Fall River, Massachusetts

Fall River is a city located in Bristol County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 91,938. The current mayor of Fall River is Edward M. Lambert Jr. The city's motto is "We'll Try."

History

Fall River was first settled in 1670 and was officially incorporated in 1812. It was formerly a part of Freetown, Massachusetts until 1803, at which time it was incorporated as the Town of Troy. The name was officially changed to Fall River in 1834.

Related Topics:
1670 - 1812 - Freetown, Massachusetts - 1803 - 1834

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The city's name comes from Falling Water, the translation of Quequechan, a Native American name. Settlers from Plymouth Colony purchased part of what is now Fall River from the Wampanoags, a Native American tribe, in 1659. In the Battle of Freetown, fought in 1778 during the Revolutionary War in America, the townspeople put up a strong defense against a British force.

Related Topics:
1659 - Battle of Freetown - 1778 - Revolutionary War

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From the 1870s until the 1920s, Fall River was the largest center in the United States for the manufacture of cotton textiles. The industrial history of Fall River began in 1811 when Colonel Joseph Durfee and several investors built the first cotton mill. The mill was driven by the river that emptied into a small pond near the waterfront. Two years later the Troy Mill, the first of the great granite structures at the foot of the Quequechan River, was built and Fall River's cotton spinning era had begun in earnest. After a decade of building, Fall River and the surrounding town's populations began to increase steadily. By 1830, the town had seven textile mills, a steamboat to Providence and Newport, a newspaper, and a population of 4,159. This growing trend continued and, by 1872, eighteen new mills and fifteen new corporations were started as Fall River went on to become one of the textile capitals of the nation.

Related Topics:
1870s - 1920s - 1811 - 1830 - Providence - Newport - 1872

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The pay roll per week in 1887 was $118,005; the weekly production of print cloths was 175,000 pieces; the cloth produced was 480,500.000 yards (439,000 m); bales of cotton consumed, 210,550; tons of coal, 159,550; oil, 172,350 US gal (652 m³); and starch, 1,981,000 lb (899,000 kg). To run the mills, I I water-wheels were in operation, of a total of 1,555 horsepower (1160 kW), and 106 steam-engines of a total power of 36,805 hp (27,445 kW).

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The period from 1847 to 1937 was marked by the Fall River Line, America's most luxurious steamship line connecting rail travellers from Boston with New York. The Fall River Line Pier is maintained today along with the Fall River Marine Museum so that visitors can see and relive the glory of that era.

Related Topics:
1847 - 1937

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On August 4, 1892, Fall River was the scene of the murder allegedly committed by Lizzie Borden, remembered in a nursery rhyme. Borden was ultimately acquitted of this charge.

Related Topics:
August 4 - 1892 - Murder - Lizzie Borden - Nursery rhyme

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