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Fall River, MA

Fall River, Massachusetts
City
Downtown Fall River in 2007
Downtown Fall River in 2007
Official seal of Fall River, Massachusetts
Seal
Nickname(s): "The Scholarship City," "The River", "Spindle City", "Where the River Falls"
Motto: "We'll Try"
Location in Bristol County in Massachusetts
Location in Bristol County in Massachusetts
Fall River, Massachusetts is located in the US
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River, Massachusetts
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 41°42′05″N 71°09′20″W / 41.70139°N 71.15556°W / 41.70139; -71.15556Coordinates: 41°42′05″N 71°09′20″W / 41.70139°N 71.15556°W / 41.70139; -71.15556
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Bristol
Settled 1670
Incorporated 1803
Government
 • Type Mayor-council
 • Mayor Jasiel F. Correia II
 • City Council Shawn E. Cadime
President

Linda M. Pereira
Vice President

Richard Cabeceiras
Joseph D. Camara
Steven A. Camara
Pam Laliberte-Lebeau
Stephen R. Long
Raymond A. Mitchell
Cliff Ponte
Area
 • Total 40.3 sq mi (104.5 km2)
 • Land 33.1 sq mi (85.8 km2)
 • Water 7.1 sq mi (18.4 km2)
Elevation 74 ft (37 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 88,857
 • Density 2,682/sq mi (1,035.6/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code 02720-02724
Area code(s) 508 / 774
FIPS code 25-23000
GNIS feature ID 0612595
Website www.fallriverma.org

Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 88,857 at the 2010 census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.

Located along the eastern shore of Mount Hope Bay at the mouth of the Taunton River, the city became famous during the 19th century as the leading textile manufacturing center in the United States. While the textile industry has long since moved on, its impact on the city's culture and landscape remains to this day. Fall River's official motto is "We'll Try," dating back to the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1843. It is also nicknamed "the Scholarship City" because Dr. Irving Fradkin founded Dollars for Scholars here in 1958.

Fall River is known for the Lizzie Borden case, Portuguese culture, its numerous 19th-century textile mills and Battleship Cove, the world's largest collection of World War II naval vessels and the home of the USS Massachusetts (BB-59). Fall River is also the only city in the United States to have its city hall located over an interstate highway.

At the time of the establishment of the Plymouth Colony in 1620, the area that would one day become Troy City was inhabited by the Pokanoket Wampanoag tribe, headquartered at Mount Hope in what is now Bristol, Rhode Island. The "falling" river that the name Fall River refers to is the Quequechan River (pronounced "quick-a-shan" by locals) which flows through the city, dropping steeply into the bay. Quequechan is a Wampanoag word believed to mean "Falling River" or "Leaping/Falling Waters." During the 1960s, Interstate 195 was constructed through the city along the length of the Quequechan River. The portion west of Plymouth Avenue was routed underground through a series of box culverts, while much of the eastern section "mill pond" was filled in for the highway embankment.


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