Visitors roam Fall River's Interlachen and ice house ruins: See inside this protected area

FALL RIVER – Dozens of cars lined Meridian Street and a quarter-mile lane, normally gated to prevent trespassing, leading to Interlachen on Saturday morning.

The city Sewer and Water Department opened the typically off-limits area to visitors from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., allowing people to roam the peninsula in North Watuppa Pond, which contains the ruins of an ice house and what’s left of Interlachen, a mansion once belonging to Spencer Borden and abandoned in the 1930s.

Tours of Interlachen are rare. Hundreds of visitors, from children to the elderly, walked poked through the site, once a carefully tended 80-acre estate belonging to Borden and now protected forest.

At key stops, tour guides demonstrated ice-harvesting tools and explained the area’s history in the 19th and early 20th centuries, before the land was claimed by the city.

From 2019: Where was Interlachen, and what was it like there?

What is left of the ice house in Fall River?

In the days before refrigeration, in the 19th century, ice was harvested from North and South Watuppa Ponds. What's left of the Arctic Ice and Cold Storage house was built in 1864. It was destroyed by fire in the 1930s; all that remains are its tall granite walls built along the pond’s shore.

Its walls are visible to drivers along Route 24 north.

Peek inside historic buildings: Want to see Fall River's historic water tower or the Watuppa ice house? How to get a tour.

What is Interlachen and what is left of it?

Interlachen — pronounced “INTER-lock-en" and said to mean “between the lakes” in German — was the mansion of Fall River businessman and inventor Spencer Borden. One of Fall River’s elite in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he was instrumental in bringing electricity to Fall River, a breeder of champion Arabian horses, and an associate of inventor Thomas Edison.

Built in the last years of the 19th century, Interlachen was a country retreat for Spencer Borden and his wife, Effie. The grounds included a formal garden, an electrified bell tower, several barns and stables for his horses.

Borden died in 1921 at his Woodstock, Vermont, home; Effie, who was not fond of the home, sold it in 1927. By 1938, the empty, neglected home was demolished by the city, which was actively claiming all land around the ponds.

The house’s foundation remains, along with its granite steps, and brick used in its construction, and tiles from the home’s terrace still embedded in the ground.

Why is this area of Fall River off-limits?

Nearly all land around North Watuppa Pond is owned by the city, for protection of the city’s water supply. Visiting is not allowed except for rare occasions when the Water Department allows the public to visit.

Will there be another Interlachen tour?

There isn't one announced yet; Director of Community Utilities Paul Ferland has said the public is welcome to contact him if interested in viewing historic properties managed by his department , and that he's interested in hosting tours when possible.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Visitors roam Fall River's Interlachen and ice house ruins: See inside this protected area