See Everett landmarks as they were years ago and compare them with the way they look today.
Associate Building
The Associate Building on Broadway, between Chelsea and Cottage Streets, was erected in 1908 to replace the Masonic Building, which was destroyed by fire. The Associate Building still stands virtually unchanged more than a century later. Some of the many businesses housed here over the years were the original McKinnon’s Market, Square Drug, and one of the very first Papa Gino’s restaurants (originally known as “Piece o’ Pizza”). At any given time one could see the pizza maker standing in the front window tossing the dough in the air for the next pizza pie.
Central Fire Station
The original Central Fire Station was built in the 1840’s as the Centre School. Years later it was converted to a firehouse. In the early 1900’s it was demolished to make place for the present fire station, opened in 1908 at the corner of Broadway and Corey Streets. The only change in more than a century is the widened bays to accommodate newer firefighting equipment.
City Hall
The corner of Broadway and Church Street has housed Everett city offices since its days as a Town. By the late 1950’s, however, the original City Hall was inadequate for modern government, so a new one had to be built. The original City Hall was demolished in 1960, and replaced by the present building two years later. A large throng came out one Sunday afternoon in 1962 to attend the dedication of City Hall. More than a half-century later this building is still in use.
Everett Elks
The Everett Lodge of Elks Post #642 was chartered in 1901. They occupied a wood frame building at 42 Church Street. The original meeting house burned down in the late 1940’s and was replaced by this brick building in 1949. In 2007 the Everett Elks merged with the Saugus chapter and they sold the building to a church group. A history of the Everett and Saugus Elks can be found here.
Everett Springs
For many years the corner of Chelsea and Ferry Street was known as “Everett Springs”, referring to the fresh water springs bubbling to the surface. Until the early part of the 20th century the Everett Springs Bottling Company stood on the land and sold bottled water to the public. The springs eventually dried up and the bottling plant was demolished and replaced by storefronts and apartments. Some of the businesses located there were “Guidi’s Diner” and “Guy’s Barber Shop”. That building also met the wrecker’s ball in the early 1970’s and replaced with the mental health treatment center shown here.
First Congregational Church
The First Congregational Church dedicated this Everett Square building in 1852. Many of Everett’s founding fathers and their families attended services here. The Town of Everett had their first meeting here in 1870. The occupants have changed over the years, as has Everett. The First Congregational Church unfortunately no longer exists. The building, however, lives on. The only major alteration was the removal of the steeple above the bell tower in 1911. It is the oldest public building in Everett.
Glendale Park
Originally the site of Corbett Farm, Glendale Park has been Everett’s major park since the late 1800’s. Sports events like this 1909 baseball game have drawn crowds for more than a century. During World War II the hill in the background was used for a watchtower staffed by Boy Scouts standing guard in case of enemy attack. Nowadays, Everett High School dominates the landscape of a newly renovated Glendale Park, prepared to serve Everett for decades to come.
Glendale Square
This is how Glendale Square at the intersection of Broadway and Ferry Street looked in the early 1940’s. In the center is Shattuck’s Drug Store, a fixture in the Square until the 1970’s. To the right is one of the few known photos of the Rialto Theatre. Opened in the 1920’s, the theatre also served as the first meeting hall for St. Therese’s Church. The Rialto was closed in 1956. In the background on the left is the Glendale United Methodist Church.
The first thing you notice in the picture of Glendale Square today is that traffic lights have replaced the policeman directing traffic. Shattuck’s Drug has been replaced by Eastern Bank. After the Rialto closed, the space was occupied by a bank and a bowling alley. The front half of the Rialto was demolished in the 1990’s. The rear half now houses a restaurant. The Glendale United Methodist Church sits unchanged in the background at left.
McKinnon’s “On the Hill”
Customers stand in front of Litch’s Drug Shop in a scene from more than a century ago at the corner of Broadway and Hosmer Street. Litch’s Drug Store eventually became Harding’s Drug, which lasted until the 1960’s. Meanwhile, William F. McKinnon set up shop next door and eventually took over Harding’s space for part of “McKinnon’s On the Hill”, one of Everett’s most popular markets. The Penta family purchased the store during the 1970s and operates it to this day.
Original Everett High School Building
As the Town of Everett’s population continued to grow throughout the 1880s, people realized that the Everett High School needed its own building. EHS had been bouncing around several buildings and had outgrown all of them. The new Everett High was erected on Summer Street in 1892, just in time for Everett’s becoming a city. The original EHS looks pretty much like it did in the 1890s, but with a few changes. Due to even more overcrowding an addition was built onto the original EHS in 1906. By the 1920s even this was too small for Everett’s still-growing population. A new EHS was opened on Broadway in 1922. Several years later EHS moved its vocational classes to the building, and the school was renamed Everett Vocational High School. When a new addition was added to EHS in 1978 both academic and vocational classes were held at EHS, so the ”Voke” was abandoned. In 1982, a fire nearly destroyed the building. Several years later, a local businessman rebuilt it brick-by-brick, using old architectural drawings, and restored it to its original glory. It is now an elderly housing development and has been restored to exactly how it looked a century ago.
Sargent’s Block
Sargent’s Drug Store was the main attraction on the corner of Main and Oakes Streets until the 1950s. After Sargent’s closed the building was occupied by a succession of bakeries, the latest being the Continental. Several alterations were also made. The embellishments on the roof and the dome on the front corner were both taken down.