By Alison Barnet
Recently I was startled to see that the building that replaced Morse Fish is called The EL. Could that possibly refer to the elevated Orange Line that used to run on Washington Street? Yes, it does.
Although I’ve missed the El every day of my life since it was torn down in 1987, I would not memorialize it with a high-rise condo building. And I think it’s ironic that it’s right across the street from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, which couldn’t have been more negative about the train.
Roman Catholics believed the Yankee transit authority had built the El to thwart them—a story that still circulates. As the El ran down the middle of Washington Street, it tilted toward the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, and parishioners claimed its roar interrupted mass.
When I went to the Greek festival at St. John the Baptist’s church the other day, I saw a large ad for The El, showing grills and patio furniture on the roof with the tower of the Cathedral in the background. Nothing about St. John’s. Didn’t the church protest the blocking of its windows?
There have been several big losses in recent South End history, including the Harriet Tubman House, the South End library, and Morse Fish. Wouldn’t “The Morse” or “The Fish” have been the new name, given what’s going on with South End names?
History is getting stranger and stranger. The Quinzani Bakery site is The Quinn, a building on Harrison Ave.“The Harris.” There’s The Lucas (Holy Trinity Church), The Cosmopolitan (Immaculate Conception Church), Ink Block and SoWa.
Joking around in Olympia Flower the other day, I was saying that if a tower went up there—God forbid—it would probably be called The Olymp. Foodie’s would become The Foo, the Animal Rescue League’ s new building The Animal (sounds like mafia), the Buttery The Butt and Washington Street The Wash. Pineapple can stay.Alison Barnet is a South End resident and author of four books.