Off Shore Muse

The Boston Store

Erie, Pennsylvania

Circa 1950s

Meet Me Under the Clock

"Meet me under the clock", inside the store on the first floor .. a phrase that is sure to stir up fond memories of a longtime Erie landmark .. The Boston Store.

Black and white wooden road sign mile markers told motorists every 15 miles how far they were from this downtown Erie department store, the shopping destination before plazas and malls changed the landscape, forever! Many former Erie residents requested a mile marker that read the distance from their own home. The Boston Store was happy to oblige with perhaps the farthest being in St. Paul, Minnesota which read 932 miles to the Boston Store in Erie. In the 1930s the Boston Store placed these black and white signs every few miles on fifteen major roads leading to Erie. They were first made of cypress, then redwood and alumnium. In 1971, the Boston Store was required to remove all the signs as the result of the Highway Beautification Act which prohibited their placement near the roads though people wanted to remove the signs themselves and keep them as souvenirs! As a result, there are more than likely many throughout Erie area in resident homes being displayed, today! Do you know anyone with one of these nostalgic sign?

Boston Store Shoppers

Circa 1930s

The Boston Store, originally known as the Erie Dry Goods store, opened in 1884 located at 1604 Peach Street. The Erie Dry Goods failed in 1885 and a New York Company Sibley, Lindsay & Curr, owners of Sibley's Department Store in Rochester, New York purchased the Erie store. Locals in Rochester called Sibley's "The Boston Store" which was apparently the reason for the name change.

In 1887, the store moved to 718 State Street, site of the old Warner Brothers Theater. By the late 1920s, the Boston Store expanded in size to have frontage on the four surrounding streets .. 7th and 8th, State and Peach. Renovations in 1931 and again from 1949 to 1953 increased the size of the store from three stories to five and eventually six. In 1953, modern escalators were installed and by 1966, air conditioning and sprinklers on every floor. The building's landmark clock tower topped off the structure.

Clock Tower

Boston Store on Right

Christmas on State Street

Circa 1960s

Erie Pennyslvania

Erie Dry Goods Co. During the Holiday Season

Notice the Large Street Level Window Displays

Ad in City Directory

Circa 1968

The Boston Store is a former department store located on State Street in downtown Erie, PA. The store was found in 1885 with the building being constructed in 1929. At its peak, two other Boston Stores were opened in addition to the downtown store. The Boston Store closed in 1979 and the building remained abandoned until 1988 when it was renovated into a combination of 125 apartments on the upper five floors and a commercial building. It was then renamed Boston Store Place. On September 22, 2016 a casual pub and eatery opened on the ground floor.

The Boston Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 24, 1996. The Boston Store was bought by Associated Dry Goods in 1959. Management of the Boston Store was assumed by Horne's Department Store of Pittsburgh in December 1975.

Due to the loss of sales caused by competition from the Millcreek mall in nearby Millcreek Township, the Boston Store was closed on July 7, 1979 though the Boston Store did open branches at the West Erie Plaza in 1968 and at the Millcreek Mall in 1974.

A Friendly Cashier Waiting to Assist Customers

The Easel facing the Women indicates a Store Contest was being held.

It was a gentleman by the name of Elisha H. Mark who bought the bankrupt Erie Dry Goods Store. Mack renamed the store after Boston, Massachusetts, then the "perceived center of fashion and culture". The store was moved from its original location on Peach Street to the 700 block of State Street in 1886.

The Boston Store had a cafeteria in the basement and a dining room on the 6th floor which many shoppers recall to this day!