Around Concord – #ThursdayDoors

History, New England Life, Thursday Doors 69 comments
Main Streets Market & Café

As I was walking around Concord, Massachusetts last month, I did what most Thursday Doors participants do, I took pictures of doors. Every door I noticed. I figured that, as has often been the case, I would be able to fill in the blanks later. I already knew that my favorite source for history and historic photos, the National Registry of Historic Places (NRHP), would not be helpful. While most of the buildings in Concord’s historic district are listed in the registry, “the PDF assets have not been digitized.” That’s a curious explanation, since PDF assets are, by their very nature, digital.

I think what the NRHP means is that the PDFs have not yet been entered into the records management system. I have a strong urge to explain that further, since that’s been a significant part of my career, but it – would – be – boring.

In the not-boring but somewhat ironic twist, I did manage to find several historic photos from inside The Wright Tavern – you know, the building I featured last week. Not exactly perfect timing, but the photos are so interesting, that I did include them in today’s gallery.

There are two other buildings for which I managed to find some information. One is the main branch of Middlesex Savings Bank. According to one of the bank’s web pages:

“We were founded as Middlesex Institution for Savings in 1835 in the Town of Concord. It was a time when banking focused more on businesses than on consumers. Our founders, not uncommon for residents of Concord at the time, in an act of true community spirit, set out to create a bank where people of modest means, who had no other alternatives, could have a safe place to save.”

The other building, actually a small group of buildings, belong to Concord Academy. The academy is a private boarding and day school for high school students. It was formed in the 1920s and located in several buildings that had been private residences. The academy started out as a school for girls, but in 1971 became the first private girl’s school in New England to begin co-ed enrollment.

I think my favorite building in the gallery is that of Main Streets Market & Café. Again, according to their website:

“We are the 4th generation of The Anderson Family to own the building & have been serving food to locals and travelers from this location in Concord for over 100 years! 5th generation Andersons will likely be waiting on you during your visit to Main Streets.

Formerly L. Anderson and Sons & Andersons Market also known as “Andersons” or “The Market”, Concord’s grocery store and catering for the first 3 generations is now a sit down restaurant, Main Streets Market & Café”

The other door that I like is the entrance to Helen’s, a little restaurant on Main Street. I’ve eaten at Helen’s prior to one of the meetings that we held in Concord (at the Colonial Inn).

Thursday Doors is a fun and sometimes challenging weekly blogfest organized by door aficionado and photographer extraordinaire, Norm Frampton. If you would like to participate in Thursday Doors, you simply need to gather a door photo, a few photos, 18-20 photos, and put them in a post. Then, visit Norm’s page up in Canada and follow his instructions for adding your doors to the collection. Norm makes it easy and, don’t focus too hard on the Thursday part. You can enter your post anytime between 5:30 am Eastern Time on Thursday and Noon on Saturday.

Thanks for stopping here.

Helen’s Restaurant.
Main Street shop – Patina Green.
Door to the basement.
I really like this house.
This house has so many interesting features.
Concord Library
Concord Academy
Concord Academy – I like the fire escape.
Concord Academy
Concord Academy
Concord Academy – I really like the arched shutters on the center gable end window.
Branch of Cambridge Trust Company.
Main Streets Market & Café
Main Streets Market & Café
Middlesex Savings Bank
Wright Tavern – Southeast fireplace.
Wright Tavern – First floor northeast fireplace
Wright Tavern – First floor southwest fireplace
Wright Tavern – First floor northwest fireplace
Wright Tavern, interior staircase. The library has a post card of this staircase that says, “In this place Maj. Pitcarin Drank his Toddy – April 19, 1775”

69 comments

  1. Pingback: YELLOW THURSDAY DOORS (& Lady by the River – Post 7 of 10) – priorhouse blog

  3. Great photos, Dan. Hundreds of years and the buildings are still magnificent. Imagine the conversations of one generation to the next! Thank you for this journey!

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    1. Thakns Gwen. That’s exactly what I was thinking about the store that’s been in the same family for over 100 years. Little kids, playing in the store and then growing up and owning it.

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  4. Thanks for introducing us always to the rich history in the places you live and visit. There is so much of it around us and most people hardly think of it but really find it fascinating when brought to light. Happy Thursday!

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  8. Great doors, windows and buildings, all made even more interesting and unique after reading the history on them.

    But the feature that caught my eye is the corner trim on the Wright Tavern Southeast fireplace and the section above it. It’s like looking at an old album where all the pictures are set into black protective corners, which are glued to the page, allowing you to (fairly) easily remove a photo and put it back. I just love it!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    1. I had to go back and look at that, Ginger – you’re right! That’s exactly what it looks like – good eye. There’s so much history in this little town, it’s really amazing. Thanks!

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  9. Beautiful doors, Dan! Are those window apartments over Helen’s? Easiest takeout ever…… Those doors to the basement…..my aunt had doors like that but we always called it a cellar. My house had a basement–doors were inside the house to get to it. Is there a difference between a cellar and a basement? Finding a house with a basement here in sunny FL is a source of wonder and amazement…..

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    1. Those are good questions Lois. I think those are apartments over Helen’s. I had tolook up the cellar v basement thing. According to (who knows) “If more than half of the floor height is above ground level, it is a basement. If less than half is above ground, it’s a cellar.” I guess I have a cellar.

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    1. Wow – people are asking so many questions today. It’s too close to the weekend, John. Ask me again when I’m at the bar. If the opening leads away from the fire, it’s a good place to go.

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    1. Thanks Norm. The Library of Congress has the building plans for the bank. I tried to add them to the post, but the images are very small, and do not scale well. The site was being unresponsive when I tried to get larger versions. I think you would have like those. Maybe next week, as I seem to be finding what I need about a week too late.

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  12. I just read your post from last week late last night and am headed over to that post next to leave a comment, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the history in both that and this post.

    I’m trying to imagine where the bar was in Wright Tavern, but oh, those fireplaces would have been prime seating!

    I love the Bank, the Library, and the Academy best in this post. The red brick, tall columns in white are stately classics as is the black and white Academy. I love it! I think it has a certain elegance to it rather than stately.

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    1. There are photos of the taproom, but they are in a collection of postcards that cannot be reproduced. You can find one here but I had to reload the page a few times. It was really just a bar like you might have in your family room. Not a larger bar like we would expect in a tavern today.

      Thanks for dropping by, Deborah.

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  14. I love your coverage of Concord, Dan. The Wright Tavern interiors remind us that homes were heated with fireplaces back in the 1700’s. Can’t imagine being warm. The main street is a treasure for sure. Thanks.

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  17. Wonderful doors post, Dan. That final photo of Concord Academy is one of their best doors. While you couldn’t get a clear shot with the tree branches, it is definitely one of the best doors. The market and cafe is not only charming, it is a hallmark of Concord. How wonderful that it has stayed in the family for generations.

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    1. Thanks Jennie. Our local hardware store has three generations working in it right now. The original owner is 94. I always laugh because he calls me “sonny” – I was trying to get better shots of the academy but there was lots of traffic. I also get nervous when pointing my camera to a school building.

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      1. When we moved to Groton, the local hardware store was the same way, owned by generations. Our son could ride his bike there when he was eight to get nails for Hubby, and they would bill us. 94, and you are called Sonny – that’s just wonderful! I know exactly what you mean about pointing a camera at a school, especially if you’re a male. Makes me sad.

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        1. The old man at the hardware store is really funny. He makes remarks that no one in today’s younger generations would understand, but they remind me of when I was growing up. You should have seen the look on a 20-something year old’s face when he asked for a bag (for one item) and the guy said “you don’t need a bag for that!”

          I am always careful not to get students in pictures I take of schools. We (AIIM New England) hosted an event on Privacy, and one of the things we learned about (particularly at boarding schools) is the fact that some of the students are there under protective orders and don’t want their location revealed. It’s a scary thing to think about, and it does make me sad.

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  18. Good work here, Dan. I love the pictures and the history that you share. Hopefully, when I work on my first Thursday Doors post, I hope I can do ten percent of your quality.

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    1. Hs haha. That works for me 🙂. I was so mad at the site that had those postcards but refuse to let anyone use them for any purpose without written permission.

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  22. I got thrown by the PDFs not being digitized, too.
    The black and white photos of the fireplaces are extremely appealing to me. I like Helen’s restaurant because it’s yellowish and it looks friendly to me. I like the library. My beloved library is rather modern and of course, now dated eternally. I like that house, too. That’s a serious house. I bet it has a lot of doors and interesting corners on the inside as well. As for the fire escapes, I really like that they painted them white. That was well done, they look so clean. Good choices, all.

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  25. I grew up in a house in Iowa with that type of basement door….happened to be by the southwest corner of the basement which was the location we always went to when the tornado sirens went off….even as a kid I thought why have a door close to where we have to huddle????? Love the interior shots of Wright Tavern…..

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    1. I’m laughing at that question, Kirt. It does make you wonder. Of course, I’m picturing the scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy is trying to get in the shelter.

      I love it when I find the historic pictures of these buildings. The woodwork that was done, with the tools that they had access to, amazes me.

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