BROOKLINE VILLAGE COFFEE SHOPS and THEIR PASTS Page 1 & 2
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BROOKLINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS SPRING 2017 Brookline Village Coffee Shops IN THIS ISSUE and Their Pasts BROOKLINE VILLAGE COFFEE SHOPS AND THEIR PASTS Page 1 & 2 RESTORATION OF THE DEVOTION HOUSE WINDOWS, PATRIOTS’ DAY, NEW BOARD MEMBERS Page 3 IRISH BROOKLINE Page 4 The Brookline Historical Society is dedicated to the documentation and interpretation of Brookline’s diverse history, to collecting, preserving, and maintaining artifacts of Brookline’s past, and to sharing the story of the town and its people with Employees in the Brookline Village F.W. Woolworth store (now Starbucks) in 1914. residents and visitors alike. In one short block in Brook- The older of the two build- for the Beth-Horon Lodge of The Society’s headquarters are line Village, two international ings is the one that is now Freemasons.) Apartments on located in the heart of Coolidge coffee shop chains compete home to the first Brookline the second floor were turned Corner at the Edward Devotion House, one of Brookline’s for business in storefronts location of the London-based into offices. oldest colonial period just three doors apart. The Caffé Nero. (continued next page) structures. more established, Starbucks, is at 7 Harvard Street, and Designed in 1892 by the firm The Society also maintains the the newcomer, Caffé Nero, is Hartwell & Richardson, the circa 1780 Widow Harris House at One Harvard Square. building, originally known as as well as the Putterham School Those retail locations, of the Lowe Building, had stores located in Larz Anderson Park. course, have a much longer on the ground floor and history than either coffee apartments above. One of the The Society’s extensive collection of historic chain and, remarkably, we first tenants was the Brook- information, photographs, are able to get a glimpse of line National Bank and the postcards, and atlases can be what the interiors of both building soon became known viewed on our website spots looked like more than a as the National Bank Building. BrooklineHistoricalSociety.org century ago. The bank purchased the Our membership program is Interior images from that far building in 1902 and engaged active and volunteers are back are hard to come by. architects Peabody & Stearns always welcome. But for these two locations to expand and redesign it. we have views via a newspa- They enlarged the third floor per sketch for one and two by raising the roof eight feet. National Bank Building in 1893. photographs for the other. (It became home to a hall Brookline Village Coffee Shops and Their Pasts (continued) now occupied by Zaftig’s On January 1, 1903, the new deli, Jin’s restaurant, and Brookline Post Office opened Cool Edge salon) in 1923. The on the ground floor, in the location that is now Caffé space that is now Caffé Nero. Nero remained the Brookline The Boston Globe previewed Village branch of the post the new post office with the office until some time after headline “Brookline’s New World War II. Year’s Gift from Uncle Sam” and a sketch showing the The more modest two-story public space, as well as the building housing the Brook- redesigned exterior. line Village Starbucks was built in 1911 to house stores and offices. A year later it became home to Brookline’s Sketch of the interior of the new Brookline Post Office in Brookline illage,V first F.W. Woolworth five- now Caffé Nero. Boston Globe, December 30, 1902. and-dime store, which was to stay in business there for more than three quarters of a Why six days, not seven? Because from Puritan times Caffé Nero women’s room door. century. until 1983 Massachusetts Blue When shown the image, em- Woolworth’s occupied half Laws banned Sunday store ployees at Caffé Nero were of the first floor, space now openings. (The 19th was a intrigued. They also thought divided between Starbucks Sunday in 1914 and 1926, but it solved a mystery: Why and Vizio Optic, until closing the clothing appears a better did the door to the women’s in 1989. match for the earlier date.) bathroom, shown above, have 7-15 Harvard Street in the early a mail slot in it? (It was prob- The Historical Society was One puzzle: there are sky- 1980s. Town of Brookline photo. ably an interior door reused lucky to obtain the two lights clearly visible in the in later renovations.) photographs below of the photo. How can that be in a interior of that store from two-story building? Records Next time you’re enjoying This was to serve as the main another historical society. in the town building depart- a coffee or tea or a pastry Brookline post office, relocat- Sales banners hanging from ment provide the answer: in either of these Brookline ed from an inadequate space the ceiling in one of the the building was originally Village coffee shops, be sure on Washington Street in the photographs helped us to only one-story at the back; to reflect on what had been Village, until the construc- date the images to 1914. The the second story was added there more than a century tion of a new post office in banners advertise a Spring to that part of the building ago. Coolidge Corner (in space Sale, April 20th to April 25th. later. To explore these photos of the Brookline Village Woolworth’s in more detail, visit supersize versions on the Historical Society website http://bit.ly/bk-woolworths1, http://bit.ly/bk-woolworths2 Page 2 Brookline Historical Society Brookline, Massachusetts Restoration of the Devotion House Windows evident in the windows in the museum’s kitchen. This restoration work makes the windows more stable, helping them to survive another couple of centuries. Retaining original windows is environmentally friendly, as continuing to use well-made originals, instead of replac- ing them with non-repair- A Devotion House window. Working on a window. Waiting to be reinstalled. able vinyl units, keeps good material out of landfills. The Devotion House win- The sashes were removed were returned to the house, Tightening windows helps to dow sashes were recently in batches from the house the sashes were reconnected conserve energy, reducing restored in a project under- and taken to the workshop to their window weights and leaks. For a historic structure taken by the Building De- of Buttonwood Renovations made operable, some for the like the Devotion House, the partment and the Historical in Norwell, Massachusetts. first time in many years. original windows also help to Society. Twenty-two windows You may have noticed ply- When the sashes were out for preserve the historic appear- were restored. The majority wood blanks over some of restoration, the preservation ance and character of the of these are twelve-over- the Devotion House window carpenter was able to inspect building. twelve windows; in both the openings last summer when the window frames. He could upper and lower sashes there the front sashes were out tell that weight pockets, Thanks to Charlie Simmons are twelve panes each. Many for restoration. Buttonwood which hold window weights and Ray Maask of the Build- are believed to be early, tuned up the sashes, re-glaz- and pulleys, had been added, ing Department for managing some dating to the eigh- ing and repairing as needed. probably sometime in the this project! teenth century. Original panes and woodwork nineteenth or early twentieth were retained. When they century. This was particularly Welcome New Board Members This Historical Society is gast Letters: Correspondence (Boston’s Hidden River),” and The Board also bids fond pleased to welcome two new from Famine-Era Ireland, “The Alleyways of Boston.” farewell and many thanks members, Shelley Barber and 1840-1850. She is an avid In his spare time he bicycles to Maggie Hogan who has Ken Dumas, to our Board of nature photographer and re- and teaches Adobe computer done great work as head of Trustees. cently earned a Certificate in programs at Brookline Adult our Collections Committee Genealogical Research from & Continuing Education. these past few years. Shelley, a Brookline resident Boston University. since 1993, is Archives & Re- search Specialist at the John Ken, who also moved to J. Burns Library, the home Brookline in 1993, has been a Patriots’ Day, April 17, 2017 of Boston College’s special cartographer for the Com- collections and University monwealth of Massachusetts The Edward Devotion House Archives, where she has for the past three decades. may be in the middle of a worked since 1985. She is He has created most of the construction site, but that the author of “The Lady of maps for the MBTA as well won’t stop “William Dawes” the Tower” a recent article as the Mass Department of from making his annual visit in Boston College Magazine Transportation. (His most on his ride from Boston to that delves into the story of recognized map is the MBTA Lexington. Join us on Mon- the all-but-forgotten wom- Rapid Transit “Spider” Map.) day, April 17, 2017, for an an for whom one of Boston Ken is also a professional open house, period music, College’s campus landmarks tour guide and leads walks and other events to mark the — Bapst Library’s Ford Tower on “Historic Beacon Street, day. See our website for final — was named. Shelley is also Brookline,” “Secret Stairways details. the editor of The Prender- and Paths,” “The Muddy River Brookline Historical Society Brookline, Massachusetts Page 3 Spring Program of the Brookline Historical Society Published by the Brookline Historical Society Irish Brookline, 1845-1917 Brookline, MA EDITOR Sunday, March 26, 2017 Ken Liss at 2:00 pm Hunneman Hall, CONTRIBUTORS Brookline Public Library, Ken Liss 361 Washington Street Camille Arbogast & Jesus MacLean At the same time that Brookline first became a prosperous commuting suburb of DESIGNER Boston in the 1840s it acquired a sizable Kenneth Dumas community of Irish Catholic refugees from the Irish famine.