Hills, mills, and pork pies

By Barry French

Fall River is famous for its hills, textile mills, an unsolved murder, and pork pies. Specifically, Hartley’s Pork Pies.

The city once had more than 120 cotton textile mills, but while the old mills have gone silent, what holds on strong is the British cuisine for those who want to be transported to a time and place of more than a century ago. It’s the handmade British-style pork pies, which can be served hot or cold, as a snack or a meal.

Hartley’s Pork Pies was established by Thomas Hartley, an Englishman who came to the United States in the late 1800s to work in Fall River’s textile mills. Family folklore claims it was Mrs. Hartley’s idea to make the move. With a dislike to work in any mill, Mr. Hartley opened an English fish and chip business on South Main Street in 1900. It did okay, but he added pork pies from a recipe he brought from England. They were a huge hit right from the start, thus the beginning of Hartley’s Pork Pies over 120 years ago. Their popularity hasn’t slowed a bit for the little bitty pies.

The business was a huge success, as mill workers who were mainly immigrants, including many from the British Isles, would pay a nickel for a pie for lunch or a snack when their shifts ended. The popularity gave rise to a Fall River slogan: “The city of mills, hills, and pork pies.”

Hartley’s pork pies have a blended aroma of pie crust and roast pork. The pie is three inches in diameter, and two to three inches high. Its flaky crust is imprinted with an “H” from one of the pie presses modified by Mr. Hartley’s son-in-law, Chuck Siegel. The filling is lean ground pork mixed with spices, predominantly salt and pepper. There is a well-kept secret of just exactly how much gravy or broth is added through a slit on top right after the pie comes out of the oven.

Some people would buy them by the dozen for five and seven cents each back 100 years ago when the mills were operating full throttle. Berkshire Hathaway was right across the street.

Pork pies are all but impossible to find in US groceries and are an enormous chore to make at home.

Some people will go to great lengths and distances to get their pies. When visiting her retreat on Martha’s Vineyard, actress Patricia Neal often swung by Fall River to pick up a couple of dozen. The store has supplied parties at the British consulate in Boston and the Kennedy compound in Hyannis.

Mr. Hartley remarried after his first wife died. He had children by both first and second wives, and after his death, the child of one wife took over the Fall River store. The child of the other wife set up three of his children with stores in Somerset, Lincoln, and New Bedford. Eventually, the New Bedford store closed, while the other three were sold to non-family members.

What distinguishes the Fall River store is its claim to history: it is in the same building where Mr. Hartley ran his business.

“We’ve been here more than 100 years,” said owner Allen C. Johnson when interviewed some years ago. “We’ve lasted World War I. We lasted the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, now the war in Iraq. We’ve survived all of these transitions in Fall River’s history.”

Mr. Johnson proudly reveals the secret to its longevity: “It’s the quality of the pies,” Mr. Johnson said. “And they’re unique.”

Mr. Johnson has diversified with salmon pies, chicken pies, and even an occasional pizza pie and numerous more. He also makes family-sized pies which were never on Thomas Hartley’s menu.

“People here have been buying them their whole lives,” said Allen Johnson.

“Then, their children buy them. It keeps going,” Mr. Johnson said.

Remaining at the same 1729 South Main Street location since 1900, it is the oldest food service business in the city, still using much of Mr. Hartley’s original equipment along with a wooden cash register updated in the 1930s. The tins and the pie presses are from England and most of the kitchen equipment goes back to the days of Mr. Hartley.

Timeless taste

South Main Street has changed over the decades. But Mr. Johnson, the self proclaimed “grandmaster pie maker,” is only the second owner and along with the help of others including family produce and sell thousands of pies a week.

To keep up with all this, adding French meat pie, chicken pie, chourico pie, salmon pie (Friday and Saturday only), and buffalo chicken pie are Mr. Johnson’s son, Kevin, daughter-in-law, and others.

Much of the groundwork for the day is laid out prior to opening at 7 a.m.For the bottom crusts, balls of fresh dough are weighed and dropped into the little tins. Then, a pie press squashes the dough to fill the tin’s bottom and sides.Next, three ounces of 90-percent lean pork from the Midwest, ground at the premises, are placed in the crust.Salt and pepper are shaken onto the meat and then the top crust is pressed and crimped into place.

The pies are baked in the circa 1967 oven at 540 degrees for an hour. Once golden brown, the pies are removed from their tins and homemade beef gravy is infused into each pie.

“It’s a very simple recipe,” Mr. Johnson said. “They’re all natural. Everything is done by hand.”

Mr. Johnson has commented that what makes him feel good is that people eating the pies really enjoy them. That comes with a caveat, however. Back in Mr. Hartley’s day, he became aware of a customer who would smother the pie in ketchup. Once learning of this, Mr. Hartley refused to sell him another pie.

Get your own delicious taste of history by visiting Hartley’s Pork Pies yourself at 1729 South Main Street or checking them out online at facebook.com/HartleysOriginalPorkpiesFallRiver.