Fall River Ghost Tour

When the Puritans landed in present-day Massachusetts, the area around the Taunton River delta was inhabited by an offshoot of the Wampanoag peoples called the Pokanoket. The Pokanoket had a few villages in the Fall River area, but their main headquarters were in present-day Rhode Island. The colonists arrived in 1620 and began a rocky relationship with the Indigenous tribes. When the pilgrims lost over half of their population due to the sickness and cold winters, the tribes taught them how to plant corn and survive the harsh climate. This eased the tensions between the two groups. But tensions again rose as both sides repeatedly violated peace treaties, resulting in King Phillip’s War in 1675. Fall River was originally known as Troy when it was founded in 1803. Known for its numerous grain mills, the city always had a strong industrial presence. The city’s haunted history began with the Borden murders in 1892. Lizzie Borden, disgruntled by her failing relationship with her father and stepmother, allegedly grabbed a hatchet and hacked them to death. A combination of power, influence, and police mishaps lead to her acquittal.

The murder and subsequent court case became one of the most famous in American criminal history. In the late 1970s, Fall River was once again rocked by a series of murders. This time, a group of Satanists were the culprits. Three women were murdered between October 1979 and February 1980. These murders were the onset of a period in American history known as the ‘Satanic Panic.’

Book a Fall River Ghost Tour today.