Lost Melrose, Volume Two

In this episode of Lost Melrose, we look at 419-429 Main Street, which many will remember as the home of Coffee, Tea, & Me and Mike’s Barber Shop. The exact age of this structure was a matter of interpretation. As is often the case for commercial structures, it had a complicated building history, as it was adapted for new uses over time. In this map from 1915, the building is marked as “Sinnott’s Garage,” an automotive garage with a capacity for 40 vehicles. Most of the building is shaded blue, because it had recently been built of concrete, but that concrete shell was built around an earlier, smaller building shaded in yellow because it was wood-framed.

None of this seems to resemble the familiar brick façade of the old building, which was permitted for demolition in 2017. Six months before, the owner of the building had planned to save it, but discovered “unexpectedly serious structural issues,” that caused him to change plans. Those structural issues were no doubt tied to the complex history of the building, which, alas, is no longer available for study. One reason the Historical Commission supports a demolition review is because it creates a mechanism for documentation of a structure even when it cannot be saved.

As a glance at the 1915 map shows, this block of Main Street has changed radically in the past century; the massive Friends Brothers bakery complex has been completely demolished, and even Ell Pond Brook itself has gone underground. In the event that such seemingly permanent structures as the Carter Brothers Block (now Giacomo’s, Cuts & Such, and the Hourglass Gift Gallery) and the old Melrose Theatre (now Eastern Bank) should likewise face the wrecking ball, we would at least like an opportunity to document their structural histories for future generations.