OT: Knowledge of 50s/60s Boston sought

Way OT but among the literate book-lovers here there may be a few who
also like Robert B. Parker's Spencer books or themselves know a lot
about Boston in the 50s and 60s.

Stop here if you're annoyed by the OT post or, alternatively, thanks
for reading.



- Mike



In 1965, fresh out of college, I lived on Grove St. on Beacon Hill.
Being by happenstance on Winter St. with a friend, then a novice in
the Boston financial trades, he led me on a digression.  Headed down
from the Common on Winter, we turned left into a passageway,
roofed over and so narrow that adults couldn't easily pass abreast.
It opened into the dead end of a wider alley or ordinary street.

My friend pointed out to me a drinking establishment on our right as we
emerged from the passage.  It was well above street level with a broad
stair to its front door.  The front of the space was very large glass
windows behind which high ceilings, subdued lighting, polished brass
and a wooden bar could be seen, and men in suits standing around.  He
told me that this was the place where (I forget his exact words) the
rich and influential men of Boston gathered to schmooze.  There was no
sign, no plaque, no public identifier and if he mentioned a name at
that time, I've forgotten it.

Fast forward 25 or 30 years.  In the late 80s or early 90s, I was once
again on Winter St. for the first time in decades, spotted the passage
and turned into it with the idea of renewing my recollection.  The
building, stairs and broad-windowed space with bar and brass fittings
were still there but appeared to be disused except for storage of
large cardboard cartons or crates.

So I emailed my friend, by then a banker in California.  Sadly he had
no recollection either of the place of interest or of our brief
scrutiny of it.

It appears, from Google Maps, Streetview and bits from the web that
the narrow passage has been opened up, widened and become Music Hall
Place, a ca. 10' wide lane to an entrance to the Corner Mall.  The
short street into which the passage opened and any buildings,
including the bar/club/whatever in question seem to have vanished
in the process.

Someone at the Mass. Historical Society pointed me to on-line records
of liquor licenses in the 60s and to Boston social clubs and Boston
private clubs of the past but I was unable to identify anything that
matched the location.

Do you know about this presumably not-secret but slightly furtive
establishment?  Name?  Intriguing back-story?  Eventual fate?

Everybody knows about Locke-Ober, down a similar passage on the other
side of Winter but I can find no trace of this one.  I took a notion
to contact Robert Parker, author of the Spenser detective novels
because of his obvious encyclopedic knowledge of the curious
intricacies of Boston, only to discover that he'd died 10 years ago.





--
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada