Fall River

Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Fall River is known for the Lizzie Borden case, the Fall River cult murders, Portuguese culture, its numerous 19th-century textile mills and Battleship Cove, home of the world's largest collection of World War II naval vessels. The city's official motto is "We'll Try", dating back to the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1843. The "falling" river that the city's name refers to is the Quequechan River (pronounced "quick-a-shan" by locals) which flows through the city before draining into the bay. The name "Troy" was used for 30 years and was officially changed back to Fall River on February 12, 1834. In 1778, the Battle of Freetown, was fought here during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) after British raids badly damaged Bristol and Warren. The Fall River Female Anti Slavery Society was formed in 1835 to allow a women's space to conduct social activism. In 1838, Sarah G. Buffman, a delegate from the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, was sent to the anti-slavery convention in Philadelphia, where she signed all three statements that the delegates agreed that the convention's delegates agreed on.

History

Fall River was founded in 1620 by the Pokanoket Wampanoag tribe. In 1778, the Battle of Freetown, was fought here during the American Revolutionary War. In 1854, Fall River was governed by a three-member Board of Selectmen, until it became a City in 1854. In 1861, after decades of dispute, the U.S. Supreme Court moved the state boundary to what is now State Avenue, unifying both Fall River in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as a city. The city's name comes from the Quequechan River (pronounced "quick-a-shan" by locals) which flows through the city before draining into the bay. The name "Troy" was used for 30 years and was officially changed back to Fall River on February 12, 1834. In July 1843, the first great fire in Fall River's history destroyed much of the town center, including the Atheneum, which housed the Skeleton in Armor which had been discovered in a sand bank in 1832. The Fall River Female Anti Slavery Society was formed (one of the many anti slavery societies in New England) in 1835 to promote abolition and to allow a women's space to conduct social activism. The early establishment of the textile industry in the city led to the city's prosperity in the early 19th century. Fall River grew out of the developments made in nearby Rhode Island, with the beginning of Samuel Slater at Pawtucket in 1793.

Geography

The city lies on the eastern border of Mount Hope Bay, which begins at the mouth of the Taunton River starting south from the Charles M. Braga Jr. Memorial Bridge. Fall River and surrounding areas are located in the northeastern coastal forests, which make up the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome. The city has two large lakes (originally one lake) and a large portion of protected woodlands. The Quequechan River drains out of the ponds and flowing 2.5 miles (4.0 km) through the heart of the city, emptying out an estimated 26 million US gallons (98×10^6 l) per day. Plans exist to "light" the falls or restore them, or build a green belt with a bicycle path along the Quequchan River and Lake Cook Pond, also known as Laurel Pond, which is located east of the end of Taunon River at Battleship Cove. The fall is about 132 feet (40 m) in length, and the volume of water 122 cubic feet (3.5 m3) per second. In the last half-mile (800 m) of its progress it rushes down the hillside in a narrow, precipitous, rocky channel, creating the falls for which Fall River is named. It is the only city on the East Coast of the United States to have had an exposed waterfall in part of its downtown area; it flowed less than 12 mile (0.8 km) into a sheltered harbor at the edge of downtown.

Demographics

According to the United States Census of 2020, the population of Fall River is 94,000. 49% of residents are Luso American or have origins somewhere in the former Portuguese Empire. 37% of the population described themselves as being of Portuguese ancestry. The next largest groups by ancestry are French (12.4%) the original immigrants to largely populate Fall River until the Portuguese started immigrating to the area. Fall River and its surrounding communities form much of the Massachusetts portion of the Providence metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of 1,622,520. The city has 38,759 households and 23,558 families. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 3.00. The median household income was $29,014, and the median family income is $37,671. The per capita income for the city was $16,118. About 14.0% of families and 17.1% of those under age 18 were below the poverty line.Fall River is ranked 344th out of Massachusetts' 350 municipalities in terms of per capita incomes. The population density was 2,963.7 inhabitants per square mile (1,144.3/km²). There were 41,857 housing units at an average density of1,349.3 per squaremile (521.0/km 2) The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.7 males. Forevery 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.9 males.

Culture

Fall River is a predominantly Roman Catholic city due to the French Canadians who first populated the city. At the time of the city's peak population in 1920, there were over two dozen Catholic parishes existing throughout the city, with each ethnic enclave having its own parish. In 2020, artists and Fall River natives Harry Gould Harvey IV and Brittni Ann Harvey opened the Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art (Fall River MoCA) in the first floor of a former mill on Bedford Street. A proposal is in place to revitalize the downtown area by the creation of an Arts District. The city is host to many ethnic festivals throughout the year, including the Great Holy Ghost Festival, which attracts over 200,000 visitors each August. The Narrows Center for the Arts, located on Anawan Street, has been played by a number of national and international acts since its opening in 2001, including Rosanne Cash, Los Lobos, Blue Öyster Cult, Dr. John, The Avett Brothers, Richie Havens, Lake Street Dive and Susan Tedeschi. Fall River is home to three synagogues, three Jewish congregations, and several other ethno-religious groups. Recent arrivals from Cambodia and India maintain temples in the city in the cities of Wat Wat and Wat Udomsaharatan and BAPS Shaminarayan Swaminarwasi Swami Swami was born in Fall River in the 1970s and 1980s, respectively. In 2008, the city had 4,000 Jews; by 2008 that had declined to less than 1,000.

Government

The city is led by the mayor-council form of government. There is a mayor and nine at-large city councillors, elected in odd-years to two year terms. The majority of the city's municipal offices are located at Government Center. The murder trial of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in 2015 was held at the district courthouse on South Main Street.Fall River is represented by three separate Massachusetts House of Representatives districts; only one, the 7th Bristol, is wholly within city limits. The city is entirely within the First Bristol and Plymouth district, represented by State Senator Michael Rodrigues (D-Fall River) The city's state highways are patrolled by the Third Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police, based out of Dartmouth. On the national level, the city is divided between two congressional districts. Massachusetts' 4th congressional district,represented by Democrat Jake Auchincloss, contains most of Fall River, while Massachusetts' 9th Congressional district contains a part of the northeastern portion of city. The central branch was named after the late Sgt. Robert Barrett in May 2011, a Fall River native who died in Afghanistan in 2010. There are four post offices in the city, the central, located adjacent to Government Center, is modeled after the James Farley Post Office in New York City. Additional branches are located in the Flint, the South End, and the Highlands. The Fire Headquarters is located on Commerce Drive, across from the former Fall River Municipal Airport.

Education

Fall River has one public high school, B.M. Durfee High School. The city is also home to six Catholic schools, two private schools, and a Christian academy. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has two branches in the city: the Professional and Continuing Education Center, and the Advanced Technical & Manufacturing Center at the Narrows. Eastern Nazarene College offers GED programs and a recording studio. The first Portuguese grammar school in the U.S. opened in Fall River in 1910, with 70% of its students being ethnic Portuguese. It is located on the former site of the Kerr Mills, which is now part of the University ofMassachusetts Dartmouth, and is located at 139 South Main Street, Fall River, MA 02301. The school was founded to promote the city's textile sciences, and it is now a part of U. ofMass Dartmouth. It was the first school to be named after a Catholic bishop, Bishop James Louis Connolly, who served from 1961 to 1972. It has been named after the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Fall River. It also is home to the East Gate Christian Academy, which was founded in 1995 and offers a Christian education program for pre-school through eighth grade. It's also the home of the Eastgate Christian School, a Christian school with a pre-K through eighth-grade program for children of all ages. It opened in the early 1990s, and now has a sixth grade program for sixth and seventh graders.

International relations

Fall River is twinned with: Ponta Delgada, The Azores, Portugal, and Ponta delgada. Fall River is located on the Atlantic seabed between Portugal and the Azores. The town has a population of 1,000,000 and is located in the town of Fall River, a suburb of Porto Alegre, Portugal. It is twined with: Portugal and Portuguese towns Ponte de Giro d'Or, Portugal and Ponta Delgada The Azores The town is also twinned with: São Paulo, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It also has a sister town, Fall River in Texas, in the U.S. state of Texas. It has an international airport, the Fall River International Airport, which is located near the town's centre. The city's population is 1,100,000. It was founded in 1881. It became a town in 1883. It's twined with Porto Alegre in Portugal in 1887. It had a sister city, Ponta Dergada, Portugal in 1888, and with Santos, Portugal in 1891. Fall River is twinned with: Porto D'Or in Portugal and Ponta d'Oro in Portugal, The Azores, The Azore Islands, and Santo Dgada in Portugal.

Library

As of fiscal year 2022, the city of Fall River spends 0.53% ($1,861,112) of its budget on its public libraryroughly $20 per person. The main location of the Fall River Public Library is located at 104 North Main Street, within the Downtown Fall River Historic District. It opened in 1899, and was designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram in the Renaissance Revival style. The building underwent an extensive renovation during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The public library system also includes two branches; the South End Branch, located at 58 Arch Street, and the East End Branch, located at 1386 Pleasant Street. The Fall River Historical Society also maintains the Charlton Library of Fall river History. It was established in 1860. It is located in the downtown area of the city. The library is open to the public on weekdays from 9am to 5pm, and on the weekends from 8am to 11pm. It has two branches: the South end branch and the east end branch. The city's public library is free to use, and it is located on the second floor of a building on North Main St. in downtown Fall River. There are no plans to build a new library in the near future, but the city does have plans to expand its current library system in the future. It currently has a collection of more than 2,000 books. It also has a large collection of rare books, including some from the U.S. Navy.

Transportation

Fall River has historically been a transportation hub for the South Coast and Mount Hope Bay areas due to its location along the Taunton River. In 1875, Slade's Ferry Bridge was opened, connecting the two cities by trolley (and late by car) In 1903, the state authorized construction of a second bridge, the Brightman Street Bridge, a four lane, 922-foot (281 m) long drawbridge ending at its namesake street. The bridge was in use until 1970, when it was closed and subsequently demolished. An under-construction project named South Coast Rail will bring rail service to the city via a slight rerouting of the existing Middleborough/Lakeville line. Fall River shares the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) with New Bedford, Somerset, and Providence, which is served by the MBTA/Stoughton Branch and the former Dighton and Somerset Railroad. As of 2022, the nearest passenger rail station is Providence, and it is planned to be rerouted via the Stoughton and Somerset Branch by 2030. In addition to Interstate 195, Fall River is also served by four other major routes. Route 138, Route 24, I-195, and US 6 are based upon pre-Colonial and Colonial-era Native American Native American trails. The city is also home to the Cape Cod and New England Museum. The museum is located in the town of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and is open to the public on weekdays.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts = 52. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 47. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Fall River = 3.5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 1,551 individuals with a median age of 37.6 age the population dropped by -1.41% in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,837.91 residents per square mile of area (1,095.73/km²). There are average 2.28 people per household in the 38,988 households with an average household income of $35,249 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 14.20% of the available work force and has dropped -5.31% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 15.18%. The number of physicians in Fall River per 100,000 population = 141.2.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Fall River = 44.6 inches and the annual snowfall = 34.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 125. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 201. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 22.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 52, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 32.04%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 72 years with median home cost = $160,880 and home appreciation of -11.10%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.66 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,443 per student. There are 12.6 students for each teacher in the school, 3486 students for each Librarian and 536 students for each Counselor. 6.27% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 7.47% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 3.16% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).