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Circa 1908. "North Adams, Massachusetts -- Wilson Hotel." With "first-class moving pictures" at the Empire Theatre. 8x10 glass negative. View full size.
Could that be the name of the groceries Association on Holden Street?
That might be a Drug Store on the corner, if only there was some way to be sure, like a sign, or two, or four.
Looks as if the Wilson House Drug Store didn't hire a first-class sign painter for their windows. One of the owner's kids probably did it a lot cheaper than a pro.
The Wilson burned down in 1912, and was replaced by a two-story block that still stands. I have written two books about the history of North Adams, and once interviewed a 97-year-old woman who witnessed the fire. See this article about the fire, published in the Lowell Sun:
http://www3.gendisasters.com/massachusetts/14255/north-adams-ma-business...
In reply to "What's left, not a lot" below: The block contains several important social agencies on the second floor. On street level, there are several art galleries, one which displays wonderful work by Jarvis Rockwell, one of Norman's sons. There is a also a great bakery, a very popular restaurant called The Hub, a lovely antique store, and a boutique which carries gifts and toys for children.
Not a lot:
According to a local site:
"... just a couple of months after President Teddy Roosevelt visited, it burned nearly to the ground. Most of the first floor was saved. Floor tile-work on the first floor still remains in some of the business establishments located there today."
We drank a modified version of those Cherry Coke concoctions, with one additional squirt each of lemon, lime, cherry, orange and even chocolate. We thought it was heavenly, even though it was named "A Suicide."
I later learned it basically tasted like the Dr. Pepper we know today, but it was pretty special back then.
Almost 50 years later I could catch a 5-cent coke at a fountain. For 2 cents more you could get a shot of syrup fired into your glass of Coca Cola and you were working with a Cherry Coke. The expert soda jerk would mix your heavenly refreshment with a long narrow spoon but not so much as to damage the "fizz".
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