Photos of Modern FR and area

[Harry]

Lots (I mean LOTS) of photos of Fall River and surrounding cities on this web site. Here's the URL for the Fall River photos.

http://flickr.com/photos/marc72/sets/72157602230943878/

Tons of other photos of the surrounding area beginning here:

http://flickr.com/photos/marc72/

[diana]

Thanks Harry, good photos! I like the fact that they're all labeled -- and often show more info when they're enlarged and scrolled over. I found those depicting then and now (e.g. City Hall and the Bijou Theater) particularly interesting.

Not to open a can of worms again, but shouldn't the caption below the David M. Anthony house just read David Anthony? Michael or Kat will know this, for sure. Maybe I'm the one who is confused though -- there were just too many Davids in that family!

[Harry]

Yes, the then and now pictures are great. There's one on page 3 of the railroad station:

http://flickr.com/photos/marc72/page3/

I think there's quite a few Fall River photos that are not included in the Fall River section. Apparently they are not tagged as such.

[mbhenty]

Yes Diana: not sure I understand your question, but here goes.....

Yes, there are a number o David Anthonys down thru fall river history. I think I checked once and came up with 4 or 5.

The red brick building at 368(?) North Main Street was in fact the David M. Anthony house (better known and officially designated as the David Anthony House) But, it was built by David M Anthony Senior. David M. Anthony Jr. lived with daddy. Of course this is all removed from the archives inside the top of my head and perhaps I should go look it up before commenting.

[diana]

Thanks Michael. I hadn't realized that the father of Lizzie's maybe suitor, was also David M. For some reason, it stuck in my head that the house was just called the David Anthony house. But you've cleared that up for me. And BTW, you're backed up by my favorite source:

"Profile: David M. Anthony, Jr., was born in Fall River in 1870 (?). He was the son of David M. Anthony, Sr., a native of Fall River and Ruth M. (Horton) Anthony of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Mr. David M. Anthony, Sr., was founder of Anthony & Swift Company in Fall River, a wholesale meat business, later known as Swift & Company. Mr. Anthony, Jr., a life-long resident of Fall River, was involved in a motorcycle accident near the Durfee Farm in South Somerset, Massachusetts, on November 25, 1924. He died as a result of a fractured skull on December 4, 1924." (Rebello, 139)

[mbhenty]

You are welcome diana:

One more thing since we are on the topic. I will need to do some research to discover why David M. Anthony lived on Charlotte Street when he died. Charlotte Street was and still is a very modest lower middle class neighborhood with very small homes and apartments, and no big homes.

The home below is the home which exists today and not the house David M. Anthony Jr. lived in. David died in 1924 and the house you see below was built in 1925. Interesting.

So, something happened to the home he lived in right after his death.

Was it in irreversible disrepair?

Was it lost in a fire?

Was there even a home there?

Is it possible that there was a business there and David used it as his residence?

Whatever the answer is it is certain that the home that exists on that spot today is not David M. Anthony's home.

The home below was built as a classic 2 decker. Though clean and neat, it is just a dismal plastic box. When built it had two wonderful open air porches along the front.

You can see how owners closed in the porch area to gain interior space. Also, along the left side (up the driveway) was a small side porch and entrance similar to 92 Second Street. That was removed and moved around the back. (Though I have not been back there to prove that.)

Also it was adorned with delightful ginger bread trim such as corbels all around and nicely decorated porches with ornate posts and fancy balusters.............all gone.

Nicely done when built in 1925. You can still see a hint or two of some possible enhancements such as the small dormer window in the roof and the finely cut granite foundation. (most multi-family homes of that era and before were built of hammered granite as opposed to "square cut" granite blocks.

So, what happened to David M. Anthony's home on Charlotte Street?

[mbhenty]

Yes, now here is a very nice example of a 2 decker, 2 family home who's owners have resisted the plastic look.

Though not it's original porch, still it exists and all wood at that.

It still has wood shingles which is becoming rare in places like fall river and New Bedford. Even the eaves and facias are all wood.

Nicely kept.

If you look closely you can see that the foundation is made of hammered stone, not cut cleanly square like the one in the post above.

Even this house had much more decorative balusters, posts and possibly corbels which have been removed over the years. And if you were to pell off the cedar shank shingles you would most likely find clapboard underneath.

Still a nice acceptable example of a typical Fall River two family which has survived the modern age.