Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 X State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested - Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register - Federal agency - previously determined eligible by the National - Local government Register _ Universit - designated a National Historic Landmark Other - recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # Name of repository: _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #. Shawmut Diner Name of Property 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property Bristol County, Massachusetts County and State less than one acre UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1.
19 337840 4613530 Zone Easting Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 3. Zone Easting 4. Zone Easting - See continuation sheet 11. Form Prepared By name/title. Kathleen Kelly Broomer, consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC organization. Massachusetts Historical Commission_ date _October, 2003 street & number_ 220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town. Boston _state MA zip code 02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name Philip Paleologos / ANP Realty Trust street & number 943 Shawmut Avenue Northing Northing _ telephone 508-993-3073 city or town New Bedford _ state_MA _ zip code 02746 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. 10-90) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 7 1 Section number Page OMB No. 1024-0018 The Diners of Massachusetts MPS Shawmut Diner New Bedford (Bristol Co.), MA 7.
Description Shawmut Diner, 943 Shawmut Avenue, New Bedford (1953) (MHC# 2262) is a fine example of a post-World War II stainless steel diner in Massachusetts, manufactured by Jerry O'Mahony Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Shawmut occupies one corner of a major commercial intersection in north central New Bedford near State Route 140, a limited- access highway. The diner is set back from the street with parking on all sides. Rectangular in massing, the steel-frame diner is nine bays wide and three bays deep, excluding the rounded front corners. The building has a brick foundation, stainless steel cladding with black vertical bands, and a stainless steel parapet wall at the monitor roof. As is common with stainless steel diners from the post-World War Il era, the Shawmut has a pair of steel and glass entries located in a projecting center vestibule.
Windows in the diner are steel-rimmed and contain fixed plate glass. Rooftop neon signage reads SHAWMUT DINER and includes a depiction of a Native American, also rendered in neon. At the rear of the prefabricated diner is a one-story, stucco and concrete block that is two bays deep and houses the kitchen and restrooms. This rear block is a typical feature of post-World War Il diners, and its presence does not compromise the integrity of the prefabricated section. On the interior, there is booth seating along the front (east) wall and table seating along the side walls. The full-length counter has staff entrances at the center and on each side. The grill is in the back bar area, but most of the cooking is done in the kitchen at the rear, which is reached by way of a pair of steel swinging doors.
To the right (north) of the counter is the entrance to restrooms, which also are located in the rear block. Immediately left (south) of the counter is a glass-enclosed booth, from which the owner's weekday morning radio show is broadcast (see significance). A cashier's area is located just inside the interior door. The manufacturer's tag, which survives on the interior stainless steel door, reads JERRY O'MAHONY INC., ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY. The monitor ceiling is finished in beige enamel and steel. Tables have steel legs and are topped with laminate in a faux marble finish. The counter displays a finish similar to that of the tabletops on both the top and the apron. There are fourteen steel counter stools. Both booths and counter stools are upholstered in vinyl. Behind the counter, the back bar features steel wall panels with sunburst motif and steel cabinets.
Centered over the swinging doors to the rear kitchen is a stainless steel-rimmed clock. Walls have the same white, faux marble finish as the counter and tabletops. The floor retains its terrazzo tile in grey-green and dark green; the footrest at the counter is similarly finished. Archaeological Description While no ancient Native American resources are located on the property, sites may be present. Four sites are located in the general area (within one mile). Undisturbed environmental characteristics of the property have been obscured or destroyed by grading, filling, and historic building construction. Natural soils in the area may have been well drained, but are now characterized by udorthents and urban land whose physical characteristics are unknown. A level to moderately sloping landscape currently characterizes the property that is more than 1,000 feet from the nearest wetlands.
Given the above information, the potential for recovering significant archaeological resources on the property, both (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7/8 Page 2/1 OMB No. 1024-0018 The Diners of Massachusetts MPS Shawmut Diner New Bedford (Bristol Co.), MA ancient Native American and historic, is low. The relatively small size of the property (less than one-half acre) combined with impacts associated with construction of the diner, utilities, and parking on the site precludes the survival of archaeological sites that pre-date the diner at this location. No earlier historic buildings have been identified at this site. (end) 8.
Statement of Significance New Bedford's Shawmut Diner (1953) is a fine example of a post-World War II stainless steel diner in Massachusetts, and one of only about a dozen diners in the state manufactured by Jerry O'Mahony Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Shawmut is one of just two diners extant in New Bedford, a city that boasted at least ten diners in the years following World War II (the other extant diner in New Bedford is the Orchid Diner). The Shawmut Diner also is significant historically for its long association with the Mello family of New Bedford. Retaining integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, the Shawmut Diner meets Criteria A and C of the National Register at the local and state levels. The Shawmut Diner has been a fixture in New Bedford since its arrival in 1953.
The 1952 street directory for New Bedford shows the diner site as vacant. Its history in 1953 and 1954 is sketchy due to lack of primary sources, but it is known that Joaquim Mello and Mrs. Mary Mello operated the diner in 1955, according to the city directory of that year. The Mello family resided at 210 Hathaway Road, between Shirley and Ayer, two blocks west of the diner, which occupies the southwest corner of Shawmut Avenue and Hathaway Road. At least ten other diners were operating in New Bedford in 1955. Mrs. Mary Mello ran the Shawmut Diner until at least 1971, according to city directories. Long a center for textile manufacturing in southeastern Massachusetts, New Bedford was in a state of economic decline after World War II.
Poor management in many local textile mills, coupled with labor strikes, cheaper manufacturing costs in the South, and the onset of a nationwide depression in the late 1920s, had led to the closure of most of the local tactories. [Clayton and Whitley, 21-28] One boost to the local economy during these years, however, was the New Bedford airport on the northern outskirts of the city's central business district. The first commercial operations at the airport began in 1942. Later that year, the airport was transferred to the federal government for military use. In 1947, ownership reverted to the city. The administration and terminal building was completed in 1951.
[New Bedford Regional Airport report] The Shawmut Diner (1953) is situated on a main access route between the municipal airport and the city's business district, about one mile south of the administration and terminal building en route to downtown New Bedford. The manufacturer of Shawmut Diner, Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was one of the leading diner manufacturers in the country. According to diner historian Richard Gutman, many dining car builders got their start with the company. O'Mahony produced "hundreds of diners in numerous styles too diverse to recap." [Gutman, 235-236] The Shawmut is one of about a dozen O'Mahony diners still in Massachusetts. Most, like the Shawmut, are stainless steel diners built after World War II.
(continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8/9/1ยบ Page 2/1 OMB No. 1024-0018 The Diners of Massachusetts MPS Shawmut Diner New Bedford (Bristol Co.), MA In 1981, Phil and Celeste Paleologos purchased and rehabilitated the diner. The Shawmut is the site of America's only radio show broadcasting from a diner, America, Good Morning - Live from the Shawmut Diner. Phil Paleologos, a thirty- year veteran of radio and television, hosts the weekday morning show, which features live news, sports, comedy, and commentary. Syndicated on the Talk America Radio Network, the show broadcasts to more than one hundred affiliates coast to coast. (end) 9. Major Bibliographical References Bradley, James W., et al. Historic and Archaeological Resources of Southeast Massachusetts.
Boston: Office of the Massachusetts Secretary of State, 1982 (reprinted 1985). Clayton, Barbara and Kathleen Whitley. Guide to New Bedford. Chester, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press, 1979. Cultrera, Larry. "Diner Hotline: Shawmut Diner goes coast to coast." Society for Commercial Archeology Journal (Fall 1998), p.32. Diner Finder Deluxe: Massachusetts. Watertown, MA: Coffee Cup Publications, 1991. Gutman, Richard J. S. American Diner Then and Now. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. Manning's New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts Directory. 1952, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1971. New Bedford, City of. "New Bedford Regional Airport Improvements Project. Purpose and Need Statement, 2.1 Historical Airport Activity." Via www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us. Web site for The Shawmut Diner and America, Good Morning (www.dinershow.com). (end) 10.
Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying detail of the City of New Bedford assessors' map 95, lot 233. Boundary Justification The boundary includes the land associated with Shawmut Diner since its placement on the site in 1953.
(end) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME: Shawmut Diner MULTIPLE NAME: Diners of Massachusetts MPS STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Bristol DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 10/14/03 11/21/03 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 11/05/03 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 11/28/03 REFERENCE NUMBER: 03001208 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: OTHER : REQUEST: N SAMPLE: DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N LACCEPT RETURN REJECT 11.28.03 DATE ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS : N N N ntered in the National Register RECOM. / CRITERIA REVIEWER TELEPHONE DOCUMENTATION DISCIPLINE DATE attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N Diners of mass. MPS Shawmut Diner 943 shawmut Ave New Bedford, Bristol county, wass.
KK Broomer Neg:MHC september 2001 Puoto 1of2 16A-7 Dikers of mass. MPS Shawomut Diner 943 Shawmut Ave New Bedford, Bristol county, wass. KK Broomer Neg: MHC September 2001 Photo2of2 XII/ZA The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission October 8, 2003 Ms. Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW, 8" floor Washington, DC 20005 RECEIVED 2280 OCT | 4 2003 Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Shawmut Diner, 943 Shawmut Avenue, New Bedford (Bristol), MA (The Diners of Massachusetts MPS) The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer.
The owners of the property were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 60 to 90 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, Betry Friedhey Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission Enclosure CC: Kathleen Kelly Broomer, consultant Antone Souza, New Bedford Historical Commission, CLG Coordinator ANP Realty Trust David A. Kennedy, City Planner Frederick Kalisz, Jr., Mayor, City of New Bedford 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.state.ma.us/sec/mhc
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