GREENERPASTURE Free Family History Since 1999
LOCAL HISTORY Fall River, Massachusetts, USA

1895 - Fall River


Fall River, a city and port of entry of Bristol Co., Mass, is pleasantly situated on the E. bank of the Taunton River, at its mouth, and on Mount Hope Bay, which is the northeastern part of Narragansett Bay. By railroad it is 49 miles S. of Boston, 19 miles N.N.E. of Newport, and 18 miles S.E. of Providence, R.I. It is connected with these cities by the Old Colony Railroad and the Providence, Warren & Fall River Railroad, and with New Bedford (13 miles distant), by the Fall River & New Bedford Railroad. It is well built, having many buildings constructed of fine granite quarried in the vicinity. It contains 35 churches, 7 national banks, 4 savings-banks, a public library of 36,000 volumes, a high school, a convent, a handsome granite city hall, and a custom-house. Three daily and 7 weekly newspapers are published here. Large steam packets ply daily between Fall River and New York. Its prosperity is mainly derived from manufactures of cotton, nails, machinery, and other products; it being specially noted for its cotton-factories, of which there are 65 mills, with 2,128,228 spindles. In 1890 the incorporated capital of the 40 companies owning these mills was $20,643,000. The city has abundant hydraulic power furnished by the out let of Watuppa Pond, which descends about 130 feet in the course of half a mile. The capital invested here in manufactures is nearly $40,000,000. The harbor of Fall River is safe, capacious, and deep enough to admit vessels of the largest class. The city is supplied with good water brought from Watuppa Pond. Incorporated as a city in 1854. Pop, in 1870, 26,766; in 1880, 48,961; in 1890, 74,398.
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