Spring Street, Centre Street, William Street, Main Street.
This map is derived from part of a December 1914 map of Vineyard Haven made by the Sanborn Map Company of New York.
Numbers and KEY added by Stan Lair, c. 1980.
KEY.
Notes in Quotation Marks by Stan Lair, c. 1980.
165. "Abbie and Rudolphus Holmes -- Mrs. Billings -- Dr. Hoxie."
"[This] house was Dr. Hoxie's but of course been remodeled of course but the location there was Abigail Holmes' House. Rudolphus Holmes lived there, her son. I'm not sure about that! Was it her son or her sister? Anyway, the two of them lived there."
[1907 Directory: "Holmes, Abbie H., Mrs., h. William, cor. Centre."]166. "Olevia V. Smith -- Widow of Henry Smith."
"The house on the corner, Olivia Smith House, had a son Frank Smith, and Mary Lewis lived upstairs with her mother, Mrs. Lewis. That was another one of my fifty-cent-a-week jobs, taking out ashes and bringing in coal."
[1907 Directory: "Smith, Olevia V., widow of Henry, h. Spring, cor. William."]167. "William W. Boardman -- Cashier M. V. National Bank - 'The Moorings' Annie Clark owner."
"[This] house we called the Branscomb House. It was occupied by George Pierce and his wife Berta, Berta being one of the Branscombs. They lived there for quite awhile, and now it is Mrs. Ralph Begolia(?) lives there.
[1907 Directory: "Boardman, William W., cashier Martha's Vineyard National Bank, h. 'The Moorings' Spring."]168. "L. E. Briggs - The Anchorage: Annie Clark owner - Ben Baptiste Boarding House."
169. "Albert Look -- Look - Smith + Co. Grocers - Union St."
"The Albert and Fannie Look House. Albert Look was Ralph Look Senior's father. And Ralph lived there for awhile. It is now owned by Bernie Issokson."
[1907 Directory: "Look, Albert, (Look, Smith & Co.), Union, h. Spring."]170. "Mary H. Luce - Widow of John A. Luce -- Maida Luce daughter."
[1907 Directory: "Luce, Mary N., widow John A., h. Centre, n. Main."]171. "Eugene T. Walker - Paint Store -- Issokson Cleaners - Amelia Bloomers."
"John Lambert Grocery Store, later a harness store run by my father, Leroy Lair, and later it was E. T. Walker's Paint and Hardware, and is now Issokson's Cleaners.""[This] building is the site of the old Baptist Church. It was on this spot before it was destroyed by fire in 1883. The fire wiped out all of our Main Street. And I guess I told who it was occupied by in another tape: John Lambert Store, the harness shop, E. T. Walker Hardware, and now Issoksons."
172. "Dr. O. S. Mayhew office - Vineyard Haven Library 2nd floor."
"Dr. Mayhew's office. The Vineyard Haven Public Library was upstairs. It was McGuinness Jewelry Store for many years, and it is a jewelry store today. Inside of the first floor of that store has never changed, as far as partitions and rooms go, since it was occupied by Dr. Mayhew. Big waiting room in the front, the doctor's office was on the right in the rear, and on the left in the rear was a sink and a bathroom and his famous white and pink pills."
[1907 Directory: "Mayhew, Orland S., physician, Main, h. Spring, cor. Franklin."]173. "Herbert Tilton -- Drugs -- Lester H. Bumpus -- Plumbing."
"H. L. Tilton's Stoves and Ranges, and he had a plumbing shop in the rear. The front was later a drug store and ice cream parlor. Big Hutch and Little Hutch, two very popular clerks, worked there for many years. The plumbing shop was later taken over by Lester Bumpus, for whom I worked until his death by drowning in 1925. I recall that day very well. He had worked that day on a gasoline tank on a speedboat. The name of the speedboat was Jazz, owned by the Whitney Family, and he told me that day that after he installed it he was going to have a ride that evening. Well he did - they went out in the harbor that evening. They had a lot of children aboard also. He hit a swell from the steamer coming in, and it threw all the people out of the stern of the boat. Threw them right out, and Jack went down, and he was never seen again. Well, they found him of course, but he didn't come to the surface. All the children were swimmers, so they survived. That was in 1925. And the business was operated for a short while after that by H. N. Hinckley, and then it was bought by Jack Hughes. It is now Yates Drug Store.
Harry Horton's buses - he used Rios[?] - left for Oak Bluffs on the hour, from in front of this drug store in the summer. Harry ran his buses there for a good many years."
[1907 Directory: "Tilton, Herbert L., plumber and kitchen furnishing, Main, h. do."]174. "Frank Downs -- Harness Maker."
"The next building was Ben Chuck's. Ben Dexter his actual name was, Benjamin Dexter - everyone called him "Ben Chuck." He lived in the back of the building and did all of his wood carving there. The front was rented as a clothing store. Old Ben was famous for his crazy wood carving. Some of it still is around today - I have a few pieces here. I recall mounds of earth in the rear of that building with a full-size wooden Indian on each mound. I lived on Center Street, so I went right by there as a kid. I remember that wooden Indians out there. Frank Downs had a leather repair business in the front at one time. William S. Swift and Sons, surveyors, had their office there. Also the back room, after Ben Chuck, was rented to a Portuguese club. The young men would play cards there in the evenings, and had a good time."
[1907 Directory: "Downes, Frank G., harness maker, Main, n. Centre, h. do."]175. "Ornan J. Slocum -- Shoemaker."
"Next was the First National store, and then it was demolished. The present building was a modern First National store. It is now the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, and I noticed they've put a second story on there, so that changes the whole front of that building."
[1907 Directory: "Slocum, Orman J., shoemaker, Main, h. off Old Edgartown rd."]176. "A. S. Andrews -- Barber -- Popeyes Restaurant."
"Next was the barber shop, operated by a Mr. Medeiros. And then A. S. Andrews, and Mr. Andrews had a typewriter rental shop in the rear of this barber shop. It was then operated by his son, William Andrews, Billy Andrews. At one time there was a womans' hairdressing shop in the rear, Priscilla's. It is now Popeye's Deli.
Then comes Center Street. In the old days, there was a full wet river after a rainstorm. Boy the water would really come down that street, just like a river! It was impossible to get across without getting your feet wet right up to your ankles unless you wore rubber boots or something like that. They finally had a wooden bridge made that the Highway Department would throw across the street after a rainstorm. And now they have an underground drainage system, of course, so all is well."
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