Large lit letters decorate the front lawn of a Morningside Drive home. December 29, 2011.
NOEL
Category Winter
Jason Arms
The weathered wood Jason Arms apartment sign on Jason Street. December 22, 2011.
Lit Up
A Jason Street home lit up for the holidays. December 22, 2011.
By Electric Candlelight
Electric candles illuminate the gables of a Jason Street home. December 22, 2011.
YOUR Tree
A small Christmas tree in the middle of Mystic Street adorned by town folk with various ornaments and solar powered lights. December 22, 2011.
Uphill, At Least One Way
A child walks to school up Hemlock Street in the early morning sun of December 22, 2011.
Winter Begins
The first sunrise after the winter solstice. December 22, 2011.
Pushover
A wreath at a headstone in St. Paul's Cemetery knocked down by the wind. January 5, 2011.
Thompson Far Away
A shot of the old Thompson School in East Arlington. January 6, 2011.
Bishop Weathervane
The weathervane topped turret of the Bishop School against the backdrop of Boston and surrounds awash in the golden rays of the sunset. December 29, 2011.
Town Hall Hall
The barrel-vaulted ceiling of Arlington Town Hall's second floor corridor. February 11, 2011.
TMNT
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles display, which for years sat stagnant next to the entrance of Video Horizons. March 14, 2011.
Moon over Stratton
The moon over Stratton School on January 3, 2007.
Branches
Snow-covered branches at twilight, spotlit by a streetlight. January 28, 2010.
Christmas in July
Christmas decorations outside a Summer Street home. December 7, 2010.
“Our movies are in your future.”
The now defunct Video Horizons on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington Heights. Comedian Dane Cook, a former employee at the store, has said in one of his routines that the slogan was: "our movies are in your future." If that ever was true, it certainly isn't now. March 14, 2011.
Blanchard
The Blanchard plot resting in the snow at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. January 6, 2011.
Two Birds
The decoratively carved pediment of a Pleasant Street home on January 9, 2010. It has since been repainted.
Library Lights
The Robbins Library from the Town Garden on the night of December 28, 2010.
Once Around
The rotary at Mystic Valley Parkway and Medford Street was featured in the 1991 movie "Once Around" starring Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss. Overhead shots of cars circling the rotary are used in the opening and closing shots of the movie as well as other important times throughout the story.
Light Urn
A hanging light fixture in the Hearing Room on the second floor of Arlington's Town Hall. February 14, 2011.
Alewife Brook
Alewife Brook before it passes underneath Massachusetts Avenue. January 5, 2011.
Broadway Diner
The Broadway Diner on Broadway. January 6, 2011.
Arlington Heights
A sign welcoming those coming from the direction of Lexington into Arlington Heights. March 12, 2011.
BBs
Hundreds of plastic air gun BBs, along with a similar number of glass shards, litter the ground around a rock on Hill's Hill. March 12, 2011.
Supermoon
Supermoon (a full moon that has come the closest to Earth in 18 years) rises above Greater Boston and the Concord Turnpike. March 19, 2011. More on the Pictures of Arlington Facebook page.
Toddlers in the Outfield
A new playground structure just past the outfield fence at Buck Field. March 12, 2011.
Video Horizons
An employee sorts through returned DVDs on the final day of regular operation of Video Horizons on March 13, 2011. The store will officially close, after a liquidation sale, March 31, 2011.
“Arlington’s FIRST public mural.”
A wider view of the mural on the MBTA bus terminal in Arlington Heights which depicts Paul Revere, Uncle Sam, Town Hall, an old MTA trolley car, Saint Patrick (not really,) Old Schwamb Mill, and Spy Pond among other smaller details. March 12, 2011.
MBTA Bus Terminal Mural
According to the inscription: "This mural was designed and painted by students and staff from Dearborn Academy under the direction of artist Tova Speter and with the help of artists Anyahlee Cañas and LeeAnn Love Price and volunteers from the Arlington Community." March 12, 2011.
Uncle Sam Rides an Eagle
A detail of the mural on the MBTA bus terminal in Arlington Heights. Part one. March 12, 2011.
Charred
The burnt remans of trees pepper the landscape atop HIll's Hill, no doubt due to weekend teenage hijinks. March 12, 2011.
Thompson School
Thompson School. January 25, 2011.
Alewife Brook
The border between Arlington and Somerville, Alewife Brook, as it runs past St. Paul Cemetery. January 5, 2011.
Town Hall: Chair
Two chairs--that offer much more leg room than the fixed seats--in the corner of the balcony. February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Stage
The view from the back balcony. February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Ballot Box
In the Hearing Room, one can find old ballot boxes repurposed for use as end tables. February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Back Balcony
Two clocks (only one showing the correct time) adorn the back balcony of the main hall. February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Nathan Robbins Portrait
A portrait of Nathan Robbins "in his Quincy Market poultry, pork and game stall, Painted by Theodore Auguste Rousseau, Boston, 1853." February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Hearing Room Clock
A clock adorns the wall at one end of the Hearing Room. February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Odds and Ends
A collection of fixtures and other trinkets hanging on the wall behind the stage.
Dennis Ahern writes with more information about this little display:
“The curious framework is a California Job Case of the kind used to contain
foundry type for letterpress printing. The back (bottom) of the drawer has
been removed. In a California case, the left two-thirds contain the lower
case letters and punctuation, and the right third has the capital letters
arranged alphabetically except for J and U, which are tacked on after X, Y, Z.”
Town Hall: The Seal of Arlington
The intricately decorated Seal of the Town of Arlington centered above the stage. February 14, 2011.
Town Hall: Balcony Seating
Seats on the second floor balcony of Arlington Town Hall. February 14, 2011.
Selectmen’s Office
Ornate metalwork frames the door to the Selectman's Office in Arlington Town Hall. February 11, 2011.
In Concert
Violinist Ricardo Odriozola, a 1983 Arlington High School Graduate, performs with pianist Einar Røttingen at Arlington Town Hall on February 11, 2011.
North Union
North Union field, adjacent to the Thompson Elementary School, covered in snow on January 25, 2011.
Freezing Rain
Tiny icicles adorn trees all over town after a night of rain then dropping temperatures. February 3, 2011.
James T. O’Donnell Bridge
One might not even notice it, but when crossing the Arlington/Cambridge line at Massachusetts Avenue, one is crossing the James T. O'Donnell Bridge. January 5, 2011.
More Than Six Feet Under
Headstones in the Old Burying Ground settled cozily into the snow. December 28, 2010.
Winter Lights
The trees along Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington Center decorated with winter lights on December 28, 2010.
Prince Hall Cemetery in Winter
A shot of the Prince Hall Cemetery, undisturbed since the first snow of winter. January 25, 2011.
Here is the first picture of the cemetery as it appeared on this blog back on October 12, 2010.
Grand Old Rag
An American flag, one that presumably once decorated the grave of a veteran, impaled on the rusty, broken fence of Saint Paul Cemetery. January 5, 2011.
“Ah! it sent to yonder graveyard many a once stout, noble form.”
General Nelson Monroe was a veteran of the Civil and Mexican-American Wars. In 1893, he published a book of “reminiscences of the days of dark secession 1861 and 1865” entitled The Grand Army Button: A Souvenir. It can be viewed in full at archives.org.
The finale of the book is a poem called “The Dead Line” at Libby Prison about the horrors of internment at the Confederate Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. It can be read here.
The inscription on the back of the monument can be viewed at Pictures of Arlington’s facebook page.
The grave of author, poet, and most notably, soldier, General Nelson Monroe in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. January 6, 2011.
Est. 1898
The façade of the Decatur Market on Decatur Street at its intersection with North Union. January 25, 2011.
Lower Mystic Lake
A panorama of the Lower Mystic Lake at sunset on January 25, 2011.
Bicentennial Park
The American flag flies in the setting sun over the stones of Bicentennial Park, located on the Arlington/Cambridge border. January 5, 2011.
“…Slept like a log.”
The headstone of Nina Winn at Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Her diaries from over 100 years ago are transcribed on the Arlington List each day, giving 21st Century Arlingtonians a glimpse of the past. The title of this post comes from Ms. Winn's diary of October 21, 1907: "Such a dear room in birds eye maple to sleep in & slept like a log." January 6, 2010.
Three at Half-Mast in a Golden Sunset
The American flag flying at half-mast beside the Court Street Post Office. December 7, 2010.
Back to Back
A sign at the Arlington-Cambridge line recognizing the consecutive national championships of the Pop Warner "D" Squad cheerleaders. There are several more duplicate signs posted at other locations around town. January 5, 2011.
Arlington Automatic Transmission Co.
The dilapidated sign for the Arlington Automatic Transmission Company on Broadway, January 6, 2011.
“He was considered one of the finest men his town had ever produced.”
Lt. John Connors, a Navy SEAL, died on December 20, 1989 during Operation Nifty Package, a mission to disable movement of, then apprehend, Manuel Noriega. Lt. Connor’s platoon succeeded in destroying Noriega’s plane, which facilitated Noriega’s capture on January 3, 1990.
In the October 1990 issue of Reader’s Digest, Malcolm McConnell wrote about Lt. Connor’s heroism in an article titled “Measure of Man.” I hope that you may take the time to read it.
The monument to Lt. John P. Connors at the confluence of Broadway and Warren Street. January 6, 2011.
Set in Stone
The seal of Arlington on the stone marker in Arlington Bicentennial Park, January 5, 2011.
By Candlelight
The Whittemore-Robbins House lit up for winter on the night of December 28, 2010.
Year In, Year Out
The moonrise on December 31, 2009 and the sunset on December 31, 2010.
Neither Rain nor Snow…
United States Postal Service trucks under snow in the back lot of the Court Street Post Office. December 28, 2010.
A Drink of Ice Water
Cyrus E. Dallin's "Menotomy Indian Hunter" out braving the below-freezing temperatures on December 28, 2010.
Two Tracks Through the Snow
The Old Burying Ground after the Christmas weekend snowstorm. December 28, 1010.
Arlington Winter
A view of Arlington in the winter from the Alewife Parking Garage on February 2, 2010.
To the top right, one can see the rubble of the Symmes site. At the top middle, the building just barely peeking above the tree line, with the three white dots on top is the Stratton School. In the center, the gabled roof of Arlington Senior Center and the white steeple of the Park Avenue Congregational Church can be seen. At the middle right, three of the four white chimneys and cupola of the Whittemore-Robbins House is visible. And to the left of that, there is the blue-domed steeple of the Highrock Church.
Christmas Desktop Wallpaper
As my Christmas gift to all who visit Arlington Pictures, here is a photo for use as desktop wallpaper on your personal computer–for the remaining 9 days of Christmas, or for as long as you like!
Just right click (command+click for you mac users) and select “download linked file.” Happy Holidays to all!
A detail of the Craig Family Christmas tree on the night of December 24, 2010.
Merry Christmas
Christmas decorations on a Chatham Street home on January 1, 2010.
The Beaten Path
A path through the brush in Arlington's Great Meadows on December 25, 2006.
Winter Lights at the Old Burying Ground
The lights of the Whittemore-Robbins House reaching out to the Old Burying Ground on January 13, 2006.
WPA Walking Tour – Spy Pond
To count down the days to the end of summer, I will be taking you on a virtual walking tour of Arlington–the same one outlined in 1937’s The WPA Guide to Massachusetts. Each entry will include an excerpt from the book about each site visited. Hopefully this will give us a little insight as to how things have changed in the past 73 years. The next stop is Spy Pond.
“Spy Pond was so christened, says tradition, when a company of white men,
seeking Fresh Pond to procure water, ‘spied’ this instead.
It also acquired some reflected glory later on from the fact that old Mother Batherick
was digging dandelions on its bank on April 19, 1775, when six British grenadiers came
along… The brave old woman took them off guard, captured them, and marched them to prison.”
Ice fishing on Spy Pond, February 2, 2010.
Snowy Sunset
The Sun sets over snow covered Arlington, January 15, 2006.
Spy Pond in Winter
Skaters enjoy the frozen Spy Pond on February 9, 2010.
Great Meadows
A boardwalk running through Arlington's Great Meadows, December 26, 2006.
Old Burying Ground and Whittemore-Robbins House
The Whittemore-Robbins House watches over the Old Burying Ground on the night of January 13, 2006.
Pictures of Arlington 