Last reviewed 16 October 2026 · A two-minute read · 6000 BC–2021
Fall River holds one recorded piece of ground so far: Second Street, where Andrew and Abby Borden were killed with a hatchet in 1892. Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted, and the house later became a bed and breakfast and murder museum.
The short answer
Second Street in Fall River is the house where Andrew and Abby Borden were killed with a hatchet on August 4, 1892. Lizzie Borden, Andrew's daughter, was tried and acquitted of the murders, which were never officially solved. The house now operates as a bed and breakfast and murder museum.
St. Mary's cathedral - catedral da santa maria da assuncao - fall river ma usa — 2011 · LEONARDO DASILVA · CC BY 3.0
1872 to 1892
Andrew and Abby Borden were hacked to death at home
The Lizzie Borden House is a plain, middle-class home on Second Street, now run as a bed and breakfast and museum. Andrew Borden, a Fall River bank president, bought the house in 1872 and converted it from two apartments into one home for his family. Andrew refused to add indoor plumbing or electricity even after the remodel, so the household used a basement privy and chamber pots under the beds. Andrew moved in with his wife, Abby, his daughters Emma and Lizzie Borden, and a live-in maid named Bridget, who slept in the attic.
On the morning of August 4, 1892, Andrew and Abby were both found murdered in the house, struck repeatedly with a hatchet. Lizzie was arrested a week later and stood trial for the killings. A jury acquitted her, and the murders have never been officially solved.
1892 to 1896
Lizzie Borden left the house for a new one
After her acquittal, Lizzie Borden House did not stay in the house where her father and stepmother died. Lizzie Borden bought a new house at French Street and named it Maplecroft. She lived there until her death on June 1, 1927. Back on Second Street, the house kept its old number only a few more years. In 1896, the city renumbered it from 92 to Second Street, the address it still carries.
1948 to 1996
A family bought the house and kept it quiet
The house passed out of the Borden family and, in 1948, into the hands of a couple whose grandchildren would later run it. Martha McGinn's grandparents bought the property that year. The home sat quietly for decades before anyone thought to open its doors to strangers on purpose.
1996 to 2021
Owners turned the murder house into a museum
In 1996, Martha McGinn and Ronald Evans turned the house into a bed and breakfast and murder museum. Later owners Donald Woods and Lee-Ann Wilbers added artifacts tied to the case, including a mannequin in the murder room and autopsy photographs laid out on the dining table. Woods and Wilbers also displayed photos from The Legend of Lizzie Borden, the 1975 television film starring Elizabeth Montgomery as Lizzie, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. Tour guides stuck to the known facts of the case, though a Ouija board sat out for guests who wanted to ask the house itself.
2021 to now
A ghost-tour company bought the house for $2 million
In 2021, Lance Zaal bought the house for $2 million. Zaal, who runs the company US Ghost Adventures, has kept the furnishings much as they were while adding ghost tours, themed dinners, and murder mystery nights. Zaal lives on the property, the way Wilbers once did, keeping watch over a house that still draws visitors asking the same question Fall River has asked since 1892.
Across town, Fall River's worst disaster came in 1874, when fire tore through Granite Mill No. 1, killing 23 workers, most of them children.
The house still stands at Second Street, open for tours and overnight stays.
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Prehistoric
Fall River, Massachusetts
A stone celt recovered in Fall River is catalogued by the Smithsonian as dating anywhere from 6000 BC to 1600 AD, evidence of Native peoples working this ground across millennia.
A smoking pipe bowl attributed to the Wampanoag, dated roughly 1650 to 1800, was recovered from Fall River and now sits in the Smithsonian's collections.
Before 1776 the parish here belonged to the Province of Massachusetts Bay, a British colonial jurisdiction that governed this ground for nearly a century.
On September 19, 1874, fire swept Granite Mill No. 1 on 13th Street, killing 23 employees, most of them children, who were trapped on the upper floors.
The A. J. Borden Building, a commercial block connected to Andrew Borden's business interests, was built in 1889 and stands about 200 meters north of this house.
On August 4, 1892, Andrew Jackson Borden and his wife Abby were hacked to death inside this house on Second Street, and their daughter Lizzie was tried and acquitted of the killings.
Lizzie Borden is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery alongside her father Andrew, her stepmother Abby, and her mother Sarah — the family the murders tore apart, reunited in the ground.
Lewis Howard Latimer, the African American inventor who helped develop the carbon filament lightbulb, is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, a mile from this house.
In 2021 the house sold for $2 million to Lance Zaal, owner of US Ghost Adventures, who planned ghost tours and themed dinners while keeping the original furnishings.
On August 4, 1892, Andrew Jackson Borden and his wife Abby were killed with a hatchet inside the house. Their daughter Lizzie Borden was tried for the murders and acquitted, and the case has never been officially solved.
What was here before the house became a bed and breakfast?
The house was a private home, bought by Andrew Borden in 1872 and converted from two apartments into one family residence for himself, his wife Abby, his daughters Emma and Lizzie, and a live-in maid named Bridget. It passed through family and private ownership, including a 1948 purchase by Martha McGinn's grandparents, before opening as a bed and breakfast and museum in 1996.
Did Lizzie Borden continue to live in the house after her trial?
No. After her acquittal, Lizzie Borden bought a new house at French Street, which she named Maplecroft, and lived there until her death in 1927.
Who owns the Lizzie Borden house now?
Lance Zaal, who runs the company US Ghost Adventures, bought the house in 2021 for $2 million. He lives on the property and offers ghost tours, themed dinners, and murder mystery nights while keeping the original furnishings.
Why does the house have a different address than it did in 1892?
The city renumbered the street in 1896, changing the house's address from Second Street to Second Street, the number it still carries.
What can visitors see inside the house today?
Visitors can see the room where Abby Borden was killed, the most requested room among guests, along with artifacts added by past owners including a mannequin in the murder room, autopsy photographs, and stills from the 1975 television film about the case.
