![]() I doubt I could have told you where it was located. For me as a co-ed, Avery Street, along with the rest of the Zone, might as well not have existed. College boys went there, of course, but college girls did not-unless they were paying their tuition with pasties and tassels. The Zone was a dangerous place in those days. The Avery Hotel became a “hot-pillow joint,” renting rooms by the hour. Respectable restaurants retreated to other locations, replaced by establishments that fed more nocturnal workers. The street lay smack in the five and a half acres known as the Combat Zone, officially designated for sex, salaciousness, and sleaze.Ĭorner of Washington and Avery Streets NowĮntertainment went from legitimate to “adult.” Bars took a dive and music clubs replaced jazz trios with strip-tease artists. It was in the part of Boston designated by the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 1974 as an Adult Entertainment District. Unfortunately for Avery Street, it lay in the wrong place. From Seedy to GrittyĪfter World War II, however, lower Washington Street was affected by the city’s overall downturn and a virtual depression caused by a lack of investment. Next to that was the Washington Street Pieroni’s Sea Grill, about which I have already written. They could fill up with pasta before the performance and maybe pick up a clean shirt at LeBow Brothers Clothiers next door. The Hotel Avery offered a cheap place to stay for working people and ordinary actors appearing in shows at the nearby Colonial Theater. The Prince Spaghetti House occupied the corner space with the Hotel Avery above it. This photo shows the corner of Avery and Washington Streets in what I think were the forties. It was a thriving, bustling area where residents went to shop, to dine, and to be entertained in burlesque halls and movie theaters. From Leafy to SeedyĪs the city grew the lower end of Washington Street became part of Boston’s commercial center as well as Chinatown and the Theater District. Back then, the area was green and pleasant, filled with trees, yards, and gardens. Peter Daille, the minister of the French Church, owned the next lot to the south.įrank Johonnot, a distiller, lived on Avery Street, which would have simplified deliveries to the nearby taverns. ![]() The Sign of the Lion was located south of that and the plot on which it stood later became the site of the Melodeon. Colburn’s heirs deeded to Thomas Brattle in 1700. These nearby historic establishments included the White Horse Tavern, which Mr. He chose this location when he arrived with the first settlers. Elder Colburn was one of the immigrants who in 1629 signed the agreement in Cambridge, England, to “pass over the seas” and come to the New World. These once occupied the lot owned by Elder William Colburn. Historic EstablishmentsĪvery Street had some historic buildings in its neighborhood, however. He was the only man of note by that name I could find. The clock on the face of the organ loft gallery in the Old North Church was made by Richard Avery and installed in 1726. Massachusetts had no governor and Boston had no mayor by that name. And in 1740 it assumed the far grander title of “the highway which was laid out by John Barrell.” It must have been a short highway, indeed.Īt some point it was renamed for a Bostonian named Avery. Later on, Avery Street took on the more formal name of Sheaffes Lane from the schoolmaster whose house stood at the corner of Tremont Street. Tremont Street Looking North about 1800 - Annie H. That land was formerly part of the lot belonging to William Colburn at the north corner of Boylston Street. In 1630, Avery Street was known as “Widow Colburn’s Lane” as it was laid out through her land. They can tear down gritty buildings that no history buff or architectural society deems worth saving. An under-utilized, run-down part of the city means they can acquire lots or even whole blocks cheaply. So why the luxury condo? Well, Boston developers go where they can make money. Fine-dining guides would not It wouldn’t have included it until this century. Avery Street doesn’t bear the name of a famous person or place as does nearby LaGrange Street. You won’t find it in books about architecture and buildings designed by notable architects. No one takes wedding shots or party photos there. It doesn’t appear on anyone’s Instagram account as do Acorn Street or Charles Street. That appears to be changing.įor those unfamiliar with this part of Boston, Avery Street runs exactly one block downhill from Tremont Street and Boston Common to Washington Street. For decades, no one living in Boston would have written anything on any subject that included the words “luxury” and “Avery Street” in one sentence. Recently I received a real-estate listing for a luxury condominium located at 1 Avery Street in Boston.
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