Member-only story
How the Holy Ghost Hospital for Incurables ate Magnolia Avenue
This one bugged me enough to set off an entire inquiry.
In 1970, I shared an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with eight other young people. I was the only one who had my own room. I was 17, working two jobs, a regular day gig in an office and a night shift in a restaurant, where I also ate and socialized. I also had a girlfriend who was a senior in college and a car I bought for $100. Rent on the place was $40 a month. I was king of the world.
I remembered the address as 24 1/2 Magnolia Ave. I loved the idea of having a half address. Like what even is that? One of my good pals, Jim Wrathall, who also lived there, was reminiscing about it the other day and dropped the number 25 1/2. I was shocked. Had my memory failed me that badly? I really wanted to settle that number. I looked around. I could find no address book with it, nor any letters from anyone with it on the envelope, and no one among the people I knew then who are still around who could remember it (other than Jim). I had a feeling he was right, but wanted to track it down.
Now, here’s the thing. That address no longer exists. The block in mid-Cambridge that Magnolia was on is mostly occupied today by Cambridge City Hospital, which has been expanding over the years. Sometime after 1970, the last few houses on Magnolia were knocked down as part of an expansion of the hospital parking lot. Later, they were rebuilt, and on the corner where I’m pretty sure our apartment was today stands number 25. No half.
I called the Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, who passed me off to the Assessors Office, and a fairly brusque person there said, yes, there was a 25 1/2, and also a 37 1/2, and few other halfs on Magnolia as of 1952. I figured, the 25 1/2 was probably ours. Most people would have let it go at that.
But I hadn’t yet placed the number with the specific geography. It took Google Street Views for me to ascertain that, yes, that one on the corner was ours. My room looked out on Hovey Ave. I remember seeing people walking by.
I went back to the Assessors, and the person put me on hold indefinitely.
