During the mid-twentieth century, several diners dotted Holyoke's landscape for about 40 years. These included the Ross Diner, Holyoke Diner, Rene's Diner, and another informally known as the King of Diners, which will be the subject of a future post. The Puritan Diner, located at 1608 Northampton St, operated in Holyoke for 35 years.
The Puritan Diner was situated just south of Shawmut Avenue. It was constructed in 1928 by the Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Mass., which produced passenger coaches and streetcars in the 19th and 20th centuries. For its time, the Puritan Diner was considered the latest in restaurant buildings and a self-contained unit.
Robert Everett Newcomb, a Holyoke native and Cornell University Mechanical Engineering graduate, owned the Puritan Diner. From 1908 to 1929, he was employed as a mill superintendent for the Deane Works of Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation. He held several patents for variable-speed electric motors.
He also owned the Puritan Gas Company, a distributor of gasoline lubricating and fuel oils to industrial concerns throughout New England. A gasoline station was located at High/Maple/South Streets, and when the diner was built, a second station was erected adjacent to it at 1600 Northampton Street.
Mr. Newcomb first leased the diner to George F. Young, a resident of Sommerville, Mass., and a graduate of Holy Cross College. From this point forward, he either operated or leased the business to various restauranteurs into the early 1960s. The restaurant operated on a 24-hour schedule until World War II.
Probably the most notable leasee was restauranteur Nathan Hatez. Mr. Hatez operated the Puritan Diner from 1946 to 1952. Thereafter, he operated the Star Restaurant at the corner of High and Essex Streets, the In-Wee-Go Drive-In on Northampton Highway, Gus' Diner on Northampton Street, and Lang's on Main Street.
The Puritan Diner building was expanded to accommodate additional seating in 1939.
In the early 1960s, a lessee encountered significant legal problems, and the restaurant was closed for some time. Hopes were renewed when new operators from Vermont reopened the restaurant in January 1963; however, in March 1963, the diner closed. It was demolished in 1964 to make way for the expansion of a neighboring gas station.
Source of news articles: Newspapers.com (paid subscription); Citations Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript-Telegram: publication dates are shown.
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