The Story of the Lizzie Borden House: A Mystery Full of Murder and Ghosts
The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts, is famous because of a shocking crime that happened there over 100 years ago. It’s also known for creepy ghost stories that still scare people today.
The Borden Family
The house was built in 1845 and was home to Andrew Borden, his wife Abby, and his daughters, Lizzie and Emma.
Andrew was rich, but he was very cheap. Even though he had plenty of money, the family lived in a small, simple house instead of a big, fancy one.
The family wasn’t very happy. Lizzie and Emma didn’t like their stepmother, Abby.
There was a lot of tension in the house, which made things uncomfortable.
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The Day of the Crime
On August 4, 1892, something terrible happened. Andrew and Abby were murdered in their home.
Abby was the first to die—she was hit 18 times with a hatchet while she was upstairs.
Later, Andrew was killed while napping on the couch.
He was hit 11 times, and his face was badly injured.
The murders were brutal and shocked everyone.
Lizzie and the family’s maid, Bridget, were both at home during the killings.
Lizzie said she was out in the barn when it happened, and Bridget, who was cleaning windows, said she didn’t hear anything strange.
The Trial of Lizzie Borden
Soon after the murders, Lizzie became the main suspect.
People thought her behavior was strange, and her stories didn’t always make sense.
They also found out she had burned a dress after the murders.
Lizzie said it had paint on it, but others thought she was hiding evidence.
Lizzie went to trial in 1893, and the whole country paid attention.
It was hard for people to believe that a young, rich woman could do something so violent.
The trial lasted 13 days. The police didn’t have strong evidence—no one saw Lizzie do it, and the murder weapon wasn’t proven to belong to her.
In the end, the jury found Lizzie not guilty.
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Life After the Trial
Even though Lizzie was free, life didn’t go back to normal.
People in her town didn’t trust her, and she became an outcast.
She and her sister Emma moved to a bigger house in a nicer neighborhood.
Lizzie stayed there until she died in 1927.
The old Borden house, where the murders happened, became famous.
Over the years, people wrote books and made movies about it.
Some think Lizzie did it, while others believe it could have been the maid or even someone else.
Ghost Stories at the Lizzie Borden House
Today, the Lizzie Borden House is a bed-and-breakfast and a museum.
You can visit and see the house, which still looks like it did in 1892.
Many people go there because they’ve heard it might be haunted.
Visitors and workers have reported strange things, like:
- Weird Sounds: Footsteps, whispers, and doors opening or closing by themselves.
- Shadows: People have seen shadowy figures, especially in the room where Abby was killed.
- Cold Spots: Certain areas feel really cold, even in the summer.
- Moving Objects: Things in the house sometimes move or end up in different places.
These stories make the house popular with ghost hunters and anyone who loves creepy places.

Why People Still Talk About Lizzie Borden
Lizzie’s story is still famous today. People are fascinated by the mystery.
Did she really kill her father and stepmother, or was she innocent? Nobody knows for sure.
There’s even a rhyme about her:
“Lizzie Borden took an axe,
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.“
The rhyme isn’t accurate, but it keeps Lizzie’s story alive.
If you like mysteries, spooky stories, or history, the Lizzie Borden House is a cool place to visit.
It’s one of the most famous murder houses in the country and still gives people chills to this day.
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