1920-1960

Union School fourth grade, 1937. The building is now the Police Station, at the corner of Sears Street and Center Street.

Union School Burlington 4th grade, 1937 — Union School fourth grade, 1937. The building is now the Police Station, at the corner of Sears Street and Center Street.

The original Burlington High School, opened in 1939. First graduating class was 1940. It’s now the Human Services Building at 61 Center Street.

Brand new Burlington High School, 1939

Brand new Burlington High School. You can see the sign if you squint.

Margaret Carroll, Elsie Barchard, Gloria Boselle

Elsie Barchard at the original Burlington High School, 61 Center Street, in 1943

Mary (last name?) and Elsie Barchard on the new high school campus

Neilsen’s Bike Shop, 24 Cambridge St., grand opening day. Story here.

This is Francis Wyman Road c.1930, near today’s Manning Road.

Here’s a good Winnmere aerial. It’s the Given farm property in the late 1940s, with annotations. Photo provided by Ron Given and marked up with his help.

This is the corner of Cambridge St. (Route 3A) and Wilmington Road (Route 62), currently the home of a bustling Mobil station and Carli Convenience. The building in the background is the North School, which still stands today at the corner of Chestnut Ave. and Wilmington Road, painted red and purple at the moment. The first two pics are 1930. Second pair is late 1950s.

Syd Corday at Rexall, which he co-owned, c. 1958. Photo credit: Howard Corday, Syd’s son. This plaza was razed in 2018 to make way for the Shoppes at Simonds Park development.

The Turkey Whist poster refers to St. Mary’s Mission on the corner of Winn and Center Streets. It later became St. Margaret Parish and moved to its current location. Full Saint Margaret’s story here.

Catholic Daughters of St. Margaret’s early 1960s. This is the interior of the “old” building on the fork of Winn and Center Streets.

St. Margaret Parish mid 1940s

Saint Mary’s Mission charter, later St. Margaret Parish

That’s Kay Motors on the left, run by “Old Honest Dennis,” also known as Dennis Wager. It’s long gone. But the adjacent white house lives on!

Millie’s Variety was on the corner of Cambridge St. and Four Acre Drive, before the latter existed. Photo credit: Stan Anderson Jr., whose parents owned the place.

They also owned the gas station across the street, where Sister Thrift is now:

Gulf station near current location of Burlington House of Pizza, Cambridge St Burlington MA, late 1940s. This was operated by Elmer “Hal” Gourney. He lived at 14 Lexington St., now part of the Temple Shalom property. He later sold it to John DuCett, who expanded it to the town’s first hardware store. Photo credit: Eugene Knowles

DuCett’s Hardware, with cider jugs out front. Full story here.

Spruce Hill Day Camp was run out of the former Frothingham Mansion (built in 1853) when the Rupprecht family owned it. It’s now 3 Theresa Ave., and the driveway to the home is now Spruce Hill Road, off Lexington Street. This ad is from 1947. Full story here.

Bank promotion, c 1954. Front row: Eileen Quinlan, Elsie Lovejoy, Dorothy MacKay, Dayle Rupprecht, Charlotte Wright, Marion Knight. Middle row: Mary Stewart, Dorothy Queen, Nancy Sherwood, Arlene Johnson, Avrille Nielson, Eleanor Sloan. Back row: Pamela Hines, Nancy Murphy, Barbara Jean Hogan, Jean McIntire, Susan Scanlon, Mary Rock, Claudia Turnquist, Patricia Hines. Leaders: Mrs. Rupprecht and Mrs. Hogan.

Lantern Lane, 1954. Photo credit: Dianne Ballon. Story here.

1957 ads:

Town Hall: 1915 to 1969

Two Town Halls? The one on the left came down in 1969, after the newer one was completed.

Town Hall, 1915 to 1969. This pic is from the mid 1950s.

Route 128 construction. This is looking north, just after the Middlesex Turnpike exit. That’s the big plunge and then uphill sweep to the Cambridge St. exits. Full story here.

This is Olson Farm, which became Veterans Playground at the corner of Wilmington Road and Westwood Street. Photo credit: Carl Olson. Full story here.

Mack’s Place, Cambridge St. at Bedford Street, 1930s. Run by Mack MacInnes, who lived in the store with his wife.

Lexington Street kids, c. 1955. This spot is now Benson Way, off Lexington Street near Stony Brook Road. From left: Ralph Enos, unknown, Bobby Perry, unknown standing girl, Patty Tyler (striped shirt), Joyce Bevis, Ronnie Bevis, Marvin Fay (sticking tongue out), Gail Sherwood, unknown, Lorry Enos, Bobby Barns (striped shirt), David Enos.

Here’s Little League in Burlington in its inaugural year, 1952, on opening day. That’s sponsor Ernie Marvin on the top left of the Marvin Brothers photo. He’s the namesake of Marvin Field on South Bedford Street. The four original Little League teams were sponsored by the Marvin Brothers foundry, Piper Brothers real estate, Dom’s Atlantic gas station and Aero Screw, a company on Wilmington Road near the Cambridge Street junction.

Front: (Bat boy) Ron Ganley. Bottom row: Johnny Flynn, Bobby Given, Billy Harvey, Billy Queen, Jerry Ganley, Bobby Powysznski. Middle row: Billy Hormsby, Warren O’Leary, Jerry Page, Paul Meaney, Irving McNamara, Dicky Rosen. Adults: Warren Ganley, sponsor Dom Molinaro, George Ganley

Photo credit: Paul Luti

Bottom row: ?, Paul Smith, Paul Bustead, Gerry Skelton, Fred Osborne, ?, Don Boyd. Second row: ?, ?, ?, Gerry Paige, Billy McDonald, John S., Don McIntire, Walter Desmond. Back: Coach Ganley, Tom Mohan

Marvin Bros. little league team. This picture represents year one, day one of little league in Burlington.

Launch of Little League in Burlington MA, 1952

Lots to see here. That’s the “old” Memorial Elementary School when it was brand new, 1954. There’s no neighborhood behind it yet. Saint Margaret’s church is the little building on the fork of Winn Street and Center Street, on the extreme right. It hadn’t moved to its current location yet. Peach Orchard Road appears to cross Winn Street and keeping going into the hills, but you can see the hilly portion is overgrown from lack of use. It’s gone now. And across the street from the new Memorial School is Kerrigan Farm, before the town put a school there. Kerrigan Farm story here.

Marie Seminatore, future Memorial School librarian, in her Maple Knoll Farm truck. Notice the ancient phone number. Full story here.

Teacher Jane Skelton behind Memorial School c. 1955. Photo credit: Sherri Crocker

Julia Connors (right), mother of 10, was the town’s first school nurse. She’s the namesake of Julia Connors Drive off Peach Orchard Road.

Beverly Fay’s dance school, early 1950s. From left — Unknown, unknown, unknown, Priscilla McGinnis, unknown, Carol Cronin, Joan Gelineau, Bernice Graham, Jean Gerossie, Joan Merriam, Bobby Jean Graham. Standing opposite is teacher Beverly Fay. Photo credit: Carol Skelton.

Circle J. Ranch, on the corner of Adams Street and Middlesex Turnpike, was named after Jon Graham. Children could go on pony rides there. Now it’s the Burger King location. More like this here.

Tali (left) and Clare Burns in their yard. That’s Kent Cottage, the lonely stone structure across from the sprawling Network Drive commercial campus on Middlesex Turnpike near Bedford. It may look dead nowadays, but it’s in full swing here.

Dale Pharmacy in 1957. It’s now Raja & Rana’s Indian Market. Photo Credit: Dale Cascio

Classic mid-century Burlington home — 18 College Road

18 College Road Burlington MA brochure. Photo credit: Barbara Johnston

18 College Road receipt for deposit, 1956. Photo credit: Barbara Johnston

You’ll notice some strange phone numbers on this page. Before the area codes and exchanges of today, Burlington’s predominant phone prefix was “BU” in the 1950s and “BR,” or “Browning,” in the 1960s. When the phone companies dropped the letters and went strictly numeric, some users decried the loss of personality. An all-numeric phone number seemed cold, impersonal.

You’ll also notice some advertisements without street numbers. They were superfluous information. The town was so sparse that everyone knew where every store was located. Houses didn’t receive numbers in earnest until the late 1950s, when the population grew to the point where ambulances needed specifics. In 1957, the town started a new residential numbering process for freshly-built neighborhoods with plot plans. The first fully-numbered streets were Florence Road, Crawford Road, Sylvester Road, Frances Road, Foster Road, Bradford Road, Luther Road, Alma Road and Sunset Drive.

VFW building when it was simply “the Peterson house.” It was moved backward to its current location at 5 Edwards Rd. and then sold to the VFW. Photo credit: Fred Keene

Burlington Diner, located where the Prime Energy station is now, on Cambridge St. The black and white photo is 1956. Color one looks to be earlier. This was part of the DuCett mini-empire. Story here.

Wildwood Elementary School. This is now Wildwood Park.

St. Margaret Parish, construction and grand opening, late 1950s.

Burlington Footwear

Mercury Cleaners, roughly where Papa Gino’s is now, at the corner of Cambridge St. and Terry Ave.

Donna Davy Hagen photo

Nu-Joman auction house, corner of Winn and Cambridge Streets.

Before WRKO

Corner of Cambridge St and County Road, 1955. Oakridge Forest was the name for the Lantern Lane/County Rd/Ledgewood Dr area. The car in the background is passing LaCascia’s, before it existed. Photo credit: George Moore