Al Mac's Diner--Restaurant | |
Invalid designation | |
Location | 135 President Ave., Fall River, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°42′58.3″N71°09′14.3″W / 41.716194°N 71.153972°W |
Built | 1953 |
Architect | DeRaffele Diners |
Architectural style | Art Deco or Streamline |
MPS | Diners of Massachusetts MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 99001119 [1] |
Added to NRHP | December 20, 1999 |
Al Mac's Diner-Restaurant is an historic restaurant building at 135 President Avenue in Fall River, Massachusetts. It is an example of the stainless steel diners in Massachusetts, with rectangular massing, a flat roof, a projecting center entry vestibule, and rear kitchen wing.
The diner was built in 1953 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Al McDermott (the Al Mac of the diner's name) started his business providing food and drink to Fall River mill workers from a horse-drawn wagon in 1910. McDermott opened several diners along the Northeast, including this one in 1953. [2] The diner's original location was where Brightman Street Bridge sits currently.[ citation needed ] Then it was moved to the current site of Bicentennial Park; later it was moved directly across Davol Street. [3]
The diner was closed in July 2012, due to the tough economic climate. [4] [5] After extensive cleaning and repair, the diner re-opened early 2013 under new management, with owner Robert Dunse as the chef, and Zachary Tenen as sous chef. [2]
In 2019, The Dunse family sold the business to Cliff Ponte, current president of the Fall River City Council/former acting mayor, and his family. The local businessman and politician hired his father, Cliff Ponte Sr., to run the business. Ponte has cleaned up and refurbished the diner.
Al Mac's is a favorite stop for politicians on and off the campaign trail. [6] This list includes Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President William Bulger, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, and the late Senator Ted Kennedy. Kennedy in particular paid many visits to the diner over his long service as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Coakley stopped at Al Mac's on Election Day during the 2010 Senate special election in Massachusetts. Footage showing her visit was broadcast on CNN and other major news networks covering the election.
Route 79 is a 18.47-mile-long (29.72 km) state highway in southeastern Massachusetts. The route had formerly began as a highway in Fall River, also known as the Fall River Viaduct and Western Fall River Expressway, before becoming a more rural route further north. The southern expressway portion of the route was permanently closed by MassDOT in 2023 for conversion into a street level urban boulevard.
Shawmut Diner is an historic diner formerly located at 943 Shawmut Avenue in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The Lower Highlands Historic District encompasses one of the oldest residential areas of Fall River, Massachusetts. The district is roughly bounded by Cherry, Main, Winter, and Bank Streets, and is located just east of the Downtown Fall River Historic District and directly south of the Highlands Historic District. This area was settled by 1810, has architecture tracing the city's growth as a major industrial center. The historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Mechanics Mill is an historic cotton textile mill located at 1082 Davol Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.
The William C. Davol Jr. House is a historic house located at 252 High Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Corky Row Historic District is a historic district located in Fall River, Massachusetts bounded by Plymouth Avenue, Interstate-195 and Second Street. The district contains many early multi-family mill tenement houses, along with the Davol Mills, the Tecumseh Mill No. 1 and several commercial properties.
Davol School is a historic school at 112 Flint Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was built in 1892 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The eight room elementary schoolhouse was designed by notable city architect Joseph M. Darling, on the same plan as Connell School located on Plymouth Avenue. The brick Romanesque Revival structure is two stories in height, with a projecting entry section that is topped by a square tower with an open belfry and pyramidal roof. The school was built during a major expansion of the school system, increasing the number of classrooms by 20%.
The Highlands Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by June, Cherry, and Weetamoe Streets, Lincoln, Highland, President, North Main, and Hood Avenues in Fall River, Massachusetts. The district lies just north of the Lower Highlands Historic District.
William M. Connell School is a historic school located at 650 Plymouth Avenue in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was built in 1893 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was designed by notable city architect Joseph M. Darling on the same plan as the Davol School. The school is named after William Connell, who served as the city's Superintendent of Schools from 1872 to 1894.
The Salem Diner is a historic diner in Salem, Massachusetts. It is one of two Sterling Streamliner diners left in Massachusetts, and still stands at its original location. Designated car #4106, it was also one of the last made by the Sterling Company before it closed its doors in 1942. The diner body features a wood frame and porcelain enamel exterior. It has a metal hipped barrel roof, and its eastern end features a characteristic shovel nose. The roofline is decorated by a fin shape that serves as a backdrop for the diner's neon signage. It is mounted on a foundation that is predominantly concrete blocks, with some glass blocks interspersed. Its main entrance is centered on the long side, and is now sheltered by a modern glass vestibule added c. 1960.
Ann's Diner is a historic diner at 11 Bridge Road in Salisbury, Massachusetts, United States.
The Corner Lunch Diner is a historic diner at 133 Lamartine Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1955 and moved to Worcester in 1968, it is the largest diner in the city, and a rare example in New England of remodeling work done by the Musi Dining Car Company of Carteret, New Jersey. The diner was built c. 1955 by DeRaffele Diners of New Rochelle, New York, and first installed in Babylon, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The Road Island Diner is a rare classic Streamline Moderne 60' x 16' Art Deco diner car restaurant located in the remote mountain city of Oakley, Utah, in the United States. It was prefabricated as diner # 1107 in 1939 at the Elizabeth, New Jersey, factory of the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company.
The Savoy Hotel and Grill was a historic hotel and restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri. The Savoy Hotel was the oldest continuously operating hotel in the United States west of the Mississippi River until it closed in 2016 to undergo extensive renovation by 21c Museum Hotels and reopened in 2018. In 1974 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Savoy Hotel and Grill". It is now called "21c Museum Hotel Kansas City".
The Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was a manufacturer of roadside diners from 1917 to 1952. The company produced some 2,000 of the long, narrow, primarily metal buildings, perhaps more than any other firm. Prefabricated in a factory and trucked to their locations, the diners resemble and are often confused with railroad rolling stock. The company's motto was "In our line, we lead the world".
Tanpopo Ramen and Sake Bar is a historic diner in Albany, New York, built in 1941 and located at 893 Broadway, one of the oldest streets in Albany. Used as a set for the 1987 film Ironweed, which starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
Hartwell & Swasey was a short-lived 19th-century architectural firm in Boston, Massachusetts. The partnership between Henry Walker Hartwell (1833-1919) and Albert E. Swasey, Jr. lasted from the late-1860s to 1877, when Swasey went on his own. In 1881, Hartwell formed a partnership with William Cummings Richardson – Hartwell and Richardson – that lasted until his death.
Josiah Brown (1816–1875) was an architect and civil and mill engineer of Fall River, Massachusetts. Among his major surviving projects are the Union Mill No. 1 (1859) and Border City Mill No. 2 (1873), both in Fall River.
Davol Mills is a historic textile mill complex located at the corner of Plymouth Avenue and Rodman Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was built in 1867 and expanded in 1871. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as part of the Corky Row Historic District The red brick mills are unique in the city, built in the Second Empire style.
Its original location was directly across Davol Street where the Bicentennial Park is now located.
Owner Norm Gauthier confirmed Monday the diner that he has owned for 23 years and has been part of the Fall River landscape since 1910 is closed.
The iconic President Avenue establishment hung up a permanent "closed" sign late last month, a victim of the tough economic climate, owner Norm Gauthier said.