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Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, located about 49 miles south of Boston, 15 miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island and 8 miles west of New Bedford. The city's population was 91,938 during the 2000 census (and 91,802 during the 2005 census). The current mayor of Fall River is Edward M. Lambert Jr. Fall River's motto is "We'll Try." Fall River is nicknamed "The Scholarship City" which is seen on the welcome signs entering the city. Fall River is well known for Lizzie Borden who was accused of the 1892 ax murder that occurred at her home in the city. It is said that the house is haunted by the ghosts of Lizzie herself, her father, step mother and her cat. Fall River is also known for Battleship Cove, the world's largest collection of World War II naval vessels, which houses the USS Massachusetts, the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., and the submarine USS Lionfish. The city's main high school, B.M.C. Durfee High School is named after a descendant of Colonel Joseph Durfee a veteran of The American Revolutionary War. and the founder of the first cotton mill in the city. Fall River is currently the eighth largest city in Massachusetts. Along with New Bedford, Fall River is considered one of the two most important cities along Massachusetts' South Coast area. History
Fall River was first settled in 1670 and considered a small village of Freetown, Massachusetts until 1803, when Fall River was separated from Freetown and officially incorporated as its own town. A year later on June 1, 1804, Fall River changed its name to "Troy". The name "Troy" was used for thirty years and was officially changed back to Fall River on February 12, 1834. There is no river called "Fall River" in the city. The river that Fall River refers to the Quequechan River. The name Quequechan is a Wampanoag name believed to mean "Falling River" or "Leaping/Falling Waters". The city is named after the falls that once were visible on the river. Settlers from Plymouth Colony purchased a very large parcel of land from the Wampanoags in 1659. A number of communities now exist on it, including Fall River. In 1690 Benjamin Church built a saw mill near the falls and settlement followed, based on industry powered by the falling water and ocean-going commerce up the Taunton River. The site was a strategic one. 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. The first railroad line that passed through Fall River, from Boston to Newport was begun in 1797. The line was named the Old Colony Railroad. From the 1870s until the 1920s, Fall River was the second largest center in the United States for the manufacture of cotton textiles after Manchester, NH. The industrial history of Fall River began in 1811 when Colonel Joseph Durfee and several investors built the first cotton mill. 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 and kept growing. In 1854, Fall River was officially incorporated as a city. This growing trend continued and in 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. 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). The period from 1847 to 1937 was marked by the Fall River Line, America's most luxurious steamship line connecting rail travellers from Boston to 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. In 1862, after a border dispute over the Fall River, Massachusetts border and the Fall River, Rhode Island state border (now known as Tiverton, Rhode Island), The US Supreme Court ruled to move the state border south from Columbia Street to State Street. Since that time, all of Fall River has been in Massachusetts. On August 4, 1892, Fall River was the scene of two murders allegedly committed by Lizzie Borden. These grisly murders are remembered in a children's rhyme originally for jumping rope, according to the Fall River Historical Society. "Lizzie Borden took an axe and and gave her mother forty whacks, when she saw what she had done she gave her father forty one." Borden was ultimately acquitted of the murders. Lizzie Borden is one of the most famous Fall River natives, because of the murder. Fall River was also home to one of the most prominent and successful early US professional soccer teams, Fall River F.C. The team in its various incarnations captured the US Open Cup 5 times and showcased the talents of such American talents as Billy Gonsalves and Bert Patenaude. Fall River was one of the hotbeds of soccer activity in the US alongside places like St. Louis and Kearny, New Jersey. Research Tips
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