Now it's on to the former grocery stores of Main Middle, Tatnuck, Newton Square, and the other neighborhoods around this area! We'll wander through some of the neighborhoods but spend a lot of time around Tatnuck Square on Pleasant Street, around Billings Square, and a bit in Main Middle -- although I have not photographed the multitudes of former grocers along Pleasant Street in Main Middle and a few other hotspots. So remember, this is not nearly a full listing.
.jpg)
A note on historical sources: To get past stores in each location, I've consulted Worcester city directories going back to the 1910s. Here in the city, I'm drawing from 1916, 1922, 1927, 1931, 1937, 1943, 1959, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1969, 1973, 1979, 1985, 1991, 2000, 2009, and 2017. Also of note: this is far from an exhaustive listing of all grocery stores that have been in this area, although I'll probably eventually post the full thing, this is just what I've been able to photograph.
Reading the captions: A caption such as the following...
| John Smith (1926-1937) > Joe Jones (1955-1982)
...means that John Smith appears in the directories in 1926 and 1937, and Joe Jones appears in all directories I consulted between 1955 and 1982. That doesn't mean that John Smith opened up shop in 1926 and closed in 1937, he might have started in 1920 and closed in 1941 but since I don't have those records, I don't know for sure. Any questions (or corrections), feel free to drop a note in the comments and I'll look into it!
Main Middle
41 Piedmont St | Main Middle
Isaac Gordon (1916) > Salkind Solomon (1922) > Abraham Meenes (1927)
City records show this building was constructed in 1890, but of course, it's been significantly changed. I have no idea how it would've been set up, or where the storefront would've been, but my best guess is that it faced this way.
63 Piedmont St | Main Middle
Israel Wilson (1916-1952) > Piedmont Market (1957-1962)
I can't find a city listing for this building, so I'm not positive how long ago it was built -- and therefore whether this was the building housing a grocery store.
17 Bancroft St | Main Middle
Patrick Fitzpatrick (1916-1943) > Bancroft Market (1949-1962)
I love this one! It's so instantly recognizable.
55 Mason St | Main Middle
J. Klunk & Son (1916-1922) > John Klunk (1927-1952)
39 Winfield St | Main Middle
Harry Shulman (1916) > Kukor Bournazian (1922-1931)
I love how you can still see what was once the storefront, although it's been pretty well-disguised as just another apartment!
.jpg)
347 Park Ave | Main Middle
Peter Harootian (1943) > Vincent Marandola (1949-1952)
379 Park Ave (right) | Main Middle
Community Stores Co (1931)
377 Park Ave (left) | Main Middle
Community Stores Co (1937-1943)
It's possible one of those addresses is simply a typo, but it seems logical to me that Community Stores would start out in the smaller space in this strip, then move during the 1930s.
Columbus Park
123 Winfield St | Columbus Park
Israel Barron (1916-1969)
There are a few typos over the years (Israel Barin or Isreal Barron) but it looks like this store made it for a very long time. We're just around the corner from the Big Y here. Imagine a door between those two windows in the bottom-right part of the building, and voila, a grocery store appears!
66 Parker St | Columbus Park
Philip Gonyea (1927-1931)
This house dates back to 1890, so it was definitely here when Philip Gonyea owned a grocery store here. My guess is that either the expansion on the side or some part of where the bay window is now, was the original grocery store, but I really have no way of knowing. It's also always possible there was a second building on this property -- to the left, probably -- that has since been demolished.
126 Maywood St | Columbus Park
Edgar Monette (1927-1931) > Fischer's Market (1937-1979) > C&D Market (1985)
I love this little building, which I believe is now a tiny church!
143 Maywood St | Columbus Park
Frank Lambert (1927-1931)
A classic, with the grocery store storefront sticking out from below a larger house.
A classic, with the grocery store storefront sticking out from below a larger house.
150 Maywood St | Columbus Park
William Sweeney (1916-1937) > Peter Harootian (1952-1957)
Note that Harootian may have moved from the 347 Park location.
115 Lovell St (left) | Columbus Park
James McCurn (1927) > Eagle Market (2000)
121 Lovell St (right) | Columbus Park
A&P (1927-1937) > Pay 'n Takit Food Stores (1943-1952)
Newton Square/Tatnuck
33 Berkmans St | Newton Square
Krikor Demirjian (1937)
This house was built in 1919, so the grocery store was somewhere. It's possible it was the lower level (yellow door to the left) and the yellow door to the right brought residents upstairs to the house.
406 Chandler St | Newton Square
Haig Kinoian (1927) > Kachadoor Kasabian (1931)
411 Chandler St | Newton Square
Iandoli Super Market (1957) > King's Market (1962) > Iandoli Super Market (1969)
Not totally sure what the deal with King's is. Possibly another brand used by Iandoli, since it seems unlikely they'd sell it and then return to the store later -- but not unheard of. I mentioned this building on the post about Whitman's.
413 Chandler St | Newton Square
B. Cohen (1962)
The Loving Hut, a vegan restaurant with the yellow awning, is a remarkably odd restaurant chain run by something that's definitely not a cult but instead a "transnational cybersect" run by a Supreme Master.
113 June St | Newton Square
Edward Lavallee (1916) > Dolar Dubrule (1927-1931) > Fairway Market (1937)
113 now has the blue awning, Jason's Pizza on the right.
116 June St | Newton Square
117 June St | Newton Square
A&P (1931-1949)
A&P appears to have moved here between 1927 and 1931, out of the space that's now Kalamos.
120 June St | Newton Square
June Street Market (1957-1962)
Today, the space is occupied by Thai Corner Restaurant, my favorite Worcester-area Thai restaurant.
126-128 June St | Newton Square
351 June St | Tatnuck
Joseph Dadah (1937-1957) > Dadah's Market (1962-1973) > Echo Farms (1979) > June Corner Market (1985)
Dadah appears to have moved here from 229 June in the 1930s.
1132 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
Hilltop Farm Stores (1962-1979) > The Express Line (open by 2007, closed by 2018) > City Mart (open by 2018, closed by 2020)
See my post on Babylon Market, which previously occupied the space filled by Suleh Ethnic Mart above, here.
1124 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
Community Stores Co (1927-1949)
1122 Pleasant St St | Tatnuck
A&P (1943-1957) > Norwood Mid-State (1962)
1120 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
A&P (1937)
1116 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
A&P (1927-1931)
So my guess is that A&P started out here in the 1920s, then moved to 1120 Pleasant in the 1930s, then again to 1122 Pleasant around 1940.
1100 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
1097 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
Foodland (1962-1973)
Looks like they moved from 1100 across the street around 1960.
1064 Pleasant St | Tatnuck
Edward Taft (1927-1937) > Taft's Market (1943) > Tatnuck Market (1949-1957)
1064 is the gray house to the right with the arched windows. I assume part or all of the first floor was originally the grocery store.
1062 Pleasant St (right) | Tatnuck
Red & White Stores (1927) > Harry Garson (1937)
1060 Pleasant St (left) | Tatnuck
Amos Clough (1916-1922)
810 Pleasant St (right) | Newton Square
A&P (1931-1937)
808 Pleasant St (center) | Newton Square
Elm Farms Food Co (1943-1952) > Grace's Food Market (1957)
806 Pleasant St (left) | Newton Square
Klein Meat Market (1962) > Richmond Corner Market (1985)
The Pleasant Market is directly across the street.
781 Pleasant St | Newton Square
Community Stores Co (1927-1931) > Protective Union (1937)
Listed as 781b in 1927 and 1931; 781a in 1937
712 Pleasant St | Newton Square
A&P (1927-1937)
It seems grocery stores always preferred to be on corner spots when they could. This space, now a pizzeria, looks out over Newton Square, a major intersection with a traffic circle.
That's our last big post of former grocers in Worcester, although there's another short one coming up for the next set of neighborhoods we'll be visiting. Speaking of, let's see what'll be coming next tomorrow!
Comments
Post a Comment