Faded “ghost signs” of Boston’s past now being restored on West End buildings
By Aaron Parseghian
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BOSTON (WBZ) — While skyscrapers define much of Boston’s skyline, a closer look reveals remnants of the city’s industrial past, including faded advertisements painted on brick buildings.
That’s what caught the attention of West End resident Brian Egdahl, who noticed a barely visible hand-painted mural across the alley from his apartment.
“[I was] just kind of sitting in front of the desk looking across the alley and seeing this interesting hand-painted mural that you could barely really make out,” Egdahl said.
What is a “ghost sign?” The worn paint, a so-called “ghost sign,” prompted Egdahl to contact the West End Museum in hopes of restoring the historic feature.
“These reminders of the neighborhood’s industrial history, especially as it becomes a residential neighborhood now, are really valuable,” said Sebastian Belfanti, the West End Museum’s executive director.
Egdahl then found brothers Jack and Eli Williams on social media. The pair from North Carolina has been restoring murals and ghost signs since 2015. Their business and passion have picked up with steady commission work since the pandemic.
“They’re old advertisements that were painted on the sides of brick buildings, and they’re called ghost signs because they kind of leave a ghostly past of what businesses used to be there,” Jack said.
About 80 feet above the ground, three signs dating back to the late 1800s are now being carefully restored. What makes this project unique is that one of the companies featured in the signs is still in business.
“Holding onto that history is great” Tewksbury-based Holt & Bugbee, a family-owned lumber company that recently marked 200 years in operation, once had a warehouse at the site off Friend Street.
“It just means a lot to the people in our business. People are really excited about it. They get a lot of pride,” said Ben Pierce, who said the company first found out there was an old advertisement on the building when they were taking a Duck Boat tour of the city.
When Pierce was contacted by the group, he said it was no-brainer to help finance the sign’s restoration.
“I just had a child. I have a one-and-a-half-year-old boy. And that sign would have been gone in a couple of years. So it’s really nice that it’s going to be around for probably the rest of his life,” Pierce said.
For two weeks, the Williams brothers are working high above the street, using lifts, brushes and paint to revive the historic artwork.
Beyond restoring signs, the project is helping reconnect the West End, much of which was razed in the 1950s, with its past and its future.
“There’s still some kind of work to get people aware of the fact [they’re in the West End neighborhood] and projects like this help that happen,” Belfanti said. “It’s great that it is becoming a residential neighborhood, but it’s obviously a change and kind of holding onto that history is great.”
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