Fall River
a city and port of entry of Bristol co., Mass., at the mouth of the Taunton river, where it empties into Mount Hope Bay, and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad; 49 miles S. of Boston. It is connected with New York City by steamers, and has a fine harbor capable of admitting the largest vessels. The stream called Fall River is the outlet of Watuppa lake, and has a fall of 129 feet in less than half a mile, affording excellent water power.
Public Interests. - The city is built on high ground and covers an area of 42 square miles. The streets are well laid out and contain many handsome buildings, largely of granite, found in the vicinity. It is lighted by gas and electricity; has a waterworks system owned by the city, supplying 18,000,000 gallons daily from Lake Watuppa. Its educational institutions include the Durfee public high school, the Academy La Ste.
Union des Sacrés Cœurs, Notre Dame College, Fall River Conservatory of Music, and a civil service school. There are also a public library, several circulating libraries, a State armory, and 50 churches, daily and weekly newspapers, and electric street railways connecting with neighboring towns. Business Interests. - Fall River is the largest cotton-milling city in the United States. The city has cotton goods estab- FALLS lishments employing 40,000 persons and over $40,000,000 capital. Other important manufactures are machines and machinery, food preparations, clothing, woolen goods, metals and metallic goods, medicines, paints and dyes, cordage and twine, and clocks , watches, and jewelry, boots and shoes, brass prodetc. In 1919 there prodwere 4 National banks. The exchanges at the United States clearing-house during the year ending Sept. 30, 1919, aggregated $ aggregated $108,228,000.
History. The city was originally a part of Freetown, but was incorporated separately in 1803.
Later it was called Troy, but its first name was restored in 1834. The city charter was granted in 1854 and in 1862 Fall River in Newport co., R. I., was annexed. Pop. (1910) 119,295; (1920 ) 120,485.