Suffolk and Norfolk streets meet, NPMC was established in 2007. The company "provides precious metal buying and selling services, coin buying and selling services, and e-scrap services," per its web site.

I'm a sucker for all things money, so I was psyched to see the mural's artist, whose name I have yet to find online, included some classic coins, as well as images from the periodic table.

For the previous installments in this series, see below:

November 16, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Fifth"

April 13, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Fourth"

February 10, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Third"

February 3, 2024, "The Shire of Worcester, Part the Second"

Fanelli Cafe: In Business for 178 Years!

From Dave Brigham:

Located at 94 Prince Street in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, Fanelli Cafe has been in business since 1847 (!). I knew nothing about this historic eatery when I walked by, trailing my wife and daughter as they window-shopped. I saw the sign, pointed my camera up because I liked the looks of it, made a photo and moved on.

This is the final post in my series of quick hits about a trip to NYC last fall. Links to the previous six are at the bottom of this post.

"Herman Gerken leased the wooden building at 94 Prince Street in 1847 and became the proprietor of a grocery on the site," per the cafe's web site. "In 1853 [John] Hance’s heirs, Edna Brown, Mary Sarles, and Sara McIntosh, sold the lots to Herman Gerken. In 1857 Gerken built the present day (sic) handsome five story (sic) brick building that still carries the 94 Prince Street address. This corner building was interconnected with his adjourning (sic) building at 135 Mercer Street by at least 1891."

To read the history of this property, starting with a Dutch farm in the 1640s to its status during Prohibition as a speakeasy, check out this page on the cafe's web site, which quotes from an article originally published by New York Art World.

Here are links to the previous six posts:

March 15, 2025, "Globe Slicers May Rip You to Shreds"

March 8, 2025, "House in Flux in SoHo"

March 1, 2025, "Hoofin' It to the Bowery Ballroom"

February 22, 2025, "Shoot Your Shot at Amsterdam Billiards"

February 15, 2025, "Webster Hall Was Right Across from My Hotel"

February 8, 2025, "The Carl Fischer"

Shoot Your Shot at Amsterdam Billiards

From Dave Brigham:

I did not enter Amsterdam Billiards but I slept next to it on my recent trip to New York City (see my two previous posts about this short vist: February 15, 2025, "Webster Hall Was Right Across from My Hotel," and February 8, 2025, "The Carl Fischer"). Apolgies if that sounded a tad unseemly.

Located at 110 East 11th Street in Greenwich Village, the billiards joint (also a cafe and bar) was founded in 1989 by comedian David Brenner and brothers Greg and Ethan Hunt, per the joint's web site. I have fond memories of seeing Brenner on late-night talk shows and elsewhere on TV when I was a kid.

While the billiards place is 35 years old, evidently "this venue has a rich history that dates back to the charming Greenwich Village in 1940," according to this Billiard Bay article. I'm not sure if it was a pool hall back in those days, or what it was. I made the photo above because I dig the sign.

This building stands today, but a handful of buildngs of the same generation weren't so lucky, as they were torn down to make way for, ugh, the hotel where we stayed.

Oak Square is OK

From Dave Brigham:

I have driven through Boston's Oak Square approximately countless times in my life, and have wondered about one specific property on just about each of those infinity occasions. I'll get to that shortly, after I discuss a family-owned laundry and dry cleaning outfit that closed up shop about five years ago in the Brighton neighborhood.

(I hope somebody saves that sign.)

Swan Cleaners was in business for more than 70 years. I don't know if the business took a dive because fewer people need office outfits dry-cleaned, or if there was another reason it shut down.

(The swan on the side exterior wall is a nice touch.)

In November 2022, the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal approved a pot shop to take over the Swan space. I saw no sign that Pure Oasis, which has stores on Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester and Devonshire Street in downtown Boston, is preparing to open in Oak Square.

Across the way, elevated above the hustle and bustle of Washington Street, is the specific property I've pondered over for years. Vacant for a long time, this place at one point had what appeared to be contractor trucks parked around it, as if perhaps it was a builder's office. And a search of the address brings up Daley Construction Company as a prior tenant or owner. Turns out, this place has "a long association with members of Brighton's building trades," according to MACRIS.

"This unusual, towered Mansard/Queen Anne house...[s]ituated on a triangular lot formed by the intersection of Washington Street and Langley Road...was built c. 1870-1875 by and for John H. McCausland, carpenter," MACRIS continues. "By 1885, Granville A. Fuller owned this property. Granville A. Fuller resided at 15 Sparhawk Street, Brighton. His father, Granville Fuller was a talented architect/builder responsible for the design and construction of the Greek Revival Brighton Town Hall in 1841. Granville A. Fuller was a partner in his father's lumber company and was also a civil engineer. From the 1890s until at least the 1930s, this house was owned by Walter L. Maguire, roofer with an office at 46 Cornhill Street, Boston."

In late 2018, a developer filed plans with the city for a five-story, 37-unit condo building with ground-floor retail space. I'm not sure of the status of that proposal.

I just have two more sites I want to discuss. The first is the Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library, named after the street where it is located. The street is named after Benjamin Faneuil, brother of Peter, who is the namesake of the well-known hall in downtown Boston.

"The Faneuil branch...was built in 1931 and is a relatively rare example of the Art Deco style in Brighton," according to MACRIS. "It was designed by the architectural firm of Kilham, Hopkins and Greeley of Boston, who also designed Waltham City Hall, Dedham High School, and Barnard Hall at Radcliffe."

Last, but certainly not least, is my favorite building in the square.

Located adjacent to the library branch, the circa-1912 Oak Square Fire Station is an English Revival gem. It was designed by the firm of Timothy Francis Walsh and Charles Maginnis, known for designing Roman Catholic churches and institutional buildings around the country, including Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and Trinity College Chapel in the capital city, per MACRIS.

Here's your headline explainer.

A Ghostly Discovery in Tobacco Country

From Dave Brigham:

I've been meaning to get back to Connecticut's Windsor Farms Historic District ever since exploring that rural area in December 2020 (see December 17, 2020, "A Towering Discovery in Tobacco Country"). And if you're reading this, and you have half a brain, you probably realize that I fulfilled that goal with another visit to South Windsor.

There are dozens of beautiful old homes in the district, which is located between the Connecticut River and John Fitch Boulevard, also known as Route 5. Main Street bisects the area, which is dottted with farms. As a general rule, I don't make photos of old houses, even gorgeous historic ones. And many of the privately owned farm buildings in the district are inaccessible to folks like me. So my destination was a nicely restored barn/warehouse building that I'd spotted ahead of time on Google Maps.

As I mentioned in the previous South Windsor post, the historic district has been home to tobacco cultivation for roughly 300 years. While many other Connecticut River Valley towns that were once engaged in the shade tobacco business have seen that activity wane in recent decades, the Windsor Farms Historic District "is one of the few farming villages remaining in Connecticut still devoted to tobacco agriculture," according to this Living Places document. "Unlike the more typical historic rural areas of the state where the historic components are widely scattered, the Windsor Farms Historic District is a highly concentrated, cohesive entity," the article continues. "Not only does it contain a significant group of farmhouses, barns, and other specialized buildings related to tobacco agriculture, it also encompasses approximately 1,500 acres of contiguous historic farmland."

According to the South Windsor assessor's database, the barn/warehouse above was built in 1910. The ghost sign across the top says, "ADLER & DOBKIN."

While researching tobacco companies in my native state in the past, I haven't found a lot of information. The same is true here. I discovered that Adler & Dobkin was a cigar-wrapper business based in Manchester, Connecticut. I have no idea when the company was founded, or whether it went out of business or merged with another entity. This building is currently owned by the J.E. Shepard Company, which was founded in 1888 and was at one time (and perhaps still is) the largest grower of broadleaf tobacco in the Connecticut Valley, according to an obituary for a former company executive.

The Shepard company has extensive real estate holdings in South Windsor - nearly four dozen properties by my count in the assessor's database. These include farm, industrial and commercial sites, as well as open land. Perhaps homes, too. Among the company's holdings are at least two golf courses, Willow Brook, which closed abruptly in 2020, and Topstone; Nomad’s Adventure Quest, which includes Revolutions Bowling and Red’s Tavern; and Nomad’s Outdoor Adventure, which closed last year.

Since the warehouse I'm featuring here is in such good shape, and the property includes a barn that also appears in good repair, AND there are large fields located behind them, I'm guessing that J.E. Shepard still grows tobacco here and elsehwhere.

Drivin' on 20

From That Same Old Guy:

As regular readers of this blog know, I have the memory of an elephant when it comes to places I want to explore. My recall for other things, alas, isn't all that great.

Anyway, several years ago, traveling from my home in Newton, Mass., to a Thanksgiving celebration in Connecticut, I ended up driving on Route 20, rather than the Mass. Pike, because the traffic was (marginally) better. As I drove along what is the longest road in the United States -- stretching from Boston's Kenmore Square to Newport, Oregon -- I was spotting backside destinations left and right. "Man," I thought, "I need to check this out for the blog someday."

Well, that day came recently, as I made the decision to once again bypass the Pike in favor of Route 20, this time traveling west to east on a trip home from visiting my mother in the Nutmeg State. Doing a tiny bit of Google Maps research ahead of time, I had only one destination I wanted to hit: the Yankee Diner in Charlton. After that, I just winged it, racing against the fading sun as I drove east. I found a slew of abandoned properties and another diner, this one run by the daughter of a local sports legend.

Sharing a parking lot with a shuttered tattoo shop and located across the street from an abandoned factory/warehouse complex, the Yankee Diner has been in this location since 1969. It's "a 1939 Worcester (#735)," according to the Roadside Architecture blog's Massachusetts diner page. "It was originally installed in Leominster, MA."

This place is neat and tidy on the outside, so I'm guessing the inside follows. There is a takeout window, too, which detracts from the front-view aesthetics, but is obviously necessary to keep the place in business. The diner is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but is open the remaining five days of the week, including for dinner Thursdays and Fridays.

Just west of the Yankee, on the north side of Route 20, is an abandoned building that I'm guessing was a service station at some point.

I've been unable to find out any information about this place.

Just up the hill from that pile of ruins is a place once known as Charlton Mills.

LoopNet, which lists commercial properties for sale or lease, indicates this building dates to 1902, and was once known as the Charlton Box Factory. It was at one time, perhaps originally, known as the Charlton Woolen Mill.

From 1990 to 2010, this complex was home to Charlton Mills, a "craft emporium full of hard-to-find items" that also specialized in making boxes of all sizes, as well as wrapping materials, according to this Telegram & Gazette story from May 2010. Charlton mills owner John Carpenter started the business inside the former Independent Box Makers of New England, Inc., facility and within a few years took over the entire first floor, according to the article.

This place was also a UHaul facility at some point. I assume it will get torn down eventually. I hope I'm wrong.

I drove 16 miles -- past CrossFit facilities and stove shops and Walmarts and newer restaurants and car dealerships and Home Depots and gas stations and fast-food joints and weed shops and probably stuff that when I return some day I will deem important to the Backside of America -- before I found my next quarry.

I was heading east, and the sign is on the westbound side, so I had to turn around. As I pulled into the lot, next to Gracar Auto Center Repair & Towing, I said to myself, "Where the heck is the diner?" I even pulled out of the lot and drove about 200 yards down a side street. "There's no diner down here," I said. As I drove away, heading east again, I saw a slab and realized that the diner had been moved.

From the Roadside Architecture blog: "The Edgemere Diner is a Fodero [Dining Car] from 1940. It had been here since 1954. It was previously located in the Boston area where it was known as the Englewood Diner. The diner was sold to the city [of Shrewsbury] in 1995 and closed in 2005. It reopened in 2008 as 'The Edge' which focused on hot dogs rather than normal diner fare. In 2014, new owners reopened it as a diner again. The name, Edgemere Diner, was also back."

In November 2021, Michael Cioffi was the winning bidder in an auction for the diner. In May of this year, Cioffi loaded the diner onto a flatbed truck and hauled it to somewhere in New York.

I'm glad to see it will be saved.

Further along on Route 20 in Shrewsbury, I did a double-take when I saw the statue below.

Once again, I had to bang a uey and check out the former Tanela Restaurant & Lounge.

"For a number of years during the mid-1970s, the Tanela Restaurant was a fairly popular location for local people to get some Polynesian cuisine," per the MyTiki Life web site. "The Tanela was known for its large Moai statue and Polynesian-themed décor on the outside of the building. The business added several motel-like apartments at the rear of the property, but soon fell on hard times, the restaurant closing down, but the motel units remaining in operation.

"During the early 2000s, an attempt was made to revive the location, and it re-opened as a heavy metal-type venue called 'Trance Buddha.' That didn’t work out either, and soon closed. Within a few more years, the apartments were closed."

Man, I bet both Tanela and Trance Buddha were quite the scenes during their heydays.

A friend who grew up in Shrewsbury recalls that this place was also once known as the Honolulu.

The vacant apartment building is still attached to the old restaurant. I have to say, I find adding "motel-like apartments" an odd real estate decision.

The final stop on this tour was Northborough's Chet's Diner, which opened in 1931 (!).

"Chet’s Diner is #177 from the Worcester Lunch Car Company," according to this Patch article. "These lunch cars were hand-built at the factory, then transported to their sites with a large truck. Diner #177 was shipped in two pieces and assembled on-site because of its extra length."

Check out the video below from 2012 to get a feel for the place. Notice that the chef/owner contradicts the information from the Patch article cited above about the diner being delivered. She says, "1931, built on location" to the question of how long the diner has been along Route 20.

Oh, and that chef/owner's name? Jessica Fidrych. That surname ring a bell? She's the daughter of former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych, who grew up in Northborough and was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1976. Known for his eccentric personality while on the mound -- talking to himself, talking to the ball and "throw[ing] back balls that 'had hits in them,'" per Wikipedia -- Fidrych was nicknamed "The Bird" by a minor league coach who thought he resembled Big Bird from "Sesame Street."

After his stellar rookie season, unfortunately, Fidrych suffered a series of injuries and pitched his last professional game in October 1980. After retiring, he and his wife and daughter lived on a farm in Northborough. He died in 2009 after an accident on the farm, at age 54.

Jessica Fidrych's grandmother, Nancy Pantazis, acquired the diner in 1964. So cool that the same family has run this place for decades.

I hope to travel this route again in order to make photos of places I simply didn't have time to explore.

Below is an Ed's Redeeming Qualities video that inspired the title of this post.