Where there is Hope, there is Worcester

Hit Worcester again today, just to get some exercise and knock off some more of the historic places in Worcester. Concentrated on places other than the 3 deckers, which there is plenty of those to get.


First stop was Hope Cemetery, that was fashioned after the pastoral trend in the mid 1800's. The granddaddy of all in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Watertown. This was America's first garden cemetery. Hope Cemetery followed this same philosophy, however no where near as interesting. It was first established in 1854 and has over 14,000 guests that stay here.









Not too far away is the Webster St Firehouse. At first glance I thought this was an entirely new station, however I realized the façade and middle part of the building was still the original structure. It was built in 1893.



I drove past the next place twice before I realized where it was. I even knew it was a bank. Stearns Tavern was built in 1812, although there is some history dating back to 1776. It was originally on Main St and moved to this spot on Park Ave.



The Downing Street School was built in 1891 and is now part of Clark University. It's Romanesque Revival style is unique for Worcester Public Schools.



Over to Woodland St for the Woodland Street Firehouse. Built in 1886 is very similar to the Cambridge St Firehouse pictured a little further on. The arched doors for the fire apparatus is kind of neat. All of these firehouses had the tower in the back. I can only guess these were observation towers.

Heading for the next historical spot this mural grabbed my eye. I actually circled around the block to get a picture of this. Reminds me of the OSJ treasure hunt where murals was a subject. Got talking to a guy on the street about it and it is a picture of San Juan, Puerto Rico.



The Worcester Corset Factory building was built in several stages starting in 1895 with the final stage in 1909. It started out as a place that made the hoops for the hoops dresses which were fashionable at the time. When they fell out of favor, David Fanning began making corsets. At its peak the place employed more than 2000 folks. Today it is residential property.



Cambridge St had 2 locations to grab. The Cambridge School built in 1869 and the Cambridge St Firehouse (1886). This area was known as South Worcester and was relatively a new neighborhood in the mid 1850's. It came about from the Whittail Mills that employed a huge amount of people.





Last stop of the day is the South Worcester Library built in 1913 from donations from Andrew Carnegie.

SLIDE SHOW CLICK HERE

Have I got a 3 Decker for you

Nope not sandwich, but places to live. Now that the Grand Tour season is over and riding will become somewhat lessened, I heat out in the MINI for another passion of mine. Still a treasure hunt, but one that has no official end. When I get done, it is done. Waymarking is the name of this game. Go find someplace for one of the 1080 categories, take some pictures, write something and post at Waymarking.com.


Today hitting Worcester for places on the National Register of Historic Places. Concentrating my efforts on the Vernon Hill area.

Part of the fun is researching why places are on the register. Some of the reasons could be the person (like George Washington), the architect (Frank Llyod Wright), style, or an event. For the most part Vernon Hill was primarily event driven from the standpoint of the development of the area and the folks moving into the area. Vernon Hill area is the east of downtown Worcester. The Irish began settling the area in the 1820's to build the Blackstone Canal. By the 1890's the area was attracting Lithuanians, Poles, Swedes, Russian Jews and French Canadians because of the wire steel mills located not to far away. When the electric railway systems ran on Millbury St, the area exploded with the 3 decker properties. Folks were able to live further away from work because of the easy transportation. Automobiles replaced the street cars in the 1930's and the Great Depression halted further development in the area. The mills began to shut down over the next 20 to 25 years until the last one closed in the 70's. So that's the story of Vernon Hill, at least my take.


I probably hit 40 to 50 places this past weekend, mostly 3 Deckers. I figured once you have seen one you have seen one too many. In many respects this is true, but as I drove thru the various sub neighborhoods one could see subtle changes to the make up and the design of the houses. Many of them have had the front porches and balconies removed and siding has been replaced with aluminum or vinyl, and satellite dishes mounted to the sides. What surprised me is how clean the areas were. The folks, and they are diverse, do take some kind of pride where they live.

On thing for sure, I wouldn't want to live here in the winter. This place is steep, not a lot of parking at the properties, so they have to park on the street. Snow plowing has gotta be a bitch and getting up some of these hills, the same.

Here's a few spattering of the Deckers and other places.

First Decker of the Day



Upsala Street School - Built 1894



View of Euclid Montrose Historic District





View Street Historic District





Perry Avenue Historic District



Patrick McGuiness Three Decker - Built in 1908 - a wee bit different than all of the rest.



Providence St Firehouse - Built in 1899



Providence St Historic District





Woodford Street Historic District



Ward Street School - Built 1898



Crompton Loom Works - its original portion dating to 1860, the complex is one of the oldest surviving industrial sites in the city. The facility was established by George Crompton, whose father William had invented the first power loom for weaving fancy fabrics





What I expected most of the 3 Deckers to look like. These were far and few between. The McPartland Three Decker was built in 1888.



Classic example - Vincent Kantratowicz, a wire worker owned this 3 decker. It was built in 1930



Another nice one



Look down Dorchester St

See them all CLICK HERE

Breakfasting on the Boulevard with Bikers

Giff's employer finally let him go around 1pm or so this afternoon. Leith, Giff and I headed out for my first ride of the season. Giff actually was going to try out my version of riding, going to places that make no sense to anybody else, but us Grand Tourer's. Leith said he was starved and needed to grab some grub, so what fits better for food fare than a diner. We headed for the Miss Worcester, probably my all time favorite joint to have something to eat.


As we pulled up, a guy coming out says "too late they just closed". Immediately I knew where we were going. One of the few 24 Hour Diners left in the country, that's on the National Register of Historic places, has colorful folks that show up and the food not so bad. It has the well rounded diner experience.


Our arrival, we take up the whole front of the Boulevard Diner with our bikes.






Leith was kind of upset that there was a change of plans because we had talked up the Miss Worcester so much. I ordered the Hash with 3 eggs, ordering them flipped and broken, no runny stuff. I wanted to make sure that the Lipitor I am taking is working at its fullest abilities. Actually there is so much available, that was the first little sign I saw and with the questioned answered that it was home made hash, that hooked it right there. Breakfast on the grill.




Here's a picture of Leith, actually I was trying to get a pic of the character next to him.

The I wanted to grab a pic of our pretty waitress, but Giff decides to photobomb my pic.



A shot of the orginal stools that came with the Diner in 1937. This diner has remained in the same family for quite some time. One of the few 24 hours operations in Massachusetts.



I finally asked Superman if he minded if I take a picture of him. He said no problem. He must be a regular here, because the waitress seemed to know him quite well.

So breakfast came to an end. Giff and Leith went outside to prep for the ride, while I remained inside paying the bill. Go figa. (actually they gave me cash for their meals.)





Giff, having way too many helmets. (he is going to some kind of therapy sessions for this, but the internet makes it all too easy) discovered he left his white HJC hanging from the helmet hook on the back of the bike. He has a white Arai and got confused on where and which white helmet he planned on wearing. The helmet lock was not locked, wide open, and a wonder it did not bounce off, especially riding the wonder slick pavement of Worcester. It now has a really nice tire burn on the side. Gives it that nice helmet patina

Nosing Around the Nooks and Crannies of Worcester

Having been cooped up all winter, it was time to get out and stretch these titanium legs (well at least that's what I think is in there). I had 1 spot in Worcester that I failed to get when I was out taking pictures of Institution Historical District and this makes a perfect excuse to grab so other places. No districts today, simply grabbing places on the National Register of Historic Places.


Worcester, historically is the story of beginning America, growing thru the decades into a an industrial hotspot and then dying and then trying to make a comeback. What I have learned is the Salisbury family, one of the founding folks, was instrumental in making Worcester a diverse industrial city, then taking the profits they made and making Worcester culturally dynamic. They were instrumental in the early industry from stores, to factories and the seed for the Worcester Art Museum. There were 3 Salisbury all named Stephen. First was Stephen and then Stephen II and finally Stephen III.


First place I hit was the Bliss Building. This sits on Old Lincoln St. At one time this was a vibrant neighborhood, but the Bliss Building is really all that is left. Built in 1888, it has survived intact and still provides housing to Worcester residents. I am sure if the walls could talk (maybe they can) the stories would make a long running reality show on TV.

Next stop is the Salisbury Factory buildings. There is really nothing really special about these in their looks. Stephen III built these factories on the site of the Court Mills which the family had owned. Plain brick buildings except these were built specifically to rent out space versus putting his own industry in. The Munroe Organ Reed Company and Worcester Barbed Wire Fence Company occupied these early on. One was built in 1879 and the other 1882. These are located on Union St and sit at then end of an industrial area. These 2 buildings are what is left of the old Worcester. Modern buildings surround them.

Back in the fall I photodocked Institutional Historic District, which covered the Old Court House to Memorial Hall, Art Museum area. The only place I left out was the Worcester Industrial Technical Institute (that's the historical name), so here it is.

While I was tagging the school, I came across one of those white Mass Historical Markers. I quite a few of these and when I complete the NH ones I will then attack these.

Down Main St, just passed the old Court House the commercial area of Worcester begins. I grabbed 3 separately listed buildings on the NRHP.

Elwood Adams Hardware is the first brick building built in Worcester (1831. It was originally 2 1/2 stories. The first one built on this site was constructed in 1782. It just might be the oldest continuously run hardware store in the US.



The Old State Mutual Building (1870)housed the 5th largest insurance company in the US. It is now the Worcester County Sheriff's headquarters.




Between the State Mutual and the Elwood joint lies the Thule Building built in 1905. This was a connection to the developing Swedish business community in Worcester. It now houses a printing company and the Worcester Law Office. It is right across the street from the new Court House.

I drove up and down the street looking for the Gilman Block. Back and forth, checking numbers on the buildings and finally figured out it was razed for the new Court House. Actually the architects and builders incorporated some of the old Gilman Block into the structure of the new Court House.


I always knew Worcester was a hilly place, but didn't realize how steep some of those hills were. The Tilley Raymond house sits about 3/4 the way up George St. I mean straight up. I was glad I was not on the bike today. I parked up at the top and walked down. I passed this fellow coming up the street and said "now that's a hike", he said "no kiddin'" The Raymond house (his name should be the other way around, Raymond Tilley and not Tilley Raymond) was built in 1847 and owned by a carpenter. The house has been apartments since Whitcomb purchased the property in 1898.

The next 2 houses sit on Harvard St and good examples of Victorian architecture. The first one was built in 1867 and the second 1887






The Copeland house was built in 1847 and is an elaborate Greek Revival style residence. Copeland worked as a tool maker in various places until he started his own company. He claims to have made the first iron planning machine ever used.





Henry Goulding built this mansion in 1850 as a retirement gift to himself. He made his money in the woolen machinery business. His heirs sold the house to the Swedish Lutheran Church, who expanded it for the aged.

The Whitcomb joint was built in 1879 and really is quite large. Whitcomb owned the Bay State Envelope Company. In 1895 Worcester produced 33% of the stapled envelopes in the US and Whitcomb got his share.

The Salisbury's, I, II and III were quite instrumental in the development of Worcester. I lived in the mansion to the left, II and III lived in the place to the right.








The Salisbury's lived right across the street from Memorial Auditorium. They owned the land that it was built on. The backside and another entrance.



The last 2 places are early residences of Worcester. The first place is the John Riordan 3 Decker home. There are a ton of these in Worcester on the Register. It was one of the earliest examples of 3 Deckers in Worcester. Built in 1888 and close to the factories of downtown Worcester.



This house was owned by Goulding (as noted above). He moved this house to the back of the lot, so he could build his mansion.



The area covered today.