Editing Fall River, Massachusetts (section)

===Industrial development and prosperity===
{{See also|List of mills in Fall River, Massachusetts}}
[[File:Child workers in Fall River, MA.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Group of workers in the Sagamore Manufacturing Company in August 1911 photographed by [[Lewis Hine]]]]

====19th century====
The early establishment of the textile industry in Fall River grew out of the developments made in nearby [[Rhode Island]], beginning with [[Samuel Slater]] at [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]] in 1793. In 1811, Col. Joseph Durfee, the Revolutionary War veteran and hero of the Battle of Freetown in 1778, built the Globe Manufactory, a spinning mill at the outlet of Cook Pond on Dwelly St. near what is now Globe Four Corners in the city's South End. (It was part of [[Tiverton, Rhode Island]] at the time.) While Durfee's mill itself was not particularly successful, its establishment marked the beginning of Fall River's time as a mill city.

The real development of Fall River's industry, however, would occur along the falling river from which it was named, about a mile north of Durfee's first mill. The [[Quequechan River]], with its eight falls, combined to make Fall River the best tidewater privilege in southern New England. It was perfect for industrialization—big enough for profit and expansion, yet small enough to be developed by local capital without interference from [[Boston]].<ref>''The Run of the Mill'', Dunwell, Steve, 1978</ref>

The [[Fall River Manufactory]] was established by David Anthony and others in 1813. That same year, the [[Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory]] was founded by a group of investors led by [[Oliver Chace]] of Swansea. Chace had worked as a carpenter for [[Samuel Slater]] in his early years. The Troy Mill opened in 1814 at the upper end of the falls.

In 1821, [[Colonel Richard Borden]] (along with Maj. Bradford Durfee) established the [[Fall River Iron Works]] at the lower part of the [[Quequechan River]]. Durfee was a shipwright, and Borden was the owner of a grist mill. After an uncertain start, in which some early investors pulled out, the Fall River Iron Works was incorporated in 1825. The Iron Works began producing nails, bar stock, and other items, such as bands for casks in the nearby [[New Bedford]] [[whaling]] industry. They soon gained a reputation for producing nails of high quality, and business flourished. In 1827, Col. Borden began regular steamship service to [[Providence, Rhode Island]].<ref>[http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fallriverironworks.pdf "The Fall River Iron Works Prospered After Shaky Start", Fall River ''Herald News'', October 17, 1989] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051227163555/http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fallriverironworks.pdf |date=December 27, 2005 }}</ref>

The [[Fall River Iron Works|American Print Works]] was established in 1835 by Holder Borden, uncle of Col. Richard Borden. With the leadership of the Borden family, the American Print Works (later known as the American Printing Company) became the largest and most important textile company in the city, employing thousands at its peak in the early 20th century. Richard Borden also constructed the [[Metacomet Mill]] in 1847, which today is the oldest remaining textile mill in the city; it is located on Anawan Street.

By 1845, the Quequechan's power had been all but maximized. The Massasoit Steam Mill was established in 1846, above the dam near the end of Pleasant Street. However, it would be another decade or so when improvements in the steam engine by [[George Henry Corliss|George Corliss]] would enable the construction of the first large steam-powered mill in the city, the Union Mills in 1859.

The advantage of being able to import bales of cotton and coal to fuel the steam engines to Fall River's deep water harbor (and ship them out from the same) made Fall River the city of choice for a series of cotton mill magnates. The first railroad line serving Fall River, The Fall River Branch Railroad, was incorporated in 1844 and opened in 1845. In 1847, the first regular steamboat service to [[New York City]] began. The [[Fall River Line]], as it came to be known, operated until 1937, and for many years was the preferred way to travel between [[Boston]] and [[Manhattan]]. The [[Old Colony Railroad]] and Fall River Railroad merged in 1854, forming the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad.

In 1854, Fall River was officially incorporated as a city; it had a population of about 12,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/1903.pdf|title=Illustrated History of Fall River, 1903}}</ref> Its first [[List of mayors of Fall River, Massachusetts|mayor]] was James Buffington.

Fall River profited well from the [[American Civil War]] and was in a fine position to take advantage of the prosperity that followed. By 1868, it had surpassed Lowell as the leading textile city in America with over 500,000 spindles.

====Expansion and growth====
[[File:Bordercity.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Border City Mill]]
In 1871 and 1872, a "most dramatic expansion" of the city occurred: 15 new corporations were founded, building 22 new mills throughout the city, while some of the older mills expanded. The city's population increased by 20,000 people during these two years, while overall mill capacity doubled to more than 1,000,000 spindles.

By 1876, the city had one-sixth of all New England cotton capacity and one-half of all print cloth production. The Spindle City, as it became known, was second in the world to only Manchester, England in terms of output.

To house the thousands of new workers—mostly [[Irish diaspora|Irish]] and [[French Canadian]] immigrants during these years—over 12,000 units of company housing were built. Unlike the well-spaced boardinghouses and tidy cottages of [[Rhode Island]], worker housing in Fall River consisted of thousands of wood-framed, multi-family tenements, usually three-floor "[[triple-decker]]s" with up to six apartments. Many more privately owned tenements supplemented the company housing.<ref>''The Run of the Mill'', Dunwell, Steve, 1978, p.105-110</ref>

During the 19th century, Fall River became famous for the granite rock on which much of the city is built. Several granite quarries operated during this time, the largest of which was the Beattie Granite Quarry, near what is now the corner of North Quarry and Locust Streets.<ref>[http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/localrock.pdf 2003 "Local Rock Vital in City's Construction", ''Herald News'', February 26, 2003]</ref> Many of the mills in the city were built from this stone, and it was highly regarded as a building material for many public buildings and private homes alike. The [[Chateau-sur-Mer]] mansion in [[Newport, Rhode Island]] was constructed from [[Fall River granite]], known for its greyish-pink color.

While most of the mills "above the hill" were constructed from native Fall River granite, nearly all of their counterparts along the [[Taunton River]] and [[Mount Hope Bay]] were made of red brick due to the high costs and impracticality associated with transporting the rock through the city and down the hill. (One notable exception is the Sagamore Mills on North Main Street, which were constructed from similar rock quarried in Freetown and brought to the site by rail).

====20th century====
[[File:Davol Mills Fall River.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Davol Mills]]]]
[[File:Highway 79.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Massachusetts Route 79]] viaduct and Braga Bridge in Fall River. The [[Quequechan River]] flows beneath the parking lot. The viaduct was demolished in 2014 and replaced with a surface boulevard.]]
Fall River rode a wave of economic prosperity well into the early 20th century. During this time, the city boasted a bustling downtown with several upscale hotels and theaters. As the city continuously expanded during the late 19th century, additional infrastructure such as parks, schools, streetcar lines, a public water supply, and sewerage system were constructed to meet the needs of its growing population.

From 1896 to 1912, Fall River was the headquarters of the [[E. P. Charlton & Company]], a chain of [[variety store|five and ten cent stores]]. Founded at Fall River in 1890 by [[Seymour H. Knox I|Seymour H. Knox]] and Earle Perry Charlton as the Knox & Charlton Five and Ten Cent Store, E.P. Charlton operated fifty-eight stores in the United States and Canada by the time of its merger with several other retailers to form the [[F. W. Woolworth Company]] in 1912.

In 1920, the population of Fall River peaked at 120,485.<ref>U.S. Census. ''1940 Population Reports''. p. 32</ref>

<gallery>
Image:North Main Street, Fall River, MA.jpg|North Main Street, {{circa|1910}}
Image:First Cotton Mill, Fall River, MA.jpg|First Cotton Mill, built in 1811
Image:Printing Works, Fall River, MA.jpg|Printing Works, {{circa|1920}}
Image:The Charlton Block, Fall River, Mass..jpg|The Charlton Block, 1908
</gallery>

The cotton mills of Fall River had built their business largely on one product: print cloth. Around 1910, the city's largest employer, the [[American Printing Company (Fall River Iron Works)|American Printing Company]] (APC), employed 6,000 people and was the largest company printer of cloth in the world. Dozens of other city mills solely produced cloth to be printed at the APC.

[[World War I]] had provided a general increase in demand for textiles, and many of the mills of [[New England]] benefited during this time. The post-war economy quickly slowed, however, and production quickly outpaced demand. The Northern mills faced serious competition from their Southern counterparts due to lower labor and transportation costs, as well as the South's large investment in new machinery and other equipment. In 1923, Fall River faced the first wave of mill closures. Several of the mills merged, allowing them to remain in business into the late 1920s.

The worst fire in Fall River's history occurred on the evening of February 2, 1928.<ref>[http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fire.pdf Sailsinc.org] Picture of the Worst Fire in Fall River's History</ref> It began when workers were dismantling the recently vacated [[Pocasset Manufacturing Company|Pocasset Mill]]. During the night, the fire spread quickly and wiped out a large portion of downtown. City Hall was spared, but was badly damaged. Today, many of the structures near the corner of North Main and Bedford Street date from the early 1930s, as they were rebuilt soon after the fire.

By the 1930s and the [[Great Depression]], many of the mills were out of business and the city was bankrupt. The once mighty [[American Printing Company (Fall River Iron Works)|American Printing Company]] finally closed for good in 1934. In 1937, their huge plant waterfront on Water Street was acquired by the [[Firestone Tire & Rubber Company]] and soon employed 2,600 people. A handful managed to survive through [[World War II]] and into the 1950s. In October 1941, just a few weeks before the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]], another large fire broke out in the main building of the printworks. The fire was a major setback to the U.S. war effort; {{convert|30,000|lb|kg|abbr=off}} of raw rubber worth $15 million was lost in the inferno.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fulltext.htm|title=Keeley Library, B.M.C. Durfee High School - Full-text Online Books & Articles|website=sailsinc.org}}</ref>

With the demise of the textile industry, many of the city's mills were occupied by smaller companies, some in the garment industry, traditionally based in the [[New York City]] area but attracted to [[New England]] by the lure of cheap factory space and an eager workforce in need of jobs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcpdf/Town%20reports/SE-Mass/flr.pdf|title=MHC Survey, 1982}}</ref> The garment industry survived in the city well into the 1990s, by which point it had fallen victim to [[globalization]] and foreign competition.<ref>[http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/lambert.pdf History of Fall River's Garment Industry] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627160246/http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/lambert.pdf |date=June 27, 2008 }}</ref>

====Modern era====
[[File:Fall River Old City Hall color image.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Old City Hall, demolished in 1962 for construction of Interstate 195]]
In the 1960s, the city's landscape was drastically transformed with the construction of the [[Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge|Braga Bridge]] and Interstate 195, which cut directly through the heart of the city. In the wake of the highway building boom, the city lost many of its longtime landmarks. The [[Quequechan River]] was filled in and re-routed for much of its length. The historic falls were diverted into underground culverts. A series of elevated steel viaducts was constructed to allow access the new bridge. Many historic buildings were demolished, including the Old City Hall, the Troy Mills, the Second Granite Block (built after the 1928 fire), as well as other 19th-century brick-and-mortar buildings near Old City Hall.

Constructed directly over Interstate 195 in the place of it predecessor, the new city hall (known as Government Center) was opened in 1976 after years of construction delays and quality control problems. Built in the [[Brutalist]] style popular in the 1960s and 1970s, the new city hall drew complaints from city workers and residents almost immediately.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In 1970, [[Valle's Steak House]] opened one of its landmark restaurants on William S. Canning Boulevard in the city's South End. The steak house was popular with Fall River residents, but economic challenges caused the chain to close all of its restaurants in the 1980s.<ref>"Valle's Steak House, opened in 1970 and demolished in 1984" (August 6, 2012) ''The Herald News'' (Fall River, Mass.)[http://www.heraldnews.com/photos/timeframes/x1225369819/Valles-Steak-House-opened-in-1970-and-demolished-in-1984]</ref>

Also during the 1970s, several modern apartment high-rise towers were built throughout the city, many part of the Fall River Housing Authority. There were two built near Milliken Boulevard, two on Pleasant Street in Flint Village, another on South Main Street, and in the north end off Robeson Street. Today, these high-rises mostly house the elderly.

In 1978, the city opened the new B.M.C. Durfee High School in the North End, replacing the historic Rock Street building that had become overcrowded and outdated for use as a high school. The "new" Durfee is one of the largest high schools in [[Massachusetts]].

Since approximately 1980, there has been a considerable amount of new development in the North End of the city. A significant number of new single- and multi-family housing developments have been constructed, particularly along North Main Street.

In 2017, Fall River was ranked the 51st most dangerous city in the United States. It was also the third most dangerous city in Massachusetts and fourth most dangerous city in New England.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schiller |first1=Andrew |title=NeighborhoodScout's Most Dangerous Cities - 2021 |url=https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/blog/top100dangerous |website=Neighborhoodscout.com |date=January 2, 2021 |access-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308110815/https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/blog/top100dangerous |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On January 20, 2019, a cannabis dispensary opened in Fall River, becoming only the sixth dispensary in Massachusetts and the first in Southeastern Massachusetts to open to anyone 21 years or older.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Northeast Alternatives Story |url=https://nealternatives.com/history-northeast-alternatives/ |website=Northeast Alternatives |access-date=May 31, 2019 |archive-date=May 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531152542/https://nealternatives.com/history-northeast-alternatives/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>