My grandfather, Nicola Dello Russo, owned a tavern at the corner of Lewis and Commercial Streets during the early to mid twentieth century. Like all taverns, the walls were covered with pictures of local celebrities and events and the picture I am sharing today was one of those. Unfortunately there were no annotations as to Read More…
A few weeks ago while attending a meeting in the Time Warner building in New York City, I decided to skip out of a boring afternoon lecture and visit the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. This was one of the things I always wanted to do because the Lower East Side was a Read More…
If you walk down Hanover St. today the most noticeable characteristic would be the tremendous number of restaurants and coffee shops, many with long lines of tourists waiting to get in, a very different scene from the mid twentieth century. When I was young there were a half dozen or so upscale North End restaurants; Read More…
We live in an era, and in a country, where the government provides a wide range of social and educational services for its citizens. Newly arrived immigrants can obtain housing, food, a monthly stipend and even an education in their native language all paid for by the Federal and State governments. But imagine you were Read More…
Photo mystery: The North End once had a Jewish enclave. The photo above looks like it was taken in the early Twentieth Century and the legend said it was the corner of North Bennet and Salem Streets. But, I think that isn’t accurate. Can any of our urban sleuths who read NorthEndWaterfront.com identify the location? At the Read More…
Growing up in the North End after World War II, some of my most vivid memories involve family dinners and the food we ate. Being separated from the rest of the city by physical and cultural barriers, we depended on our local food shops and what wonderful shops they were. The ground floor of many Read More…
Whenever I tell people I have lived in the North End for almost seventy years they invariably ask two questions; where should I eat and how has the area changed? The answer to the first one is easy, eat where the longest lines are, the hive knows. The answer to the second one is more Read More…
Here is another photo of Salem Street. This one was taken in January of 1949 at the corner of Parmenter and Salem Streets. It’s a Friday morning and the merchants are setting up their displays, some almost in the middle of the street. On the right side you can see Jack’s shoe store, the Liberty Read More…
This picture shows Salem St. at the intersection of Cross Street on a Saturday morning in the early to mid nineteen fifties. It was taken from the newly built Central Artery. It is especially meaningful to me because I was living in the building at the corner of Salem and Cross at that time, 53 Read More…
by Nicholas Dello Russo This picture of Hotel Rome in North Square is from around 1900 and calls to mind some interesting local history. In the lower left hand corner you can see the Stabile Bank which was a prominent Italian American bank with branches in the North End and Mulberry St. New York. The Read More…