Former H. J. Mills Paper Box Company

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The Box Man's Legacy: How H. J. Mills Went from Match Boxes to a Parking Lot There is a community parking lot in downtown Bristol, Connecticut, that does not look like much. Cars pull in, cars pull out. The lot sits in the middle of the business district, unremarkable by any measure, crossed underneath by a culverted stream called Ivy Brook that runs east to west beneath the pavement. For twenty-three years before the asphalt went down, this ground held a burned ruin, then a vacant lot, then weeds so thick and deep that homeless people took shelter in them. Before any of that, for 120 years, it held a factory. The man who built that factory also ran a newspaper, served in the state legislature, belonged to the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Bristol Lodge of Elks, and the Hartford Gun Club, and died in 1933, leaving behind a house that still stands on Summer Street. His name was Herbert J. Mills. His company made cardboard boxes. And al...
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25th Anniversary of Notorious B.I.G.

 







Two weeks ago we remember the passing of Brooklyn's Notorious B.I.G. I took a tour of the murals dedicated to the rap artist synonymous with East Coast hip hop/rap culture. On March 9, 1997, Biggie Smalls was murdered in yet a still-unsolved case at the young age of 24. Six months after his rival in the rap game Tupac Shakur met a similar fate. March 9 marks the 25 anniversary of his untimely death.

The "King of New York" mural was nearly destroyed in 2017 when the landlord of the two-story building wanted to renovate it but local community members and even the Mayor's office banded together to prevent the destruction. The mural was created in 2015 by Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott "Zimer" Zimmerman.







In addition, I strolled up to the very steps Christopher Wallace would have walked back and forth from. The building housed the apartment he grew up in. Just down the block is another mural on the side of a barbershop and a new mural on the corner pharmacy.








Also found in Bushwick Brooklyn the Biggie Smalls mural by Danielle Mastrion is outfitted with the iconic colorful sweater and dark shade fit.







Finally, I could not capture the anniversary murals located on the rolled-down gates of Fine Care Pharmacy located on Fulton Street. However, across the street, there is the black and white mural on the Respect For Life Beauty World barbershop.




Sources:



1. Walker, Ameena, "The Notorious B.I.G. mural in Bed-Stuy won't come down after all", May 23, 2017, NY Curbed

2. Alexandrauzik, "Street Art Candy: The Notorious B.I.G. by Danielle Mastrion", November 11, 2013, BushwickDaily

3. Quinn, Anna, "See: New Biggie Smalls Murals Unveiled in Brooklyn", March 10, 2022, Patch

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