One of the hidden gems of Boston can be found tucked away in the Leather District, one of the last remaining diner cars in the city, this is South Street Diner. At this site, at the corner of South and Kneeland streets, a diner car has existed since about 1935. In 1947 the present diner car was built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and moved on this site as the Blue Diner opened, possibly named after its patrons, largely blue-collar workers. The diner would be renamed the South Street diner in 1992, a name that has stuck ever-since. The diner attracts tourists, nearby workers, and drunken college students, serving as a much-needed melting pot for people of different backgrounds to grab a good bite to eat.
This impressive commercial block is prominently sited at the corner of Beach and South streets in Boston’s Leather District, a wonderful enclave of late 19th and early 20th century mercantile buildings, historically centered around the leather and shoe-making industries. Like many in this block, the building was developed by the Faxon Brothers, some of the major developers of this district and areas of Quincy. Also like many other buildings in the Leather District, the block was designed by 1886 in the Romanesque Revival style, constructed of brick and brownstone with a clipped corner and Syrian arches and an oculus window at the fifth floor. The building was designed by relatively unknown architect, John H. Besarick and today houses professional offices.
Located at 127-133 South Street in the under-appreciated Leather District of Boston, the 1886 Beebe Building is an excellent vestige of the leathergoods trade and commercial architecture of the late 19th century. This building was constructed by J. Franklin Faxon (1832-1912), a business owner who engaged in real estate development and built a number of commercial blocks in this part of Boston. Rand & Taylor, architects, designed the building in an effective blending of Classical and Romanesque styles with rock faced brownstone ashlar above the storefronts, oculus windows, and segmental arched openings on the top floor. The Classical detailing of the two-story brick pilasters and modillion cornice add to its complexity. The building was originally occupied by the Thomas E. Proctor Leather Company and was later purchased by leather goods company Lucius Beebe & Sons and the storefront was renovated by Hutchins & French in 1930. The building has since been known as the Beebe Building and has been well-maintained by subsequent owners.
As far back as Colonial days, the boot and shoe industry was one of the State’s leading industries. Buyers came suburban towns to purchase supplies, and in the early 1800s, the larger manufacturers began to open offices and stores in Boston. Soon, most of the leading merchants had established places of business in Boston, by the late 19th century, many were located in the South Cove area, which became known as the Leather District. The Leather District is characterized today by large, brick structures with flat roofs and feature continuous floor levels, band courses, and cornice lines. This handsome brick building on Atlantic Avenue was built in 1901 for Charles G. Rice and the Heirs of Nehemiah W. Rice as a warehouse for the U.S. Leather Company. The building was designed by William Gibbons Rantoul, who studied architecture at Harvard, and apprenticed with Henry Hobson Richardson as a draftsman in the 1880’s before opening his own practice. In 1946, the subject property was purchased by Frank Einis, and the new tenants, Fur Merchants Cold Storage, Inc., used the building for the storage of skins and furs for manufacturing into soft goods. Architecturally, the building showcases the lasting influence of Richardson on architects and industrial buildings in Boston from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The building can be classified as Romanesque Revival in style with its use of arches in the façade both structural and decorative, the Venetian arches at the 7th floor, as well as its arcaded corbelling over the 3rd level and at the cornice. I especially love the tall, engaged brick columns at the storefront, they are very unique!
Originally known as the George Robert White Health Unit Number 2, this Colonial Revival style building is located on North Margin Street in the North End of Boston, and is significant as an early health center providing health and education services for some of Boston’s most underserved residents. The building was constructed in 1923 as one of the neighborhood-based health centers built in Boston in the 1920s and early 1930s from funding by the George Robert White charitable trust. George Robert White (1847-1922), a longtime resident of Boston, worked in the office of the Potter Drug and Chemical Company as a boy, eventually becoming president and an owner of the corporation. He was an investor in real estate and reportedly was known for many years as the largest individual taxpayer in Boston. Upon his death, his will specified that his bequest to the city, about $5 million in 1922 (approximately $93 Million valued today), would be held in a permanent charitable fund “to be used for creating public utility and beauty and for the use and enjoyment of the inhabitants of Boston.” The North End Health Unit was the second built (the first was in the West End), and designed in the Colonial Revival style from plans by Coolidge and Shattuck, later known as Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott. Since the 1970s, the building was occupied by the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization, until 2020, when the building was renovated and converted into housing with 23 units for elderly residents.
One of several late 19th-century industrial buildings in the North End, the Waitt & Bond Building stands on Endicott Street, looking over the scar on the landscape that is I-93. This six-story building was constructed in 1891 and is the oldest extant building in Boston associated with cigar manufacturers Henry Waitt (1842-1902) and Charles H. Bond (1846-1908), who started business in 1870. The business relocated from Saugus to Boston in 1873 and moved into this building upon its completion. Waitt & Bond produced handmade cigars with each employee hand-rolling over 300-a-day. The architect, Ernest N. Boyden, designed the building in the Panel-Brick and Romanesque styles with decorative brick panels, cornice, and arched detailing. Rooftop billboard signage (blight) was first added to the building in 1956, with increased visibility via the elevated John Fitzgerald Expressway (the Central Artery). By the early 1960s, Joseph Castignetti moved his men’s clothing store, Castignetti Brothers, to this location. In 2001, the building was converted into 28 loft-style condos, an early sign of the gentrification to come to the North End.
It is not always the architect-designed, high-style buildings that give a place character. The North End is a neighborhood almost entirely built of working-class tenement housing, but its density, immigrant history, and vernacular, make it one of the most visited and unique in the city. Michael Slattery, an Irish-born teamster, and his son, William, a grocer, developed this handsome block of tenement housing on North Margin Street in the North End neighborhood of Boston. The row of apartments stands out for its elevated design elements, including the projecting metal oriels with decorative wreath and swag motifs, arched openings, and brick corbeling at the cornice. The apartments here were rented by the Slattery family until the mid-1920s when the buildings were sold to Italian-Americans who continued to rent the buildings to lower-income residents. There is something about the North End’s vernacular that is so charming.
Located across the street from Regina Pizza in Boston’s North End, the Vermont Building stands as one of the most ornate and decorated buildings in the neighborhood. Designed by Boston architects Arthur H. Bowditch and Edward B. Stratton and constructed in 1904, the Vermont Building is a six-story brick commercial building with marble detailing. The building was erected as a personal investment by Redfield Proctor, U. S. Senator from Vermont and partner in his family’s marble company based in Proctor, VT, with the building used for light manufacturing, a warehouse, and storefronts. The building has since been converted to housing as lofts.
What is your favorite pizzeria in the Boston area? For many, it is likely to be Regina Pizzeria, but specifically this location in Boston’s North End. The building was originally constructed in 1886 for the Boston Cooperative Building Company, a charitable organization which built and rented tenement housing for low-income residents in the city. Many recently arrived immigrants would have lived in the building and paid a nominal rent, giving them the opportunity to work and grow their savings to move into better, more permanent housing. The Association was incorporated in 1871 and its original stockholders represented the financial elite of Boston. As a result of their financial backing, the association was able to hire the white-shoe architectural firm of Cabot & Chandler to design this tenement block in 1886. While not ornate, the building fits within the late 19th century vernacular of brick tenements of the North End. The building is now best known as the home to Regina Pizza, which was founded in 1926 by Luigi D’Auria, who was born in Campania, Italy, who purchased the building around that time. Regina Pizza (translated to “Queen Pizza” in Italian), was sold to the Polcari family in 1956, who have operated the restaurant since. The pizzeria with its prominent blade sign is one of the best landmarks in the North End.
Happy Halloween! Welcome to Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, a historic cemetery nestled in Boston’s historic North End. Established in 1659, it served as a burial site for some of Boston’s earliest settlers and notable figures, including craftsmen, merchants, and members of the influential Mather family. Also burie here is abolitionist and leader in the free black community in Boston, Prince Hall. Originally called North Burying Ground, Copp’s Hill was the second place of interment on the Boston peninsula and was laid out in 1659. The area acquired its present name through its association with William Copp (1589-1670), a shoemaker and early settler who lived near today’s Prince Street; ironically, his stone is no longer standing.
The cemetery is particularly known for its distinct slate gravestones, many adorned with intricate carvings that reflect the artistry of the era. Over the centuries, it has witnessed significant events, including the American Revolution, when it was used as a lookout point for British troops. During the Revolution, the burying ground’s prominent location overlooking the harbor gave it strategic military importance. At its southwest side the British established their North Battery and an earthworks from which they directed the shelling of Bunker Hill and ultimately the torching of Charlestown. Legend has it that British troops used gravestones for target practice. Many have interpreted the round scars on the gravestone of Captain Daniel Malcolm, an ardent son of liberty who spoke against Britain, as the result of musketballs shot at close range. The cemetery was used continually until the 1850s and is today, an evocative reminder of Boston’s early days, drawing visitors who seek to connect with the city’s storied history amidst its tranquil surroundings while the city stretches upwards around it. The cemetery is open and free to visit most of the year and is a great place to stroll and learn about Boston’s early history and see amazing stone carving!
Buildings of New England 