Mass Street Music at 1347 Massachusetts
Street has been known as a musician's haven for years. It is known for
its affordable guitars and its leniency about playing the instruments.
Few people in Lawrence know the long history of this artistic icon.
Vick's Place, a confectionery store, a kind of "turn of the century
7-11," opened in the year 1900. Owned by the Keller family who made
it into a home and business, Victor Keller and his wife Ada were later
married in their building. Before they moved to Lawrence, the Keller family
lived in Iowa. Several years after the business began they sold the building
and moved back to the original home in Iowa. It has been used mainly as
a home until its present owner.
Vick's was a brick building
held with mortar and much smaller than it is now. Today, it is covered
in stucco. The old look of the building is intentional, although it is
over 100 years old. The original building has been added onto. The guitar
room on the ground floor was not there originally. The acoustic room and
repair room upstairs have also been added. Owner Jim Baggett says, "I
added on a whole other building to the first one."
The building known as Mass Street Music has more history than people realize.
It has, however, always been a place for people to go and have fun; be
it for food and drink or musical freedom.
Mass Street Music sits on the west side of Massachusetts Street facing east. This is how it appears from across the street.
Clerks pose outside the building in 1900, the year it was built and Vick's Place opened. Photo courtesy of James Baggett.
