Boston Stores by Pete Zizka 12-3-2022 |
Almost everyone who lives or lived in Willimantic remembers “The Boston
Store”. The term was normally used for the originally named “H.C.
Murray” block on the corner of Church and Main Streets. But, for a time,
Willimantic had three “Boston Stores”. Interestingly, Boston store, or
Boston Dry Goods Store, refers more to a type of store more than a
location. “Boston stores” could be found across the United States. They
were large department stores and many had either elevators or
escalators. Two of the most famous were the Boston Store of Chicago,
which, in 1913, featured 19 escalators, and the Boston Store of
Washington, DC, formally named
The Woodward & Lothrop department store, or Woodies as Washingtonians
knew it. Willimantic’s third “Boston Store” was Edward F. Casey’s Boston Furniture Store. Casey started his business in the Lathrop Building at xxx Main Street and was in business until about 1940 when he sold out and the A&P moved into the building. True to “Boston Store” layouts, Casey’s store was comprised of four floors, and included twelve rooms featuring a multitude of departments. One could go there to purchase furniture, carpets, crockery, stoves, ranges, and everything in the house furnishing Line. If you wanted to go on vacation, you could purchase a steamship ticket. Casey also did undertaking and carried a line of coffins, caskets and funeral goods. He placed one interesting asd that read, “Undertaker. Coffins, Caskets, Caps, Shrouds, &c. Hearse, Hacks and Everything Pertaining to Funerals. Particular attention given to Embalming and Preservation of Bodies, without the use of the cumbrous ice-box”. Another local ad said of him, “He gives careful personal attention to all departments of his business, and not only offers a very complete assortment of honestly made goods to choose from, but quotes bottom prices on every article.” Remember? That same “bottom price” claim was also applied to H.C. Murray. (43) Casey was originally from Monson, Massachusetts but made Willimantic his home where he became well known and served for a time as the city tax collector. Finally, Willimantic did have a third store with the name “Boston”. James Clune’s “Boston Shoe Store”, however, existed for only a short time in the 1880s and 1890s in the McAvoy Block on Main Street and was a fairly small operation. It sold “beaver and rubber goods”, boots, shoes, and slippers and claimed that, “everything is first-class Foot Wear to be had at the lowest prices”. |
<<HOME>> <<back to Historical Articles index>> |