FALL RIVER A PLACE TO LIVE

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mbhenty
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FALL RIVER A PLACE TO LIVE

Post by mbhenty »

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Kat
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Post by Kat »

Craig Ferguson was just in Boston over the 4th of July as the host of the fireworks show with the Boston Pops.
He made the funniest remark: he said "You know, they haven't finished building it yet- they've been building it for hundreds of years- when will they be finished?"
Lefty
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Post by Lefty »

I agree the Kerr Mill site would have made a fantastic park site and I was not in favor of the Court House's new location. Personally I have less issues with Government Center, which I harbor some affection for and am hopeful that the renovations due to be completed in 2009(!!) will give us a handsome facility that we can be prideful of, and that those renovations will continue on the inside as well!

Fall River has lots to be boastful of, the Highlands is still a fine neighborhood, a pleasure to stroll or drive through. The Old Durfee is an incredible building that thankfully has been preserved (sadly the interior is new). The Academy, St. Anne's Church, and the Main Public Library are as magnificent now as they were a century ago.

Fall River boasts of great little eateries both old and new! Reader's of the Yankee magazine have been urged to dine at the Water Street Cafe and Almacs Diner, with it's glittering stainless steel and neon sign has been "justly famous since 1910"!

I am convinced that no better bargain can be had than the delights at Fall River's many bakeries (of which I'm convinced that Leddy's and Lou's in the city's south-end are the best!)

Fall River has long been known as the city of "hills, mills, and pork pies", the pork pies are Hartley's and no one visiting the 'Spindle City" should pass up the chance to sample one!

And when the USS Massachusetts was forgotten and neglected, (much like Fall River itself!) and ready to be discarded as scrap, it was this city that rallied together to bring her here where today she serves as the cornerstone of the state's official WWII memorial.

I admit all is not perfect! School buildings that are hopelessly outdated, water pipes that after a century are just now being replaced, an inability to keep the streets clean and a fearful lack of pride in many of our residents. Political leaders who think short-term (seemingly not much beyond the next election) instead of laying down the foundation that the next generation can build upon.

Once upon a time, I lived across the river and and gazed at the shores and allowed myself to see nothing but the blemishes, to believe nothing but the negative, but since then, I have come to love the hidden and not so hidden charms of this city. There was time when I worked in Rhode Island and would head home at the end of the day and find myself crossing over the Braga Bridge at twilight, the darkening sky, the setting sun behind me bathing the the skyline ahead of me in its fading light. The twinkling of street lights, and and a panorama of a city on hill, capped with chimneys and steeples and it was then that I realized just how beautiful this city was that I lived in, this city I call home.
Caesar
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Post by Caesar »

Well I would say its a nice place to visit, I love the history but the cost of living vs jobs doesn't balance out at all.
Barbara
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Post by Barbara »

All my life I have been going to Fall River to visit one grandmother or the other. I lived across the river in Swansea.After 1 destructive hurricane washed our house away,I actually lived there for a year,right on Rock St.I remember The Granite Block and the old City Hall. There was no place I would rather have been at Christmas than Main St. and McWhirr's,the best Santa! My Grandfather was the last blacksmith in Fall River,his shop was on Globe St. near the 4-coners until it burned down in the late 60's(if my memory serves me right). All the fancy Hood Dairy trucks,with the gold lettering,were painted by my Mother's family. Fall River has not received the help the rest of Massachusetts as received,it seems our state government has forgotten there is a Southeastern corner. My wish is for a rebirth of the city. I guess we just need to pass the word and let others know what a "jewel in the rough" the city is.
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Kat
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Post by Kat »

Here is the "Blacksmith" page from Stefani's Fall River City Directory, 1946.


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Barbara
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Post by Barbara »

Thanks Kat. It was good to see my grandfather's name in print, Marois.Brings back wonderful,warm memories. My other grandfather's second marriage was to a McWhirr. Everything is "relative' in Fall River. That meant a Borden married a McWhirr,but we never got a discount,drats!
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Tina-Kate
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Post by Tina-Kate »

Oh, that is so cool! I love when someone finds a part of someone else's past & shares.
“I am innocent. I leave it to my counsel to speak for me.”
—Lizzie A. Borden, June 20, 1893
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Shelley
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Post by Shelley »

Does anyone have the address for McWhirr's on South Main? I think it was down the street a little from the old Cherry and Webb building which is still standing.
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Shelley
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Post by Shelley »

Aha- just as I thought- McWhirr's WAS just down the street a little on the same side from the Cherry and Webb building. (south of the Cherry's building) I just had a call from a FR native who works at UMASS Dartmouth to confirm that the Cherry and Webb building at 139 South Main is NOT the former McWhirr's Department store. The Cherry's building went up about 1905. Part of the old McWhirr's building was re-habed into elderly housing which is there now.
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Post by Jeff »

One of my customers told me a few months ago that his great aunt
used to see Lizzie at Mcwhirr's a lot. I was told that she would always say hello and exchange pleasantries with Lizzie there. There was never an extended conversation, but there was a nice hello Ms Borden, How are you today?

I thought that was pretty cool to know that somebodies relative met Lizzie back in the day :smile:
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Post by GilC »

Shelley @ Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:21 am wrote: Part of the old McWhirr's building was re-habed into elderly housing which is there now.

That isn't quite correct. The McWhirr's building was demolished entirely. The elderly housing that is currently there (Borden Place West) was built at the same time and by the same company that built 92 Second St.'s neighbor Borden Place East.
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Kat
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Post by Kat »

Tina-Kate @ Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:19 am wrote:Oh, that is so cool! I love when someone finds a part of someone else's past & shares.
I had the privilege and the benefit to have done Barbara's family tree a couple of weeks ago, and knew what name to look for. It was very cool to find that in Stefani's Directory, since that is the latest one she owns so far.
Barbara mentioned that by the 1960's her grandfather was the last blacksmith.

It was neat she also mentioned memories of McWhirrs and her page had a McWhirrs ad at the top! :smile:
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Shelley
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Post by Shelley »

Thanks GilC. I had a good look at the Cherry building and the elderly housing this morning in the rain and took some pix. There is an older facade- just a small bit of one, between the ugly red bricky boxy senior housing and Cherry and Webb building. Sad about McWhirr's- the memories, the memories! :cry:
Barbara
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Post by Barbara »

I just wanted to tweek what Kat wrote. My Grandfather Marois passed in the early 50's. My Uncles operated the shop for a few years after his death, it became a detail and paint shop. Eventually, my Grandmother sold the shop. Sadly,the upper floors(there was a very large manual elevator) still had carriages when it was sold. Who knew then just how much we would miss it. The shop had a fire a couple years later and all was lost. Does anyone remember "Joe Banana" the rag man. He would come around Globe St. in a horse drawn carriage collecting junk.I am showing my age.
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Kat
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Post by Kat »

My Grandfather was the last blacksmith in Fall River,his shop was on Globe St. near the 4-coners until it burned down in the late 60's(if my memory serves me right).
--Barbara, partial

Oops. Sorry! I thought you meant your grandfather was the last blacksmith in the 1960's. We have no Directory later than 1946. :smile:

I had earlier today checked the City Directories for 1921 and 1926 and have written down the info on Alice and Arthur and Wilfred and Delia. Would you like me to e-mail you with it? Or put it here? Or you may have it?
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Post by mbhenty »

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Kat
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Post by Kat »

I don't see the point of anonymous posts like that on that site. If someone has a valid opinion, why not give their name? It's useless, otherwise, IMO.
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Post by mbhenty »

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Re: FALL RIVER A PLACE TO LIVE

Post by mbhenty »

Fall River had it's first homicide of the year, with a shooting in the South End of the city.

Fall River has changed quite a bit in the last 30 years. It has 20,000 less people from when I was a kid, and probably double the crime.

Though it averages one or two homicides a year, it is still 72nd on the most dangerous cities in the US list. Massachusetts has 6 cities on that list while Florida is the most dangerous state, with 11 dangerous cities out of 100.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/neighb ... dangerous/


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twinsrwe
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Re: FALL RIVER A PLACE TO LIVE

Post by twinsrwe »

I read about that homicide! My goodness, only 28 years old and he barely made it into the year of 2015!!! This is so sad, and my heart goes out to his loved ones. I found it interesting that he had attended B.M.C. Durfee High School.

http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20150 ... /150109532

The link you provided is very interesting, MB, thanks for posting it.
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Fargo
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Re: FALL RIVER A PLACE TO LIVE

Post by Fargo »

any idea if a Hacker can make a decent living in Fall River ?
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