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