Manchester Life 2018 | Page 50

on foot through factory point Take a moment to enjoy some of the architectural details. Cornicework on 4935 Main Street Architect and historic preservationist Bill Badger, of Badger and Associates in Manchester, says, “There was an enclave of better homes around what is now the park, and for a long time, on the side of the street where Finn & Stone is now, there were no buildings. There was a long gap and a big marble retaining wall over a steep drop to the river.” He says walking along here “you would have been looking into the abyss,” while on the opposite side of the street there were fields and farmhouses. “Down over the hill, you came to the shops and industries,” he says. The “abyss” is still there but the wall is not—directly behind the row of buildings on the even- It is almost impossible nowadays to imagine that there was a large, open tract where the gas station and store, bank, and drugstore are now. 48 manchester life | manchesterlifemagazine.com numbered side of Main Street there is a deep ravine. The red-shingled building, 5053 Main Street (opposite side of the street), is the old telephone building, built in 1918. Altered, the entrance and wing on the right side of the facade are later additions. On the odd-numbered side of the street, it is almost impossible nowadays to imagine that there was a large, open tract where the gas station and store, bank, and drugstore are now. “That part of Main Street was the Dyer Farm, and, until the 1950s, it included all the land that is now the school and the ball fields,” explains Shawn Harrington. “The farmhouse was moved in 1964 so that the new Grand Union supermarket could be built.” Continue along Main Street; stay on the even-numbered side. Take a moment to enjoy some of the architectural details on the buildings across the street, for example, the brickwork on