To spot the Academy Building, look for an impressive four-story structure made of red brick and brownstone, lined with decorative arches and tall windows right along the bustling street-it’s a real showstopper stretching across the block!
Alright, take a good look at this grand old building before you-the Academy Building, also once called the Academy of Music or the Borden Block. Picture yourself standing here in 1876: the streets are buzzing, gas lamps flicker, and wagons clatter along the stones. Lydia Borden and her children, dressed in their finest, are proudly watching as their tribute to Nathaniel Briggs Borden finally opens its doors. The architects they hired, Hartwell and Swasey from Boston, went all out, giving Fall River this hefty marvel with a touch of Gothic flair-check out those colorful bricks and all that ornate stonework.
But let’s just say the construction wasn’t smooth sailing. The builders soon discovered that the ground under your feet had a mind of its own! Costs ballooned like a magician’s handkerchief trick. The Bordens had to wrangle up money from every bank and willing investor in town. In the end, the family lost ownership, which is proof that even in the 1800s, nothing ever goes quite as planned-except maybe bad puns.
When it finally opened, the theater inside was the second largest in all Massachusetts. Imagine the electric excitement pouring out of those big front doors as people rushed to see the Theodore Thomas Orchestra’s opening night. The applause must’ve shaken these very bricks! In the 1880s, the legendary Boston Symphony Orchestra played here, filling the halls with thunderous music and fancy dresses brushing across the marble floors. Soon after, moving pictures arrived, and laughter and gasps echoed during comedies, dramas, and the city’s grand balls and political rallies.
Now, here’s a quirky bit: upstairs, the city’s very first telephone exchange buzzed to life in 1879. Picture operators plugging in wires like they were playing some very complicated game of cat’s cradle. Downstairs, shops have always kept the storefronts busy, from the era of horse-drawn carts to the age of skateboards and cellphones.
Yet for all its glory, the Academy Building nearly vanished forever-by the 1960s it’d fallen on hard times, and by the 1970s demolishing it seemed almost certain. Imagine the tumble of bricks and a deep silence where music once played. But not so fast! The community raised its voice, saving and restoring the structure in the 1980s. The theater may be gone, but above your head, new stories unfold every day as seniors call this home and shop owners keep the spirit of Main Street alive.
So, as you stand here, you’re part of a place where drama-onstage and off-has echoed for nearly a century and a half. And hey, if these bricks could talk, I bet they’d have a few punchlines of their own!
