Summer lecture series to cover mansion, ice and baseball

FALL RIVER – Interlachen Island and the luxury estate that once existed on the North Watuppa Pond, will be discussed at this year’s Fall River Historical Society summer lecture series.

Two lectures, on July 11 and 18, will be devoted to Interlachen. The last lecture in the series, on July 25, will be a discussion of Fall River professional baseball in 1941.

The lectures will be held at Bristol Community College, Siegel Health Technologies Building C, room C-111, on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m.

On July 11, the Cook-Durfee Ice House at Interlachen by Bill Goncalo will focus on the ice industry in Fall River and the ice house that once operated at Interlachen Island.

The ice house, owned by Arctic Ice Co., provided ice to businesses and residential ice boxes throughout the city.

“The ice was cut on the pond,” said Robert Kitchen, Fall River Historical Society Educational chairman. “It lasted all summer long.”

The ice house was destroyed by fire in 1933, though its granite is still visible from Route 24, jutting out of the earth like ruins.

On July 18, Stefani Koorey will present a talk on Spencer Borden at his Interlachen estate. She’ll explore Borden and his life at Interlachen and share some rare photography.

“No one’s ever done anything on Spencer Borden (in past lectures) and Interlachen,” Kitchen said. “Of course, the house was magnificent. We’ll have some interior shots.”

Borden, founder of the Fall River Bleachery, once lived in the grand mansion on the island and raised Arabian horses in its stables. The property also once boasted gardens, pastures, and a golf course.

Built around 1890, the city’s Water Department acquired the property in 1939. Accessible only by causeway, Interlachen is not open to the public.

Kitchen said the last lecture in the series, Fall River Professional Baseball in the year of Pearl Harbor and during the Korean War, by Philip Silvia Jr., will tell the story of the end of professional baseball in the city.

The lecture series, supported by the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation, is an annual Historical Society event that draws hundreds of lovers of city history. The series is free and open to the public. Donations to the Historical Society are welcome and appreciated.

Call 508-679-1071 for more information, or visit the society at 451 Rock St. or http://lizzieborden.org/

Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com