March 11, 2008Abandoned Apartment in Fenway, Park Drive, Boston
I was peeping around the basement while waiting for a load of laundry to finish its spin cycle the other day, and I found this abandoned apartment in my building. It has a piece of masking tape on the door identifying it as "Apt B2". Above, you can see my shadow as I snap a picture of the bathroom. At least the unit has bars in the windows to keep out trespassers....
Apparently, this was once a studio with alcove, much like my own apartment on the 4th floor above. Who knows how long it has been vacant...all that remains is a drop ceiling (obviously a later addition after the building's construction, since no other space, except for the superintendent's 1-BR nearby in the basement, has this sort of ceiling). Instant concrete bags and maintenance equipment is now strewn about the space. The toilet looks as if it hasn't been cleaned in decades, yet it appears that it has been used (given the lack of an odor, it hasn't been used in quite a while).
A nearby vintage sprinkler system valve is dated 1916. I have seen ward maps depicting the building's absence in 1912, and its sudden appearance in 1917. So, I have been able to date the building to 1916, which makes it one of the first buildings in the West Fenway neighborhood, before the building boom there in the late teens and early 1920s, to house soldiers and their families upon returning from service in WWI.
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