Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I'll be guiding a few walking tours in May. The first one is Saturday afternoon. All of them are free of change.

Poverty Point Walking Tour
Saturday, May 9, 2:00 p.m.
Begins at Old Stone Schoolhouse, 40 North Street, Fairhaven
Take a guided, ninety-minute walk through what was one of the earliest village settlements in Fairhaven. Learn about Manjiro Nakahama, Capt. Joshua Slocum, Elder Joseph Bates and more. The Old Stone Schoolhouse will be open for viewing before the tour. Sponsored by the Fairhaven Office of Tourism. Guide: Christopher Richard. Free. For more info: 508-979-4085.

Fairhaven Center Walking Tour
Saturday, May 23, 2:00 p.m.
Begins at Leonard E. Pierce Memorial Park,
corner of South and Fort streets, Fairhaven
This guided, ninety-minute walk in Fairhaven center highlights the histories of some of the homes and buildings dating from the 1830s to the beginning of the 20th Century. Learn about Henry H. Rogers, the Delano family, churches, “moving houses” and more. Sponsored by the Fairhaven Office of Tourism. Guide: Christopher Richard. Free. For more information, call 508-979-4085.

Riverside Cemetery Tour
Sunday, May 24, 2:00 p.m.
Riverside Cemetery, 274 Main Street, Fairhaven
Created in 1850 by Warren Delano II, the grandfather of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, this is one of the most beautiful rural-style cemeteries in Massachusetts. The tour visits the final resting places of some of the town’s most prominent people. You’ll also see lovely examples of early tombstone art as you walk along the beautifully landscaped paths. Tour includes walking on uneven ground. Wear comfortable shoes. Sponsored by the Office of Tourism. Guide: Christopher Richard. Free. For more information call 508-979-4085.

Fort Phoenix Minuteman Tour
Saturday, May 30, 2:00 p.m.
Fort Phoenix Minuteman Tour
Starts at Hurricane Barrier, Fort Street, Fairhaven
Listen to an authentically dressed colonial militiaman tell stories of the history of Fort Phoenix from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War. Tour includes flintlock musket firing demonstration and discussion of period clothing and the equipment a militiaman carried. Tour lasts about 75 minutes. Sponsored by the Fairhaven Office of Tourism. Guide: Christopher Richard. Free. For more information: 508-979-4085.

Anyone nearby is invited to come along for a walk.

Chris

AH! May in Fairhaven! Sounds wonderful!

Hi Chris! A friend of mine is living on Poverty Point. We went out for breakfast last week, then took a walk to the Riverside Cemetery. It's a very interesting place.

It's my understanding that the back section with the Delano graves has just recently been opened to new graves. It's so set off from the main cemetery. Was the land in the Delano family prior to the creation of Riverside?

I need to go back with my camera.

Warren Delano II, the grandfather of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created Riverside Cemetery in 1850. He bought the land fron the Nye family, which had owned a huge amount of land in that section.

The Delano tomb, where Warren and most of his immediate relatives are buried, was built a few years later. It was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, who later designed The Breakers mansion in Newport.

There is an empty place in the tomb, with the inscription that Sarah Delano Roosevelt and her husband James are interred at Hyde Park, which is were her son is as well.

I have a "Walking Poverty Point" brochure at the visitors center, by the way.

Chris