Lechmere

The station at the north end of the Green Line on The T. Located in downtown Cambridge, MA at the north end of First Street. Within a block of the Cambridgeside Galleria Mall, formerly the site of the Lechmere department store that was the most well-known place with this name.

The Lechmere Canal is also located here. Long ago the canal was a port for shipping industrial products produced here; later it became polluted by industrial wastes. In the 1970s environmentalist efforts resulted in cleaning the canal, and now it serves as a minor tourist attraction, with a large fountain and sightseeing boats which leave from near one side of the mall.

verb

To purchase goods with the intent to return. Usage: "My dad lechmered an 802.11b hub while I'm home for Christmas."

Based on the department store of the same name's liberal return policy -- accepting anything for return in 30 days -- lechmering was a popular activity among East Cambridge denizens (especially students at MIT). Items lechmered included large television sets for the Super Bowl, stereo systems for parties, and vacuum cleaners to prepare for visiting parents. Rumor tells of students who would exchange their stereo system every four weeks for their entire college stay, leaving school with a brand new stereo -- bought four years prior.

Lechmere has, unfortunately for many, gone out of business, but the practice remains where there are stores with liberal return policies.

The Northern end of the green line. One of the few parts of Lechmere Square that still carries the name of the British loyalist the land was seized from. The start for the “E” Branch trains. A one track station using a balloon loop to travel both ways. A rickety old station that opened on July 2, 1922 and has served as a subway, cable car, bus station, meeting place, and whatever else people needed.

This year the station is expected to be closed and replaced with the new “Lechmere Station at North Point”. All part of a large development project. Progress is needed but I am going to miss standing outside on a foot-wide platform in a wooden open air station that looks more like everyone is waiting for the next roller-coaster train at Whalom Park (let us not even get into that lost nostalgia) then for the, sometimes over-packed and often times frustrating, green line. Except in the winter, no one likes freezing outside.