1880s artifact, found beneath concrete now on public display as US Ghost Adventures completes a more than two-year project to recreate home’s original fence
FALL RIVER, MA, UNITED STATES, June 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — A rusted piece of ironwork that spent more than a century buried beneath a concrete slab at the Lizzie Borden House is now believed to be a piece of the home’s original gate, the one Andrew Borden installed in the 1800s, decades before the murders that made the address infamous.
The rod surfaced during a fence restoration project at the property, which is owned by US Ghost Adventures. While preparing the ground to install a historically accurate replica of the home’s original fence, the local contractor hired for the job had to remove a cement slab. Underneath it was an 1880s gate rod believed to come from the gate Andrew Borden once had at the home. The artifact is now on display inside the Lizzie Borden House, where visitors can see it for themselves.
“We set out to rebuild the fence to match what Andrew Borden had in 1892, and the ground handed us a piece of the original,” said Lance Zaal, president of US Ghost Adventures. “When the contractor lifted that slab and found the rod underneath, it confirmed we were on the right track. Now visitors can see a real piece of the home’s history on display in the museum, instead of just reading about it.”
The restored fence itself has been more than two years in the making. US Ghost Adventures custom designed and custom built the new fence to match the one Andrew Borden had at the home, which was documented in 1892 photographs. The replica includes the “B” for Borden worked into the design on the front gate.
The fence is the latest in a series of preservation projects the company has taken on since purchasing the home in 2021.
US Ghost Adventures replaced the home’s shingled roof with a metal roof, repainted the exterior of the home, after matching the original historic paint colors. US Ghost Adventures worked with historian Shelley Dziedzic to piece together the correct color and scheme based on what was found and what was commonly available at the time. Inside, decaying horsehair walls were replaced and finished with Victorian-style wallpaper. Crumbling exterior building walls were also rebuilt and painted, and the basement windows were replaced.
According to US Ghost Adventures President Lance Zaal, the work isn’t finished.
“Every change we’ve made here comes back to one question: what was actually here when the Bordens lived in this house,” Zaal said. “The roof, the paint, the walls, and now the fence, we’re putting the home back the way history left it. The next step is a memorial plaque for Andrew and Abby Borden, because the people who lived and died here deserve to be remembered, not just the case or accused suspect.”
Kelli Bloomquist
US Ghost Adventures
+1 515-351-9300
PR@Tourismo.com
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