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.

Booze + Broads

From Dave Brigham:

In early February , I picked up a framed print I had on display as part of the Small Stones Festival of the Arts in Grafton, Mass. Before swinging by the Brigham Hill Community Barn to retrieve my work, I drove somewhat aimlessly through the neighboring towns of Worcester and Auburn, looking for things to shoot with my camera.

OK, my drive wasn't completely haphazard; I've had Lamplighter II, a shuttered strip club in Worcester, on my radar ever since I began compiling potential sites for my series on New England's second-largest city (see this post from last September, which includes links to eight prior installments about Worcester).

Along with diners, movie theaters and bowling alleys, gentlemen's clubs are vestiges of a dingier past, and that's the sort of stuff I find image-worthy. I've featured strip clubs before on the blog - see this post about the vestiges of Boston's Combat Zone; this post about a former club in Chelsea, Mass.; check out this installment of my Worcester series, which leads off with mention of Hurricane Betty's; and this post about Springfield, Mass.

After circling around for a while, I came upon Chieftain Liquors along Route 12 in Auburn, and slammed on the brakes in a way that I absolutely do not recommend.

I'm not sure how long Chieftain has been in business, but it's long enough that the store once had a neon sign. According to Roadside Architecture, the neon was replaced with backlit plastic several years ago.

There you go - booze + broads, in reverse order.

As a friend said when I posted these photos on Facebook, "You go to all the best places!"

The Get-Fresh Flow

From Dave Brigham:

And now for something just a little bit different: photos taken at night last November, after the annual Gathering of the Webnerdz at Summer Shack in Cambridge, Mass.

What? Not familiar with the Gathering of the Webnerdz? Let me explain.

From 1995 to 2001, I worked (initially for stock options that -- spoiler alert! -- turned out to be worthless) for a digital media company that did business under the name Webnoize. Two dozen years after the company went belly up, I still get together at least twice a year with a cohort of former coworkers.

As part of a 2024 feature about Stoneham, Mass., I wrote about the company's former office (see April 6, 2024, "Strolling Through Stoneham"). I also mentioned Webnoize's Cambridge office in a 2023 post (see June 17, 2023, "Cambridgeport, Part I: MIT/Biotechs/Nuclear Reactor/and Maybe Death Rays").

Anywho....

As I'd done once before, after gorging myself with food and beer and plenty of great conversation, I parted ways with my friends and hit the streets of the Fresh Pond neighborhood, camera in hand. I parked at the Fresh Pond Mall, and headed south on New Street, which runs between the shopping complex and Danehy Fields.

I've driven on this street many times over the years, but had no idea of the history of this area. That's why I wander and make photos - so I can research and learn and share.

Alongside several new apartment buildings and a restaurant, there are auto body shops, a public works parking lot and other remnants of older Cambridge. This Cambridge was more polluted and industrial, something that some newer residents might know nothing about.

In 2022, I explored nearby in North Cambridge, and learned about the area's brick-making and chemical maufacturing history (see December 10, 2022, "All About the Alewife Area" and December 3, 2022, "Tip-toeing Through North Cambridge").

Where today stand apartment buildings and life-sciences complexes and athletic fields and much more, there were once industries that polluted the ground and water. While many of those environmental hazards have been cleaned up, the area that I'm covering in this post seems to be in flux.

Located near the southern tip of a long, narrow wedge of land between Apple Cinemas and the eastern shore of Fresh Pond, Black Magic Chimney & Fireplace has been in business since 1978. Less than 1/10th of a mile south is a similar, yet unrelated, business: Adams Fireplace Shop.

"Specializing in antique and reproduction fireplace equipment and antique lighting since 1908," per the company's web site, Adams Fireplace is situated between a Sunoco gas station and an old Cambridge Electric Light Co. property populated with transformers and other serious-looking equipment.

Both of these businesses back up to a long-abandoned rail spur, which was part of the old Watertown Branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad. This spur connected the main tracks, where the Fitchburg commuter train line now runs, to the former Watertown Arsenal (see June 28, 2021, "From Munitions Factory to Suburban Mall and Office Complex...and Beyond").

Much of this old right-of-way has been turned into Watertown-Cambridge Greenway. The section along New Street, running behind these businesses and others, is not part of the bike path.

A few lots north of Black Magic are two relatively new residential complexes: Park77 Apartments and Park87 Apartments.

Here's where things get awful, or should I say, offal.

"From 1901 to 1903, the Cambridge Board of Health operated a smallpox hospital on the site of 75 New Street; few of its patients survived," per a post on the Fresh Pond Residents Alliance web site from July 25, 2014. "The City burned the 'pest houses' after the epidemic.

Wow, I was NOT expecting that!

I wrote about this dread disease, and a pest house in Concord, Mass., many years ago (see January 14, 2020, "Of Pests, Pestilence & Death").

So, what became of this site after the hospital and pest houses were razed? "For more than 30 years, from 1928 to 1962, the City of Cambridge owned the land on New Street that corresponds to today’s parcels at #75 and #87. In 1930 it opened a facility to collect offal (up to 8,000 tons annually according to newspaper reports at the time), which it sold to hog farmers." Offal, per Wikipedia, is the internal organs of a butchered animal.

Alrighty, then!

The Fresh Pond Residents Alliance article linked above includes photos of one of the apartment complexes, as well as other sites along New Street, and historic maps, including one listing a site for the City Offal Dept. In 1946, the City of Cambridge bought those two sites and used them as a landfill.

Alright, I don't want to get too far into the muck. I just wanted to share what I learned about this short old street tucked away in a non-descript neighborhood of Cambridge. This is the kind of crap I love to find out about!

At the intersection of New Street, Concord Avenue and Bay State Road is a commercial building that has been empty for perhaps a few years. It was home for a long time to Sozio Appliances, part of a small chain with stores in Revere and Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

The business was founded in 1949; I'm not sure when it went out of business. In early 2018, the original store in Revere suffered a major fire, and the owners vowed to rebuild it but I don't think they did.

I used to like driving by this store and checking out the colorful appliances and dinette sets prominently displayed in the second-floor windows.

Here's a photo from the Cambridge Assessor web site showing the appliance store in its heyday.

The assessor's web site says this building dates to 1950.

Across a small rotary -- official name, Brodette Memorial Circle -- is Fresh Pond Gas, which, according to the assessor, dates to 1902!

There is a newer garage adjacent to this office/cashier building, so I assume the building above is the original structure. Or at least part of it is. Very cool.

My final exhibit is just northwest of Adams Fireplace, steps from yet another rotary: Ma Magoo's.

Founded in 1992, this family-owned pizzeria has a "cozy interior...adorned with vintage pizza-themed memorabilia, giving the space a nostalgic charm," per its web site. I haven't found an explanation for the restaurant's goofy name, which of course calls to mind this guy:

Back in the early '90s, I (mis)spent a few nights shooting pool at a place called the Hideaway Pub, which was located in the building tacked on to Ma Magoo's. I was lucky enough to be there one night for a Jagermeister t-shirt promotion....

OK, here's your headline explainer. The relationship between this song -- with it's lyric about "The jigsaw jazz and the get-fresh flow" -- and this neighborhood north of Fresh Pond is weak, sure. But hey, the song rocks.

A Short Hitch in Fitchburg

From Dave Brigham:

In the spring of 2022, a friend and I went to the Fitchburg Art Museum to see an exhibit called American Roadsides: Frank Armstrong's Photographic Legacy. I had never heard of Armstrong before stumbling across mention of the show, but I could tell from the write-up on the musuem's web site, that he was a kindred soul - and a quite talented one at that.

Check out the video below from Clark University, where Clark served as a photography professor from 1999 to 2021. In it, he talks about his photos and his approach to life. "Photography was the excuse," he says in the video. "I was really going out there to be in that country."

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit, which featured plenty of gorgeous images of the sort that I make of small towns and medium-sized cities alike. I totally connect with Armstrong's sentiment about using photography as an excuse to explore the world. I haven't traveled outside of the United States much, but I've made up for that a little bit by going on adventures in cities and towns in New England, largely in Greater Boston.

I had never been to the museum, nor to Fitchburg, so the opportunity to check out a new city while peeping some great art really appealed to me. After our museum visit, my friend and I went looking for a place to eat. We ended up at the Moran Square Diner, which looked amazing from the outside, and served good food in a hip atmosphere.

Ever since that trip, I'd wanted to get back to Fitchburg. In late September of 2025, I made that trip, and of course my first stop was the diner.

Below are a few images I made back in 2022:

How about that shiny enamel facade?! And the lettering for the name of the diner, and the remnant of what I imagine was once a very cool neon sign?!

Below is a shot of the interior:

LPs above the counter - never seen that before, and I loved it. Miles Davis, Real Estate and the Postal Service. Eclectic and smart choices. The owners, Brittany and Adam Willoughby, launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2021, looking to raise funds to restore the diner and add new features, such as a deck in front and a refurbished sign. "The diner was built in 1939 by The Worcester Lunch Car Company and has remained open until 2018 when it was permanently closed," the Kickstarter page indicated.

I knew none of this when I ate there; I'd just happened upon the place and insisted to my friend that we had to eat there.

I'm not sure what happened between my first visit to the diner and my second. This eatery is now known as Royal Chicken. Based on the menu available online, it appears to be a Middle Eastern affair.

Below are images I made in September 2025:

I was saddened to see the beautiful Moran Diner script sign covered up. This happens a lot with these historic diners, which change hands and names every so often. I didn't go inside. I hope the counter and booths are intact.

From there I headed west along Main Street. In relatively short order I walked past a trio of ghosts of retail past.

The top one looks like it says "MILLER'S." I found mention of Rome's on a Fitchburg-oriented Facebook group, but nothing about Miller's or a store called Lewis. I'm always happy to stumble across these old tile entryways.

Speaking of stumbling...let's check out the Rollstone Boulder!

I walked past all sorts of old buildings, some in good shape, others not, some with ground-floor tenants, others not. I checked out a ghost sign I'd learned about in my pre-search, but it was too faded to interest me. Then, at the top of the Upper Common, located in a showcase triangle where Main Street splits to the west of downtown, I spied a GIANT ROCK.

The Rollstone Boulder was "carried by the last glacier from Mt. Monadnock New Hampshire to the summit of the hill whose name commemorates it," according to a plaque on the big stone. Rollstone Hill is situated about three-quarters of a mile southwest of this spot.

The boulder "was for centuries a land mark to Indian and settler," the plaque's text continues. "Threatened with destruction by quarrying operations, it was saved by popular subscription, and reassembled here, 1929-1930."

I have to say I find that story fascinating and inspiring. The stone weighs 110 tons and is made of porphyritic granite.

A few doors down Main Street, heading west, I was taken by the groovy sign and sad facade for The Recovery Room.

The upholstery store has been closed for quite some time. I noticed the peaked roof sticking out above the brick building, but didn't think much about it. MACRIS tells us that the original part of this building dates to 1833 and was at its completion the city's first Baptist church.

On the side of the former house of worship is a cool old sign.

Littlehale + Fisher was a construction contractor. I'm not sure what years the company was in operation.

Around the corner, heading southeast on Main Street is another former church building.

Built in 1797 (!), this was Fitchburg's second meeting house. It was originally located near the corner of Main and Prospect streets, near where the Unitarian Church now is, according to MACRIS. "When the affairs of the church and town were divided, the meeting house was moved to its present location."

A few doors down, on the side of the historic Joslin House where both The Break Bicycle Shop and The Boulder Cafe (established in 1934) are located, is a massive promotional poster for the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, an annual bike race.

From Wikipedia: "The race was founded in Fitchburg...in 1960, as the Arthur M. Longsjo Jr. Memorial Bicycle Race, in memory of Fitchburg native and resident Art Longsjo. In 1956 Longsjo competed in the Winter Olympics as a speed skater and at the Summer Olympics as a cyclist, making him the first American to compete in Summer and Winter Olympic Games in one year. In 1958, Longsjo perished in a car crash in Vermont, while driving home after winning the 180-mile long Quebec-Montreal Road Race."

In 1991, "the race expanded to a four-day stage race format, which continued through 2010," Wikipedia continues. "Stages included a time trial, a circuit race on a 3-mile loop in the Fitchburg State University area, a road race in Princeton and Westminster that finished atop Mount Wachusett, and the traditional downtown Fitchburg criterium. As a stage race, the event was one of the largest pro-am bicycle stage races in the country and part of the various national calendar races of the period."

The race was canceled in 2011 and 2012, but revived in 2013. The final race was held in 2019.

At 781 Main Street is the Phoenix Building, a Renaissance Revival building completed in 1893 for the Fitchburg Mutual Fire Insurance Co.

Today, the building is occupied by the Fitchburg Historical Society.

Next door is the unusual-looking Proctor Block.

This building dates to 1832. It was designed in the Federal style, MACRIS indicates, but in the 1880s, a man named H.M. Francis remodeled it in the Victorian Eclectic mode. "[T]he only remaining features from the earlier design are the parapet end walls and the asymetrical bay spacing of the street level shops," MACRIS indicates. "The building maintains many character defining features of its Victorian Eclectic Style, including the decorative brick patterns, terra cotta panels and capitols, door transoms, parapet gable dormer, and the cast iron pilasters along the street level shop fronts. The building's main feature is the semicircular masonry opening in the center bay of the third story."

That semicircular opening sure is eye-catching. Prior to the remodeling, tenants included a grocer, a jeweler and a photography studio. More recent occupants included a pharmacy, a card shop and a tailor. Today, tenants include Grizz Gang Forever Studios, a music recording business.

At 721 Main Street is the Quinlan Building, which opened in 1913 (or 1929, depending on which source you check) with theater, commercial and office space.

The theater operated under at least a few names -- Saxony Theatre and Estre Cinema, per MACRIS -- over the years. Cinema Treasures indicates that it closed in the 1980s. Antiquity Echoes says there are 1,700 seats in the auditorium (click that link to see some photos from the now times as well as the past), and that in its heyday the theater featured films, live acts and musical performances.

Cinema Treasures indicates that Fitchburg State University purchased the building in 2018, and that the school began renovations in 2022 with the goal of turning it into a performing arts space. As you can see in the photo above, however, there is a sign under the marquee that indicates, as of late September 2025, CONSTRUCTION STARTING SOON.

In January 2023, the university received $2 million in federal funding "toward the development of a 'black box' theater to be constructed adjacent to the main theater building in the downtown performing arts center," according to this press release fron U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts. "The new construction will be used for university productions and the public, with the restoration of the historic theater to follow in a future phase of construction."

Fingers crossed.

Just up Main Street is what surely is one of the most beautiful buildings in Fitchburg.

In 1883, George Fay had this Victorian Gothic home built, after he had amassed a fortune through his investments in Massachusetts railroads, per MACRIS. "In 1894, [Fay], along with others, helped establish Burbank Hospital. When he died in 1895 his daughter, Lucy Fay, inherited the $100,000 home and several million dollars. With these funds Lucy helped Fitchburg working girls by providing room and board at several homes belonging to the Helping Hand Society for Working Girls."

Upon marrying and moving to California in 1910, she donated her home to the Park Club, of which her father had been a founding member. One stipulation was that the club change its name to the Fay Club. The stable was converted to a gymnasium.

The organization still exists, although it shut down in 2015, only to reopen the following year. From what I can gather at its web site, the club exists as a place for members to eat, drink and be merry. I suppose there may be charitable efforts made.

Across Main Street is the Classical Revival Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company building.

Currently home to Italian eatery Dario's Ristorante, this place dates to 1925 and "is the best example of Neo-Glassical architecture on Main St.," according to MACRIS. The company eventually was merged into Unitil Corp.

A few blocks east, on the north side of the street, is a fantastic former YMCA building.

Completed in 1894, the Y building was originally five stories, according to MACRIS, but two were removed at some point. The facility featured a boy's reading room, an association hall, a gymnasium and bowling alleys, MACRIS indicates. The building was later home to a branch of the Worcester County National Bank. I'm not sure if there are currently any tenants.

Next, I made a quick detour heading south on Putnam Street, and I'm glad I did.

I'm not sure the details of Putnam Street Lanes (how long it's been open, info about the building), but I'm glad it's still in business. Whenever I'm researching towns to explore, I look for diners, old theaters, ghost signs and bowling alleys first.

Speaking of ghost signs:

I passed plenty of old buildings along Main Street, but I only caught sight of one faded advertisement. Located on the side of the Coggshall and Carpenter Block, the sign is unreadable. If anyone can read it or knows the history, let me know.

As for the building, it dates to 1877. Tenants over the decades have included, according to MACRIS: Albee, Lyons & Company, which sold trunks, valises, & bags; LH Pratt & Co, watchmakers and jewelers; the tailor shop of Charles Clement and John Holland; a dry goods store known as Nichols & Frost; Royal Hat Co.; and many more. The upper floor was a hall used by various groups over the years, including Fitchburg Lodge of BPOE 847; the Spanish War Veterans; the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States; Lawrence Ayers Post 794 and the American Legion Post, Fitchburg No. 10.

Current tenants - I'm not sure.

After making that image, I scooted down Mill Street, a pedestrian-only way that skirts behind several Main Street buildings. The street was renovated and decorated by local artists in 2019. I dug the look of Eddy's Music.

I swung up Cushing Street and back to Main Street. The JL African/Caribbean Food Market is located in the Drury Building, at the corner of Blossom Street.

Fred Drury built this place in the 1920s to house his grocery store. Whelan Drug was in this space from the 1930s to 1960s, MACRIS indicates, while St. Paul Catholic Book and Film Center occupied the first floor later in that decade. Upstairs tenants, according to MACRIS, have included the Knight Templars Education Foundation; several attorneys; The Morrill Photography Studio; Fitchburg Conservatory of Music; American School of Music); Gagnon & Fitzpatrick real estate; The Pink Salon beauty Shop; Francis J O'Connell real estate; P Fusco, a music teacher.

My final stop was on Day Street - a former hotel and one-time mansion.

MACRIS doesn't have a lot to say: "Unique (to Fitchburg) row-houses along Cherry Street, and brick mansion and large hotel section along Day Street. Hotel Raymond, named after Raymond Dwyer, was for years most important hotel in town. Henry A. Hatch erected Mansard section along Cherry Street (by 1875)....Hatch ran a grocery business."

The Fitchburg Historical Society Facebook page offers some color commentary: "In the early 1900s the Hotel Raymond at 35-41 Day St. was owned and operated by J. Raymond Dwyer. Besides being the proprietor of the hotel, Dwyer was also in partnership with Andrew H.M.. Hawthorne in owning bowling alleys and pool tables at 16 Putnam St."

So the bowling alley mentioned above has been around for more than 100 years. That's cool to find out.

One more tidbit from that Facebook page: "The Hotel Raymond on Day Street was the playing site of one of the earliest nationally rated chess tournaments held in Fitchburg. The event was the 4th annual Central New England Open Chess Championship, sponsored by the Wachusett Chess Club of Fitchburg, the second-oldest chess club in Massachustts, and held in June 1965 in the hotel's ballroom."

These buildings are now apartments.