SouthCoast Road’s Other Name Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight

I've lived on the SouthCoast since 1995. It wasn't until a week or so ago that I made a startling discovery that was hiding in plain sight on Faunce Corner Road.

In the decades of life that I've spent here driving the streets, I have never once ever heard of Faunce Corner Mall Road. I have, of course, driven on Faunce Corner Road countless times. But Faunce Corner Mall Road?

Ready to have your mind blown?

There is a Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth. There is also a Faunce Corner Mall Road in Dartmouth. Don't believe me?  Everything you need to know is in the picture above.

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It's been right there our whole lives. If you are traveling from New Bedford to Dartmouth on I-195 West and you come up to the Faunce Corner Road exit, signs clearly show that it's only Faunce Corner Road if you exit and drive north toward the State Police barracks. If you take the exit and drive south toward Route 6, that is not Faunce Corner Road. It's actually Faunce Corner Mall Road. How weird is that?

Not once in 28 years have I ever heard anyone refer to that road as Faunce Corner Mall Road. But look at all the street signs when you drive there. They clearly read Faunce Corner Mall Road.

I spoke with Dana Lewis from Kia of Dartmouth. He didn't even know that his dealership's address was technically Faunce Corner Mall Road.  He checked his mail when he got back to the office and emailed me a picture of this. He was stunned.

Why have our brains arbitrarily blocked out the "mall" in this road's name?  It's like the reverse of the Mandela Effect.

Don't even get me going about Tarkiln Hill Road and the number of SouthCoasters that call it Tarklin Hill Road. That's a story for another day.