Editing Fall River, Massachusetts (section)

====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>