Fall River, MA
Mass
Communities
Fall River
About
Description
Login
Description of Fall River, Massachusetts
The City of Fall River is an industrial community on the banks of the Taunton River in Bristol County with a long and fascinating history. The first settler was Benjamin Church, a hero of King Philip's war, who built a sawmill in 1690. The city's geography determined its destiny; as historians have pointed out, the significant fact about Fall River is that it had water power and port facilities together, making it both a transfer point for passenger and freight traffic to New York and the site of intense industrial development. Its diverse residential population is made up of immigrants from Great Britain, Portugal and Canada drawn to the mill jobs available in the city.
Fall River's industrial history began in 1811 when Colonel Joseph Durfee opened the Globe Manufactory. By 1830 the city had seven textile mills, a steamboat to Providence and Newport and its own newspaper. A staggering population and industrial boom made Fall River one of the textile capitals of the nation with more than 100 cotton mills housing four million spindles, employing more than 30,000 people, and generating a weekly payroll of over $500,000. The city boasted an international market and 130,000 people when its prosperity peaked during the First World War. This was a closely knit industrial complex in which raw materials came into the port of Fall River to be processed into manufactured goods and then shipped out again from the port.
When textile manufacturing began moving south in the 1920's, the city's decline began, accelerating during a devastating fire, which destroyed the central business district, and the Depression. By 1930 the city declared bankruptcy and its Having learned its lesson, the modern city maintains a highly diversified industrial profile with chemical operations, electrical and food products along with the garment and textile industries. It also maximizes tourism with the largest factory outlet district in New England and a World War II memorial which opens a variety of American warships to visitors at the State Pier in Fall River. The city retains a variety of handsome historic public buildings.
Southeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Somerset on the northwest; Freetown on the north and northeast; Dartmouth on the southwest; Westport on the south; Tiverton, Rhode Island, on the southwest; and Mount Hope Bay and the mouth of the Taunton River on the west. Fall River is 50 miles south of Boston.
Narrative compiled by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (
DHCD
).
Powered by MaximumASP.
Save $20 on a new account
MassOnline is For Sale!
Almost 300 domain names!
MassOnline is For Sale
A PrestoMedia Website
Powered by MaximumASP
