Henrique Condominium (Units 1, 3, and 4).
Behind the storefront at 142 Commercial — originally a variety store, now the Adam Peck Gallery — is an imposing old house stretching along Montello Street. The property was acquired in 1925 from John and Mary Ferreira by Francisco Gracia “Frank” Roza (1876-1933) and Mary Augusta (Ferreira) Roza (1886-1958). Mary was born on São Miguel in the Azores. At 17, she arrived in Fall River, a major Portuguese center in the New World, then moved to Plymouth, where she married Frank Roza, who was also Azorean by birth. They soon crossed Cape Cod Bay to settle permanently in Provincetown, where they ran Rosa’s Variety Store at this address. (At least, that was how the name was spelled in a 1931 guide book and a 1933 article in The Advocate.) Mary attained United States citizenship in 1946, when she was 60 years old.
Their daughter Leah Gracie Roza (1911-1992) married the fisherman Anthony Henrique (1908-1970) in 1933, by which time she was running Rosa’s Variety.¹ A 1950 town census showed four adult residents at this address: Leah and Anthony Henrique; Mary Roza; and Mary’s son, Frank Roza, a 37-year-old fisherman. The Henriques’ daughter Dolores (Henrique) Shaw (1937-1990) lived here in the 1980s and 1990s with her children.
The Montello Street facade of 142 Commercial Street, photographed in 2012 by David W. Dunlap, shows how the building grew by accretion from the original gable-roofed house.
Francis Michael “Moon” Henrique, for once on the other side of the Fo’csle bar, in a photograph © by Joel Grozier.
But the best-known resident of 142 Commercial was her brother, Francis Michael “Moon” Henrique (1945-2002), seen in the thumbnail image above, a photograph taken by Joel Grozier. Henrique graduated from Provincetown High School in 1964 and then attended the Cambridge School in Boston, a junior college of business, where he majored in communications. (Renamed Grahm Junior College, the school closed in 1979.)
Henrique was a salesman for the Whitehall Liquor Company and the United Liquor Company in Boston. But what makes him well remembered here were his stints bartending at the Surf Club, 315 Commercial Street; the Old Colony Tap, 323 Commercial Street; and the Fo’csle, 335 Commercial Street. “The sheer joy on Moon’s face as he sang Lady Godiva made it all worthwhile,” Edward Sheridan commented in the My Provincetown Memorabilia Collection group on Facebook. “Great conversation about all Boston athletics and his great sports memory,” Geoffrey Kane said in the same thread.²
“He coached Little League for many years, also umpiring at high school games,” The Cape Cod Times obituary said. “He was an avid sports fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of sports trivia. He liked Broadway musicals as well as his favorite group, Peter, Paul, and Mary.” His widow, Cathleen Cameron (Cook) Henrique, is the parish secretary at St. Peter the Apostle Church. She converted the house into a four unit condominium in 2006.
At this writing, Unit 1, the entire second floor, is owned by a couple from Watertown; Unit 3, the rear of the first floor, is owned by a couple from Boynton Beach, Fl.; and Unit 4, the entire third floor, is owned by someone who actually lives in Provincetown.
¶ Last updated on 1 April 2019.
142 Commercial Street on the Town Map.
Also at 142 Commercial Street:
Adam Peck Gallery | Henrique Condominium (Unit 2).
Thumbnail image: Photo of Francis Michael “Moon” Henrique at the Fo’csle © by Joel Grozier.
David L. Mayo wrote on 8 August 2011: Leah’s son, Michael “Moon” Henrique was a bartender at the Old Colony Tap and a beloved native of the town. He renovated the family home and died at a young age.
For further reading online
• Francis Michael “Moon” Henrique (1945-2002)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 192292804.
• Leah Gracie (Roza) Henrique (1911-1992)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 106334257.
• Francisco Gracia “Frank” Roza (1876-1933)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 196068379.
• Mary Augusta (Ferreira) Roza (1886-1958)
Find a Grave Memorial No. 128970365.
¹ “Wedding; Rosa-Henrique,” The Provincetown Advocate, 21 September 1933.
² Both comments posted on 20 December 2018.