On Centre Street entering Newton Corner, the building across the street from the Eliot Church appears to be undergoing maintenance. The awnings with the business signs have come down, revealing some history underneath. I hope they continue to preserve those if they can, it always makes me sad when vestiges of an old business are destroyed. The Gleason Flowers sign in particular is great.
Does anyone have memories of these older shops?
That’s a nice little bit of commercial archeology.
This was my favorite- when Prana Cafe was getting ready to open, I saw this at the entrance, long covered by whatever Barsam Rug had there. It was a great find; unfortunately, it got taken out and replaced to match the restaurant decor. (Bad Karma if you ask me) http://www.flickr.com/photos/doughaslam/3904537434/
I remember Hubbard’s Drugs!
Hubbard’s Drugs had a great soda fountain. In High School and College, I had a part time job driving a neighbor and her elderly father on day trips and shopping. They were both old eccentric New England Yankees and certified Mayflower descendents. Mr. Cogswell was in his late 80’s and had pretty advanced dementia. He thought Grover Cleveland was still President. But, he never forgot that he wanted an ice cream cone from Hubbard’s every time he went out. It had to be half vanilla, a little more than a quarter chocolate and the rest strawberry.
@Doug. Thanks for posting this.
The Cogswell’s had a 1930 Plymouth sedan with a backup crank for cold weather.
You’re welcome Bob. I had noticed that for several days, finally had presence of mind to take a photo (tho I wish I had a little more time to wait for the sun line to move a bit farther). I have only lived in Newton Corner for 16 years, but love when I see these little bits of history peek out.
Thanks for giving us this picture Doug.
I’ve been searching for pictures of old Newton Corner
for some time, but I haven’t been able to find much.
I grew up in the area. Before they did their “urban renewal”
thing, which was devastating,
sometime in the ’70’s or ’80’s,
the place was like something from Edward Hopper.
My sisters and I attended the Country Day School of the Sacred Heart on Centre St., a few blocks up from Hubbard’s Drug. My sisters and I along with approximately 20 other Latin American girls who were “permanent boarders” at this Catholic boarding school, used to descend on the cute “soda jerks” at Hubbard’s every Friday afternoon. We have great memories of those days as we sat at the soda fountain having fraps and ice cream sodas, and pretended to smoke (to impress the cute boys behind the counter) with very expensive chocolate cigarettes.
For old photos of Newton Corner, go to “Digital Commonwealth – Massachusetts Collections Online”. The link to Newton Corner can be found at the following location:
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_field=all_fields&q=Newton+Corner
I worked as a Soda “JERK” at Hubbard’s in Newton Corner. I worked there from 1963-1967.
Kevin T Donnellan , I just saw the photo of the old block in Newton Corner. I worked at Hubbard. Drug Store, Hunnewell Market, I washed dishes at The Vernon Court Hotel, I played softball for Trudell’s Barber Shop. My brother delivered flowers for Gleason’s Flower’s.
Newton Corner Store Fronts
Newton Corner 1960’s
Hard to belive but, the Vernon Court building was the tallest building in Newton until the Marriot Hotel and the other hotel (I forget it’s name) on Grove Street were built .