Lizzie Borden B&B Fall River, Mass

I was hoping to mention the Lizzie Borden B&B around Halloween and I will probably bring it up again in October, but I found a few pictures I took when I was there, and thought now would be a good time to put them up.

I love creepy, weird, strange tourist attractions. I love them. This one is a bit of an ultimate destination when it comes to the weird.

There are absolutely no connections to Kentucky with this house in Fall River Massachusetts. You can't do this one in a weekend trip. It is a nice stop on your trip through New England though.

I think we all know the story. If you are not familiar with the story, let me give you the basics. On August 4th, 1892, Lizzie's father and her step mother were found dead, both murdered by hatchet. Lizzie found her father first in a downstairs living room area. The family doctor later found the dead stepmother.

Lizzie was one of two people around the the house (and she give different statements about where she was at different times). Bridget Sullivan, the family servant,was also in on the Borden property. Lizzie's sister Emma was away, and came to the house days later after learning about the murders through the media.

There was a trial which sold a lot of newspapers at the time. Lizzie was eventually acquitted and no other person was ever tried for the murders.








The Borden sisters moved out of the murder house shortly after the trial. About 12 years later, in 1905, the two sisters had a fight, and Emma moved out. It seems Emma and Lizzie never talked again. They both died in 1927, 9 days apart.

The maid, Bridget Sullivan, remains a very fascinating character in the story, and she lived until 1948. There are rumors that she may have known what happened, and may have ALMOST mentioned something to a friend, but changed her mind at the last moment.

It seems I remember hearing that there is even something on her tombstone about taking a secret to the grave, but I can't confirm that.

So, there has been a ton of speculation about what exactly went down at the Borden house. We are not sure if Lizzie did it, or even if she was involved. The speculation goes on to this day. I have my own theory, but it is a different one from the one I had last week. It will probably change in the next couple of weeks too.

This house itself is big, old, elaborate, and maze like. Someone could hide here and commit a major crime while others in the house would be unaware of what was happening.

I know the house has gotten a LOT of coverage lately thanks to shows on the Travel Channel, Ghost Hunters, and other documentaries. Of course, the question comes up about the legitimacy of the rumors that the place is haunted. We can debate the existence of ghosts some other day, but the place does have a creepiness to it.

I will reluctantly give you my first hand story of the places strangeness. If you are squeamish, skip this paragraph. Someone in our party, right after the tour ended, and we stepped out of the house hurled for about 5 minutes. They had been out of the house for maybe a minute and they became violently sick. It reminded me of the priest in the original Amityville Horror film.

The guys running the house have really done something nice with it. They went to a lot of trouble to restore the house to the way it was in 1892, and they have really made a cool tourist stop out of it. You can rent one of several rooms (including one of the murder rooms). A truly strange historic site has been preserved and is accessible thanks to them.

We had a great tour guide (I can't remember his name, but he looks just like Andrew Borden, and often sits on the couch recreating Andrews pose in the murder photo). I have seen him on all of the documentaries on the house. He very kindly drew maps for us to the cemetery where the Bordens are buried, and to Lizzie's house that she moved to later (it is now a private residence).

If you are interested in reading up on Lizzie, there are several great books out there. Let me HIGHLY recommend Rick Geary's "The Borden Tragedy". The book is a black and white comic style graphic novel. It is written with accuracy and beauty. Rick gives a great visual of how the house was laid out at the time and he really gives all of the information available.

http://www.lizzie-borden.com/