50 Of The Creepiest Places In The U.S.

[Anna Morris]

I thought I had read that the barn had been torn down. That's interesting about the gift shop.

Something to think about: The mortuary industry in the US got its start from the Civil War and the desire to return bodies in a somewhat decent condition for burial at home. If that is the start of the industry, less than 30 years before the Borden murders, it makes sense that autopsies, etc. would have still be done in homes at that time. Plus Fall River wasn't an extremely big city, not like Boston or some other areas.

[Howard Brown]

The barn is now a gift shop....

Here's the house from both sides :

[Anna Morris]

Anna:

I think it depends on a person's perception of small or large. I think the room ( where the father got the axe ) was 12 x 15.
But, yes....the rooms are somewhat crammed together.
Very strange that the autopsy of the father took place in the dining room.

JtR's 1888 London victims went to whatever passed for a mortuary. Meanwhile in 1892 Massachusetts, what was standard practice? I never thought deeply about the matter but had thought the Borden victims were handled that way because there wasn't any other provision. Might be something for us to look into for a general understanding of forensics in those days. (I am very impressed with the postmortems on Jack's victims. Many times in the US it seems our investigators mess up these things. We lack the system(s) that England has long had.)

12 X 15 is about the size of my living room which is right next to a dining room of about the same size. Before remodeling in the 1900s a staircase went up near the front door, like in the Borden home. EXCEPT, beyond the stairway I have three bedrooms and Lizzie's house didn't. I sort of pictured the main floor at 92 Second St. as something like a double wide mobile home for size and layout, etc. I'm not too good at visualizing spaces, but that's what I came up with.

Somewhere I read that Lizzie's "barn" was fairly close to the house also. 15 or 20 feet from the house. I figured it was about the same set up as my property with a shed/barn that close. Lizzie's barn is long gone I think.

[Howard Brown]

Anna:

I think it depends on a person's perception of small or large. I think the room ( where the father got the axe ) was 12 x 15.
But, yes....the rooms are somewhat crammed together.
Very strange that the autopsy of the father took place in the dining room.

[Anna Morris]

I have been in the Mackay Mansion in Virginia City, NV. Virginia City is kind of a creepy place anyway, but well worth visiting. This so-called mansion, to me, is just a big house. They always build things up about Virginia City and then the real thing is less than one expects.

I am surprised the Lewiston, ID theater made the list. I travelled in and out of that area around the time of that crime but have never heard the theater was "haunted".

How: Folks who have been to the Borden house say it is more or less small. Using the front door for a guide I figure it is half as wide as my Victorian home, but with a third story & basement which I do not have. It is my understanding that the rooms in the Borden house are really crammed together. (That said, it appears no one went into the parlour that day, nor was the possibility of someone hiding there considered from what I can see in the transcripts.)

[Howard Brown]

Shanghai Tunnels in Portland and the town of Centralia, Pa made it.

I've been to one of the top 50 ( Borden House).

Anyone else ?

[admin tim]

Including some old favorites.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ninamohan/creepiest-places-in-the-us#.tjV742ZE9