Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Remember the flocks of pigeons that hung around inside Sullivan Square Station? Here are some memories of the old Sullivan Square station.

“I was young and in my memories looking back it’s like a black and white Vincent Price movie. The human turnstiles were murderous looking, the steel screeching wheels filled the air as pigeons took wing, enough to make you look up and dripping water if it was raining. Or is my memory real? Maybe it was a movie?”

“Remember standing on the platform waiting for a bus and the whole floor would shake as busses rolled by.”

“Oh yes. Always knew when the train was coming, even by the sound of the wheels screeching on the tracks as it came around the corner.”

“Back in the day, the old Sullivan station was known as one of the biggest stations in the world. I Remember it. I sold newspapers at the top of the ramp and sold paper to the people getting off the bus to get on the train”

Someone remembers a sign that said, “NO LOITERING, NO SPITTING.”

“Going in town to do Christmas shopping. By the time you got back to Sullivan with all your goodies you’d still have to wait for a bus to Winter Hill. I remember how cold it was in there, but fond memories of me and my mum.”

“I remember this that the entrance coming into Sullivan Square from Boston Hood’s milk with the big milk bottle was on the left. When I saw the Hoods milk bottle I knew we were almost home.”

“I remember Sullivan Station and taking the trains and the rattle and it bounced from one side of the tracks.”

“I remember the big wooden turnstiles before the platform.”

“Didn’t use Sullivan Sq., but I do remember the nasty smell at Lechmere.”

“Going way back, I remember the elevated tracks going out of it into Boston, and the pigeons were all over the place.”

Lots of people remember those physical structures and conditions but it’s the personal memories that link us to a particular place. I remember my father taking us into town and hearing the screeching and feeling the rumbling and of course the pigeons and the odor.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the story. It’s such a contrast considering the new stations that are opening up. Let’s hope we can keep the pigeons, rabbits and rats out of the new stations.