FALL RIVER, a city of Bristol county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., on the east shore of Mount Hope bay, at the mouth of the Taunton river, 5o m. S. of Boston ; a port of entry and one of the principal cotton-manufacturing centres of the country. It is served by the New York:New Haven and Hartford railroad and by the famous Fall River Line of the New England Steamship Company and cargo steamers operating to Pacific and Atlantic ports. The population was 120,485 in 1920, of whom 42,331 were foreign born white (including 10,734 French-Canadians, 7,971 British, 6,428 from the Atlantic islands, and 5,675 from Portugal) ; and was 115,274 in 1930.
The city faces west, stretching for r)m. along a granite ledge rising steeply from the river. About 2ooft. above the city, and 2m. east, are the Watuppa Lakes, from which the little Quequechan (or Fall) river tumbles down. It runs through the city, flowing under the city hall, and its banks are lined with long rows of the great cotton-mills, many of them built of gray granite from the city's foundation. A city plan was adopted in 1923, which will correct the defects in the haphazard lay-out of the streets, utilize the natural advantages of the site, and transform Fall River into a beautiful and conveniently arranged city. On the banks of the Taunton river is the first unit of a hydro-electric plant which eventually will furnish 275,000 h.p. The harbour is large, deep, and easy of access. Its traffic in 1927 amounted to 4,140,000 tons, and included large receipts of coal and oil, and considerable com merce (100,00o tons) through the Panama canal. The aggregate output of the city's factories in 1927 was valued at $120,324,418, of which over half ($66,698,113) represented cotton goods. The cotton-mills (over loo) have about 4,000,000 spindles, one-ninth of the total number in the United States, and have an annual capacity of 400,000 bales of cotton. There are large hat factories; an oil refinery (built in 1922) with a capacity of 1,000,00o barrels a month; silk mills, shirt and curtain factories. The assessed valuation of property in 1927 was $188,935,75o. Bank debits in 1926 amounted to $355,o68,000. From the character of the dom inating industry and of the population it results that Fall River has a considerable preponderance of women (92.6 males to loo females, 1920) ; and a high percentage of boys and girls employed in occupations (18.5% in 1920 of the total population between 10 and 15 years of age). Fall River was incorporated as a town in 1803 and as a city in 1854. In 186o the population was 14.026. Between 1865 and 1900 the number of spindles increased from 265,328 to 3,000,000, and the population grew to 48,961 in 188o and 104,863 in 1900. Since 1900 there have been periods of great fluctuation, and the net increase has been relatively slow. In 1904-05 occurred a strike of the textile workers (for higher wages) lasting seven months, and thousands of operatives moved away. It was ended by arbitration by the governor, and resulted in the adoption of a plan for semi-annual conferences at which the wage scale is adjusted. The industry, and consequently the city as a whole, was seriously affected by the depression of 1920-21, and by the growing competition of the southern cotton-mills. A disas trous fire occurred in 1843 ; and in Feb. 1928, 12 blocks in the heart of the business district were destroyed by fire. It was at Mount Hope, across the bay, that the Indian chieftain, king Philip, was captured and slain (1676).