The Preservation Society of Fall River
Places Matter
Fiske Family Items Donated For Future Underground Railroad Museum
Almost 200 years since Dr. Isaac Fiske used his Pine Street house as a station on the Underground Railroad, some of the very items belonging to Dr. Fiske and his family have traveled more than 3,000 miles to return to their former home in Fall River.
The Fiske House, located at 263 Pine Street, is one of only six known Underground Railroad Stations in Fall River, Massachusetts. Dr. Isaac Fiske, a Quaker and the city’s first homeopathic surgeon, was a staunch abolitionist and helped escaped enslaved people on their journeys north by using his Fall River home and office as one of these stations.
Dr. Fiske’s daughter, Anna Fiske Harding, eventually married and moved to Canada, but wrote of her father’s deeds and work with the Underground Railroad in a letter to her grandchildren years later.
Since the Preservation Society purchased the Dr. Isaac Fiske House in late 2018, the long-term goal has been to establish an Underground Railroad Museum open to the general public in Dr. Fiske’s former basement office space.
Bob Walde of Neilburg in Saskatchewan, Canada, is a distant relative of Anna Fiske Harding and, after hearing about the Fiske House in Fall River, reached out to the Preservation Society.
This started a chain of events that would see a member of the Preservation Society’s Board of Directors travel all the way to Saskatchewan to retrieve some of the Fiske family items and drive them back to Fall River for what will become an exhibit at the future Dr. Isaac Fiske Fall River Underground Railroad Museum.
Among the items donated by Walde and his family were Dr. Fiske’s very own mortar and pestle, medical scales, glass photographs, family books (some containing signatures of the family), a large painted portrait and more.
These items are now catalogued and stored until the space is ready where they will make up one of the foundational exhibits of the Dr. Isaac Fiske House Fall River Underground Railroad Museum. Some items, like the portrait, will need to undergo extensive restoration work first.
As a nonprofit organization, the Preservation Society has completed a number of preservation and property improvement projects at the Fiske House through a combination of grants, donations, and funds generated from the home’s existing seven apartment units. This includes restoration of original windows, new historically accurate storm windows and shutters, repair of the front portico, a roof replacement, and the recent HVAC project in the future museum space to make it climate controlled.
However, there are a number of projects and work still needed before the Dr. Isaac Fiske Fall River Underground Railroad Museum can open its doors to the public. To help kickstart the museum, the Preservation Society launched a capital campaign to raise $50,000 to help renovate the space.
The planned projects include accessibility improvements, selective interior demolition, as well as creation of exhibit space and infrastructure.
If you would like to support the Dr. Isaac Fiske House Fall River Underground Railroad Museum, you can donate to the capital campaign.
Donations by check can be made out to:
The Preservation Society of Fall River, Inc.,
and mailed to:
263 Pine Street Apt. B1, Fall River, MA 02720
Capital Campaign For Dr. Isaac Fiske House Fall River Underground Railroad Museum Launches
The Preservation Society of Fall River is proud to announce a capital campaign to create the Dr. Isaac Fiske House Fall River Underground Railroad Museum.
Funds raised will go directly to support the establishment of an Underground Railroad Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts, which would be the first in the Southcoast region open to the general public.
As a nonprofit organization, the Preservation Society is seeking support from the community to create a new educational, historical, and cultural resource in the City of Fall River. The Preservation Society of Fall River seeks to raise $50,000 that will be used to apply for matching grants which require a 1:1 dollar match. This would enable the Preservation Society to complete a variety of projects in the future museum and make the space exhibit ready so it can open its door to visitors.
If you’d like to be a part of history too and help make the Dr. Isaac Fiske House Underground Railroad Museum a reality, donations can be made and dedicated specifically to this project.
Your tax-deductible donation will help us continue the fight to protect Fall River’s history by supporting Preservation Society activities and programs throughout the city.
Donations by Check can be made out to:
The Preservation Society of Fall River, Inc.
and mailed to:
263 Pine Street Apt. B1, Fall River, MA 02720
The Preservation Society’s goal is to create a series of impactful exhibits and historical information to serve as a resource for residents and the wider region. As of 2023, there are no Underground Railroad Museums in New England open to the public at-large.
The Preservation Society purchased the Dr. Isaac Fiske House, situated in the Lower Highlands National Historic District at 263 Pine Street, in 2018. The Fiske House is one of only six known Underground Railroad sites in Fall River, Massachusetts.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Dr. Isaac Fiske, the city’s first homeopathic surgeon, operated his doctor’s office from the basement of his house on Pine Street, but he also used his home as a stop for escaped enslaved people making their way north. The Dr. Isaac Fiske House was designated by the National Park Service as a Network To Freedom site in 2023 after years of research and work by volunteers.
The Preservation Society received a Cultural Organization Recovery grant in the amount of $10,490 from the Mass Cultural Council in 2022, which has been earmarked for the HVAC project now underway.
Among the work planned is the installation of a heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) unit to make the space climate controlled followed by reconfiguration of the space, which was converted into an apartment more than 100 years ago. Also planned is making the entrance and restroom accessible and creating the spaces to house future exhibits.
Preservation Society of Fall River Purchases Fourth Property
In partnership with the administration of Mayor Paul Coogan and Fall River’s Community Development Agency (CDA), the Preservation Society of Fall River, Inc., is pleased to announce the purchase of the c. 1887 Francis and Ellen Lockingen House located at 155 Linden Street.
“We’re excited to announce the acquisition of our fourth old home,” Preservation Society President James Soule said. “The Lockingen House will be our second property purchased for affordable/workforce housing in collaboration with Michael Dion of the CDA and support from Mayor Coogan.”
The Preservation Society will rehabilitate the currently vacant, three-unit property into affordable/workforce housing with an emphasis on preserving the building’s historical characteristics and, by extension, the neighborhood around it. As part of the agreement, all units in the property will be rented as affordable/workforce housing for a minimum of 15 years.
In March 2021, the Preservation Society received official designation as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) under the HOME Investment Partnerships Program by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, enabling access to federal funding to create low income/workforce housing in Fall River.
The CHDO designation enables the Preservation Society to better serve its mission to protect and preserve Fall River’s historic properties while incorporating the vision of Fall River’s Master Plan and Downtown Urban Renewal Plan, which calls for support of the city’s older and historic homes and properties.
The Lockingen House is the fourth property purchased by the Preservation Society of Fall River in five years. The Preservation Society purchased its first property in 2018, the c. 1833 Dr. Isaac Fiske House – an Underground Railroad Station on Pine Street. It’s currently maintained as a multi-unit property with plans for a future museum. The c. 1845 John Read House on June Street, the Preservation Society’s first CHDO affordable/workforce housing project, was purchased in 2021 and created four housing units. The purchase of the two-unit apartment, c. 1865 William Valentine Carriage House on Purchase Street was in 2022.
Responsible licensed and insured contractors are encouraged to bid on the upcoming Lockingen House project on Linden Street.
Preservation Society receives Mass Cultural Council Recovery Grant
The Preservation Society of Fall River was awarded a Cultural Sector Recovery Grant for Organizations from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for $10,490.
In FY23, Mass Cultural Council’s Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations offered unrestricted grants ranging from $5,000-$75,000 to Massachusetts cultural organizations, collectives, and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Preservation Society has earmarked the grant for the HVAC project in the future museum space at the Dr. Isaac Fiske House — a Fall River Underground Railroad Site on Pine Street.
The HVAC project will begin Fall 2023 and make the space designated for the Dr. Isaac Fiske Fall River Underground Railroad Museum climate controlled ahead of other capital projects and its future opening.
Fall River’s First Preservation Design Guidelines Completed For All
With centuries of historic and architecturally significant buildings, Fall River residents now have access to a resource created to help homeowners navigate the maintenance and upkeep of historic properties for the first time.
The Preservation Society of Fall River and the city of Fall River’s Historical Commission are pleased to announce the completion of Fall River’s first Design Guidelines.
“The creation and adoption of historic preservation Design Guidelines for Fall River’s protected historic district is an outstanding accomplishment,” Preservation Society President James Soule said. “The Guidelines are specifically for the protected Highlands Local Historic District, but its breadth and coverage allows it to be used for historic properties across the city for preservationists, general contractors, and homeowners alike.”
The release of the Design Guidelines marks the completion of an initiative started by the Preservation Society in 2014 when it helped create Fall River’s first protected historic district – known as a Massachusetts General Law 40C Local Historic District. The Fall River Historical Commission is the governing body in charge of the city’s 40C Local Historic District in the Highlands, which oversees a set of rules to ensure the neighborhood maintains its historic charm.
“The Fall River Historical Commission is thrilled to have completed its set of Design Guidelines in conjunction with the Fall River Preservation Society and the Fall River Planning Board,” said Historical Commission Chair Jason Bouchard-Nawrocki. “This valuable resource will help streamline the review and approval process for property owners within the Chapter 40C Highlands Local Historic District. It helps answer many of the questions that the board frequently receives regarding an historic property in the city.”
“While the City has one singular local historic district, the Guidelines were created with the mindset of expanding and creating additional protected local historic districts in the future,” added Bouchard-Nawrocki.
The Design Guidelines detail some of the challenges historic homeowners commonly face as well as the solutions and maintenance to prevent future more costly issues. The Design Guidelines were funded by a $50,000 Community Preservation Act grant to the Preservation Society in FY2020 and were created by Dominique Hawkins of Preservation Design Partnership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“The documents will be available to the public and can at once aid historic homeowners in basic maintenance needs,” said Soule. “We hope and expect that the ease and accessibility of using the Guidelines will help prevent unnecessary loss of our older and historic housing stock.”
A special note of appreciation to former Historical Commission and Community Preservation Committee member Antone Dias, who helped begin the Preservation Design Guidelines project.
The city of Fall River’s Design Guidelines is free for the public to download and can be found on the websites of the Fall River Historical Commission, the Preservation Society of Fall River, and the Fall River Community Preservation Committee.
What is a Historic District?
National Register of Historic Places Historic District: The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.
Local Historic District: A local historic district is a district designated by a local ordinance, which falls under the jurisdiction of a local historic preservation review commission. A local historic district is generally “overlaid” on the existing zoning classifications in a community. Therefore, a local district commission deals only with the appearance of the district, not with the uses of those properties.
Free “Milling About Oak Grove” Cemetery Walking Tour On May 21
May is National Preservation Month and to celebrate, the Preservation Society presents “Milling About Oak Grove” — a historic cemetery walking tour on some of Fall River’s notable residents related to the city’s historic mills!
There will be hosting two tours on Sunday, May 21, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO EXPECED RAIN ON DATURDAY, MAY 20, THE WALKING TOUR HAS BEEN MOVED TO SUNDAY, MAY 21.
These tours will be FREE of charge in honor of National Preservation Month!
Groups will depart promptly from the Oak Grove Cemetery main entrance, so arrive early!
The tour is less than a mile walk with multiple stops along the way and should take approximately 1 hour long.
“The Mill In Time” With Architectural Historian John Tschirch
The Preservation Society of Fall River presents “The Mill In Time: A Lecture on Technology, Industry and Architecture in Fall River Mill Design” by Architectural Historian John Tschirch.
Description:
As one of the great manufacturing centers of the Industrial Revolution, Fall River, MA, has a collection of mill architecture illustrating state-of-the design of the mid-to-late 19th century. This lecture, illustrated with period drawings and photographs, reveals the progressive technologies of both Britain and the United States and how these influenced Fall River’s extraordinary industrial buildings, which are a significant part of the nation’s architectural heritage.
Lecturer:
John Tschirch is an architectural historian, writer, and teacher. His latest books include America’s Eden: Newport Landscapes through the Ages (2022) and Newport: The Artful City (2020), which received the Victorian Society of America Book Award in 2021. John received his M.A. (1986) in Architectural History and Historic Preservation from the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. His thirty-year career in the preservation has brought him across the globe to study historic landmarks and landscapes. He also advises on historic preservation projects and has entered the world of historical fiction writing, inspired by his travels, with the publication of Gods and Girls: Tales of Art, Seduction and Obsession (2019).
The preservation of heritage sites of international significance is of foremost interest to John. He has lectured widely in the U.S. and abroad on architecture, landscapes and historic cities, from the Attingham Conference in London to Yale University’s Mellon Center Seminar on 18th Century French Design and the UNESCO sponsored conference on Architecture and Culture in Buenos Aires.
In honor of National Preservation Month, this event is free.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
Special thank you to this events co-sponsors:
CIVITECTS Architecture and State Representative Carole Fiola!
When: May 17, 2023 6-8 p.m.
Where: Curtain Loft Mill, Former Wampanoag Mill No. 1
420 Quequechan St., Fall River (Back Meeting Room)
Dr. Isaac Fiske House Added To National Underground Railroad Network To Freedom
The Dr. Isaac Fiske House at 263 Pine Street in Fall River, MA, is one of nine new additions from across the country to the National Park Services’ National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
“The Fiske House is one of several Underground Railroad Sites in Fall River, but none had received the Network to Freedom designation,” Preservation Society President James Soule said. “We at the Preservation Society are excited that the Fiske House is the first in the city to be added to this prestigious Network and we are hopeful it’s not the last.”
The Dr. Isaac Fiske House, built in 1833, was used by Dr. Fiske as a station on the Underground Railroad with freedom seekers passing through the home on their journeys northward. The Fiske House joins more than 700 sites, facilities, and programs throughout the nation already in the Network to Freedom.
“Each addition to the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom centers around a story of hope in the face of hostility and oppression,” said Diane Miller, the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program manager. “Now in its 25th year, the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom continues to document and expand knowledge related to the Underground Railroad and increase public awareness of the struggle for freedom and equality endured by so many in our country’s history.”
The Preservation Society has spent years conducting research and collaborating with partners like researcher Kenneth Champlin, the Fall River Historical Society, and Roger Williams University Associate Professor of History Charlotte Carrington-Farmer and student researchers Kristen Black and TJ Ward to complete the Fisk House’s Network to Freedom application.
The Preservation Society purchased the Fiske House in 2018 with assistance from a Community Preservation Act grant and has plans to open a public Underground Railroad Museum at the property in the future.
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom serves to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight, which continues to inspire people worldwide. The Network currently represents over 700 locations in 39 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through its mission, the Network to Freedom helps to advance the idea that all human beings embrace the right to self-determination and freedom from oppression.
Preservation Society and Roger Williams University Explore Fiske House History
The Preservation Society of Fall River and Roger Williams University invited members of the community to learn some of the history behind the Dr. Isaac Fiske House — one of Fall River’s Underground Railroad sites on Pine Street — at a public presentation hosted at the Fall River Public Library on March 30, 2023.
Through Roger Williams University’s Community Partnerships Center, the Preservation Society ‘s Board of Directors and students in Associate Professor of History Dr. Charlotte Carrington-Farmer’s class spent the Fall 2022 semester exploring the c. 1833 Dr. Isaac Fiske House together.
By scouring old newspapers and going on research trips to Fall River, student researchers Kristen Black and TJ Ward learned some of the stories from the home at 263 Pine Street and the family that lived within.
The research was conducted to support the Preservation Society’s 2023 application for the Fiske House to be added to the National Park Service’s National Underground Network to Freedom.
The research will also be used to help build exhibits and informational displays at the future Underground Railroad Museum the Preservation Society is planning to open in the space in the future.
You can watch the full presentation on the Preservation Society’s YouTube Channel.
Elizabeth Buffum Chace Portrait Donated To Preservation Society
The Preservation Society of Fall River is pleased to announce the donation of a portrait of famed abolitionist and women’s rights advocate Elizabeth Buffum Chace by local artist Sheila Leshinsky Oliveira.
The painting is one in a series of seven historic portraits Oliveira created with support from a grant by the Fall River Cultural Council and previously displayed in an exhibit titled “Famed & Framed” at Fall River Heritage State Park.
“I was honored to learn and visually interpret the life work and noble humanity of Elizabeth Buffum Chace, which reflected her belief that all persons are created equal,” Leshinsky Oliveira said.
After her family moved to Fall River, Massachusetts, Elizabeth married textile manufacturer Samuel Buffington Chace in 1828 and her anti-slavery beliefs radicalized. Chace joined the anti-slavery movement of William Lloyd Garrison and she and her sisters founded the Fall River Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1835. The Chace family home would later serve as a station on the Underground Railroad.
The Elizabeth Buffum Chace portrait will be added to the permanent collection of the Preservation Society’s future Underground Railroad Museum at the c. 1833 Dr. Isaac Fiske House, an Underground Railroad Site on Pine Street in Fall River.
“The oil painting portrait of abolitionist Sarah Buffum Chase by artist Sheila Leshinsky Oliveira is the Preservation Society’s first exhibit item representative of Fall River’s Underground Railroad activity and is extremely appreciated,” said Preservation Society President James Soule.
“Thanks to the Fall River Preservation Society for installing this portrait at the Fiske House as a reminder of the role Fall River played in the Underground Railroad and the extraordinary work of one woman who supported equal rights and freedoms,” said Leshinsky Oliveira. “It is my hope visitors to Fall River’s Fiske House and other historic sites will learn and appreciate the rich history of my hometown.”
The Preservation Society has begun preliminary work on the Fiske House Underground Railroad Museum and hopes to open its doors to the public in 2024-2025.
The Preservation Society of Fall River 