Fall River, industrial city, a seat of Bristol County (with Taunton and New Bedford), southeastern Massachusetts, a deepwater port on Mount Hope Bay (an arm of Narragansett Bay), at the mouth of the Taunton River; incorporated as a city 1854. Textiles and clothing are the chief manufactures; others include medical products, electrical equipment, and chemicals. Fall River has numerous historic buildings and is the home of the battleship USS Massachusetts, now a World War II memorial, moored in Mount Hope Bay. The community was founded in 1656 by settlers from Plymouth Colony. In 1811 the community's first cotton mill was established. Fall River's location near waterpower and the city's fine harbor contributed to its development as one of the most important textile milling centers in the country. The city was the scene of considerable labor unrest, including a textile workers' strike in 1904-1905. The textile industry declined here beginning in the 1920s. In 1892 Fall River was the site of the famous murders of the father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden, who was acquitted in a trial in New Bedford the following year. The city's name is derived from the Native American word for the area, Quequechan (“falling water”). Population 92,574 (1980); 92,703 (1990); 91,938 (2000).
