-
Good news for Green St.
A recent visit to the Brownell house on Green Street, the address of Emma Borden’s alibi on the day of the murders, revealed good things happening for the old place.
The sagging front steps have been removed, the jungle growth of trumpet vine has been cut back, and a large dumpster in the side yard is filled with debris. Structurally, the house has been pronounced in good shape, with some minor roof leaks and a side porch which needs shoring up. Here’s hoping for brighter days ahead soon for the historic property!
-
Court House taking shape
Just across from the Borden driveway, the towering girders of the new court house throw a dark shadow across #92. The structure is finally moving along in construction at a fast pace.
-
Good-bye to Lizzie’s Schoolhouse
The Nathaniel Borden School , formerly the Morgan Street School, closed its doors forever in June of 2007. Lizzie Borden was a student here until her 14th birthday. There are no plans to demolish the historic 1868 building, but its ultimate use to the city is still undecided.
The Nathaniel Borden Morgan Street School before closure
-
Dr. Michael Kelly
The Borden house was surrounded by doctors on the average day. Dr. Chagnon lived behind #92, back on Third Street but was not home at the time of the murders. He had been called away and Lucy Collette sent to his offices to tell patients he could not attend them on the morning of August 4th. Dr. Bowen who lived across the street from the Bordens was making his rounds when Bridget Sullivan, the Borden’s maid knocked frantically on the door. Just next door-one house south on Second Street was Dr. Michael Kelly, a specialist in pediatric medicine, who was also not home that morning. Andrew Borden was, in any event, well beyond the ministrations of any doctor by the time his body was discovered.
The Kelly house still exists, and is currently for sale. Dr. Kelly and his young wife Caroline, who was expecting a baby at the time of the murders, became much-beloved figures in the city’s social circles. By 1906 they were living on Third Street. The Kellys are buried in Saint Patrick’s Cemetery.
