There is a building that always captures my amazement and it sits between Salem St and Prince St and houses Dino’s Restaurant. It is known as the Lebowich Tenement House. A red brick building with copper tripartite bay windows. You may wonder why the copper looks green? This article describes the phenomenon exactly and best example of it is the Statue of Liberty.
Along Price St you also have what is now Paul Revere Condominiums but it was constructed from the former Paul Revere School, which was once a historic neighborhood grammar school.
Just off Hanover Street there’s a brick alley aptly named “All Saints Way” replete with framed pictures and collages of Catholic saints all over its walls. It is privately owned and the collector proudly grants tours of it during specific times during the day.
I guess one of the more notable figures of the North End and Boston history is Paul Revere, There is a great statue of him within brick-paved park aptly named the Paul Revere Mall. Within the mall there is a bunch of inscriptions, below are the ones I captured:
Of the many fascinating buildings in this neighborhood, you will come across this oddity below the famed Skinny House. It is the narrowest in Boston and was borne out of feud between 2 brothers when one built property on the land they both inherited leaving little room for the other. The shortchanged brother just decides to fill the space with whatever he can just to block the sunlight and view for the other brother.
What was I doing anyways in the North End? I just happened to be getting a haircut in the Financial District and after finishing discovered that not a single coffee shop was open except for a Dunkin WTF?? Area had really been hit hard by people not commuting there for work anymore. It was such a desert that even all the Starbucks were closed 😱. I wasn’t willing to settle for Dunkin, therefore I wandered over to this storied neighborhood that manages to stay lively even in the grimmest of times.
I specifically wanted to hit up Thinking Cup, it is a local chain with 3 locations. On the inside there is ample seating and decor is very enticing, there is laminated newspaper clippings from olden times under the resin. There is also vintage paraphernalia hanging like antiquated telephones and cameras.
If you keep walking up Hanover St you will notice a building with cigar sticking out of the wall. Caffe Vittoria is touted as the world renowned, first Italian Caffe in Boston. Adjoining it is the cigar bar called Stanza dei Sigari. As of 2014, it is the last surviving smoking lounge in the city of Boston. Historically the space had been used as a speakeasy and a gentlemen’s club. Even more prior to that when the building was first built in 1896, it served as a “baby farm,” basically a place that took in children whose families couldn’t care for them in exchange for cash. The children were treated very unhumanely and because of that the place is haunted and there has been reports of paranormal activity. In fact SyFy’s “Haunted Collector” TV show did an episode about it 👻
Facing North End Park you have Police Station No. 1 also known as Traffic Tunnel Administration Building. Today they not functional, it is just on the National Register of Historic Places.
Definitely a feature of this neighborhood is the number of big brick and copper-fronted tenement buildings. This one’s location is at the very start of Hanover St. There was an outdoor patio and it was feeling lively:
As I cross the street to the location of Haymarket, Boston’s oldest outdoor market. Stumble across the Boston Stone some sources claim marks the geographic center of Boston. Painted on the brick wall above the stone is a faded big hand with a finger pointing downward; it’s unrelated, but helpful.
Across the street is the famed oldest continuously run tavern dating from 1795. It was started by Jimmy Wilson an 18th century town crier right after he retired.
After exploring new towns, its nice to reflect back on the treasures in your own town. You never do because you know you are always there but can still be left surprised if you really look hard.
