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61 Atlantic Ave. might be small, but its bright red color makes it stand out among the bigger buildings along the stretch. (Emma Fringuelli)

Historic Building of the Week: Thomas McCool Tobacco & Variety Store

February 20, 2024 by Emma Fringuelli

61 Atlantic Ave. was on the tiny-house trend before it was cool.

In the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS), the building is also referred to as the Thomas McCool Tobacco & Variety Store. While that is not what the building is now, if we turn back the pages, it leads us somewhere.

In the Marblehead 1881 atlas from the Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds, Atlantic Avenue is not as long as it is today, and some streets do not even exist yet. However, in the area that would become the Atlantic Avenue we know today, a chunk of land has the name M. McCoole written on it.

The MACRIS record says that this “M.” was Michael McCoole, a ropemaker from Ireland. He, along with his wife, Margaret, brother John, and other family members lived in a building that no longer exists.

After Margaret died, the house was occupied by her son Peter and his wife. While they were the residents at the family home, just a little down the road Thomas, Peter’s older brother, was “operating a cigar and tobacco shop in the subject building by 1890.” Hence the historical name, Thomas McCool Tobacco & Variety Store.

The Marblehead atlas from 1912 shows not only the developing streets in Marblehead but also the various properties in the McCool name. The family home in which Peter, his wife, and Thomas lived is marked as belonging to the M. J. McCool heirs as well as 61 Atlantic Ave.

After Thomas died in 1915, Peter’s daughter Ellie took over the business, according to MACRIS. She is listed as a resident of the Atlantic Avenue family home in the 1920 census, along with her father and two sisters.

According to MACRIS, the store was reopened after a brief vacancy. The new owner was Francis Michael Devine, who, according to the 1940 census, was a foreman at the Electric Light Company.

The property of 61 Atlantic Ave. then made its way into Elizabeth Keily’s hands. Keily, according to the 1910 census, was an English shoemaker who lived in town. She would be the one to convert the building into a residence.

Though the Thomas McCool Tobacco & Variety Store is a small building, it does not have a short history. Perhaps it is true that good things — at least, interesting things — come in small packages.

  • Emma Fringuelli

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