Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum & “The Jennings Hatch”

The “Lizzie Borden House” or “Charles Trafton House” was built in 1845.  Fire prevention methods in almost all homes at that time was practically non-existant. There were virtually no escape routes save for the one, common-use stairway to many of the 2, 3, and 4 story homes built in that era.

When 92 Second Street (formerly 230) was made into a Bed & Breakfast in 1996 and opened up to the public for the first time, it was brought up to fire code for B&B buildings.

Kenneth Champlin in front of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum

Besides the usual sprinklers in the ceiling, the B&B has a number of fire extinquishers on hand, pull down alarms directly to the Fire Department and an escape hatch on the third, or attic, floor.  Guests on the second floor have access to both front and rear staircases.  Guests on the third floor, if unable to use the only staircase – the rear staircase – have this escape hatch.

In the Andrew Jennings bedroom, the escape hatch is directly over the front bathroom of the second floor.  The ladder placed inside can be easily thrust downwards against the lightweight covering providing a quick and easy escape to the second floor and only a few feet from the front staircase or easy access to the rear staircase.

Guests explore all the nooks and crannies of their rooms and often The House itself and take note of this emergency evacuation.

Speaking of houses, below is the so called “Brownell” house on Green Street in Fairhaven, MA.  This is the house where Lizzie’s sister, Emma Borden, was staying on August 4, 1892.  t has been literally “skinned” of its previous excessive debris.

For a comparison of what it used to look like,  CLICK HERE. Gone is the abandoned vehicle, dense over-growth, and the knee-high debris inside, though it still remains unsecured and empty.  This house was recently sold and a “Building Permit” is posted in one of the front windows.  Like an elderly woman with a festering cancer undergoing kemotherapy, she has lost all her hair.  Her skin is potmarked, bruised, discolored but she lives on….battered, weakened, awaiting the inevitable.  Question is:  Will it be demolished and cleared for new construction or will the new owners bite the  bullet for expensive infrastructure upgrades?

By contrast, the Fall River Historical Society’s curator is giving his house a cosmetic overhaul as shown below.

On Rock Street, only a few blocks from both “Maplecroft” and the FRHS.

All of the above photos were taken less than a month ago.

 

ADD ON: Fall River Trip Hi-Lites – Coming Soon-

Looking over my Salem pics, including the Leonard Pickel Lizzie exhibit, I think perhaps this one is the closest to a “Wow” factor. It’s a replica of the Andrew J. Borden burial plot at Oak Grove Cemetery and it’s pretty well done.

The dark mirrored background reflects on one of the last text “story boards”as seen on the right side. This gives the URL and phone number of the B&B in Fall River. Pickel had stated to the press he would have a computer where visitors could go to the B&B site and make reservations. But he must have changed his mind, because there isn’t one….that would be “interactive”. 😉 Note the one other visitor who was there the entire time I was.

Preliminary comments on Salem Lizzie exhibit: In two words – it’s Ho Hum. Far too text-heavy in the storyboarding style display – tho neatly done. Makes you feel like you’re reading a book – or could have skipped the exhibit and done just that. Nothing new except a 3-dimentional paper mock up of the Borden house and immediate neighbors – most out of proportion. Exhibit has no “Wow” factor, and contrary to what Leonard Pickel has been saying, there IS NO INTERACTIVE FORENSICS. THERE IS NO AUDIO, NO VIDEO, NO INTERACTIVE COMPONENTS WHATSOEVER. ONE JUST READS AND READS AND READS. TIRESOME. THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE IMAGE THAT YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IN BOOKS OR ON THE MULTITUDES OF INTERNET WEBSITES ON LIZZIE BORDEN. NOTHING NEW – JUST A STRAIGHTFORWARD TELLING OF THE STORY. IT CERTAINLY IS NO MUSEUM BY ANY DEFINITION.

PEOPLE WITH DISCRETIONARY DOLLARS WILL OPT FOR THE WITCHCRAFT EXHIBIT NEXT DOOR – WHICH IS WHY THEY VISIT THAT AREA OF SALEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. It is well organized and he does plug the Lizzie Borden B&B at the very end.

I WILL GIVE MORE COMMENTS WHEN I PRESENT A STEP BY STEP TOUR THRU THE ENTIRE EXHIBIT WHERE YOU WILL SEE EVERY SINGLE THING THAT IS IN THERE AS I PHOTOGRAPHED EVERYTHING. THEN YOU CAN DECIDE IF THE ALMOST LAUGHABLE RE-CREATIONS OF THE COURT ROOM, “COMBINED” MURDER SCENES, ET. AL., ARE CHEESY OR “TRUE”. 🙂

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I’ve been in Fall River at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast but this is just A QUICK CHECK IN. This 4th trip so far this year has been action and travel packed. I’ll have plenty to report about:

THE FIVE HOUSES OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

WSAR RADIO INTERVIEW FEEDBACK

FORGOTTEN QUAKER’S CEMETERY

LIZZIE EXHIBIT IN SALEM

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY IN THE HOUSE

SERENDIPITY OF MEETING ARTIST JOYCE TENNEY AT THE B&B

VISIT WITH BOB DUBE’, OWNER OF MAPLECROFT

CARR-OSBORNE HOUSE AND THE BROTHERS KARAM

THE *OTHER* AUGUST 4TH STORY (TSK, TSK SK)

THE BEACH NEXT TO FORT TABOR

ST. ANNE’S CHURCH BASEMENT SHRINES – A HIDDEN TOURIST ATTRACTION

SWANSEA AND MEETING GARDNER DESCENDENTS

THE DUNKIN DONUTS MURDER MYSTERY

UPDATE ON THE LAST GASPS OF THE BROWNELL HOUSE –

(YES! I TRESPASSED AGAIN!)

JFK LIBRARY LITERAL BUMP-IN WITH CAROLINE KENNEDY SCHLOSBERG

FALL RIVER’S CORNY BLAH BLAH COLONY RAILROAD EXHIBIT

“ALONE” PAINTING FOUND AT ANTIQUE MALL

WHY FALL RIVER’S MOTTO: “WE TRY” SHOULD BE:

“WE TRY BUT JUST NEVER GET IT RIGHT”

AND SOME GREAT NEW STAFF & TOUR GUIDES/HOUSE MANAGERS AT THE B&B.

But it’ll have to wait until I get home next weekend.

 

Update on the “Brownell” House – Where Emma Borden Stayed

Everybody knows Lizzie Borden’s sister, Emma, was visiting the Brownell’s in Fairhaven on August 4, 1892. The image below is of that house on Green Street, once numbered #19. It’s been “condemned” as a health and safety hazard by the town and while a singular posted No Trespassing sign hangs in the back, it has not deterred looky loo’s and other tourists from trespassing.

Since its been over 3 months since I was on and inside the property (see December 21, 2007 recycled blog entry with slide show), I wanted to follow up.

I sent an email to Bill Roth, Planning Director, who referred me to Pat Fowle, Fairhaven Health Agent, and Wayne Fostin, Building Commissioner. Pat, while very gracious was unable to give any current information and suggested I speak with Wayne who was directly involved.

Wayne Fostin is a most accommodating fellow and quite sympathetic to this eyesore on Green Street. He related how their hands are really tied to do anything whilst the “owner of the property is still alive” and the property remains in Probate Court. He used the words “historic property” and I asked if that was because Emma Borden stayed there. He said it was. However, I rather doubt that…as I would think whatever governing or oversight body having authority to declare it an historic structure would also have authority to not have allowed it to deterriorate into the condition it is now. Wayne said about all the Town of Fairhaven can do is leave it as is until such time it could be torn down or refurbished. We both agreed this could be a long, long time, pending the Probating process.

I remarked to Wayne, who is also the town’s Conservation Agent, about the neighbors being subjected to rats, vermin, bacteria in the air, fire hazards, etc. and he concurred it is a problem but there was nothing more the town of Fairhaven could do except put up a “No Trespassing” sign. He said if they caught trespassers in the act they would be prosecuted. It might be feasible to prosecute local trespassers but misdemeanor trespassing acts by out of state tourists are hardly offenses extraditable, and if they were, hardly cost effective law enforcement for the town of Fairhaven. Of greater concern than trespassers, and Wayne agreed, are other illegal activities that could occur in such a decrepid structure that beckons the drug induced or worse yet – a fire that would threaten and/or destroy neighboring structures and cause bodily injury, even death. Apparently, nothing will or can be done to or with the “Brownell” house until the last and final account in Probate Court regarding this property.

Let’s hope no tragedy happens that would give cause for the Town of Fairhaven to re-write its ordinance and related empowerment regarding condemned structures.

Here’s some charming pictures of Fairhaven. Click here.

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Having nothing to do with the above, I wanted to pass along part of an email sent to me the other day – a friend’s definition of “Cliques”. Rather point on, I thought. 🙂

“It is the nature of “cliques”….unique dynamics within cliques…the individual morphs into the whole, losing touch with the one-ness of self, shedding individual thought for group consensus, and huddles to protect the oneness of the clique, thus regurgitating the cycle.”

Something to ponder. 🙂