 | Fall River was originally
called Freetown, a village of about 100
people and about 20 dwellings. In 1803, Fall River was separated from
Freetown and became its own village.
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| In 1804, the name of Fall
River was changed to Troy. For thirty years
this was the name of the city. In 1834 the name was changed back to
Fall River as it was felt this better described the area and hence was
easier to remember.
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| The Quequechan river had a
great water flow of 26 million gallons per
day, which dropped 129 feet in less than 1/2 mile. This was a
tremendous source of water power. Quequechan is an Amerind name meaning
leaping or falling waters
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| In 1778 there was a battle
between the British and colonials near the
site of the present day city hall. About 150 British were repelled and
retreated back to their ship. They burned Thomas Borden's grist and saw
mill and a few dwellings on their way.
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| By 1840, more than thirty
men were involved in stonecutting the fine
granite stone of the area. By the end of the century, more than 120 men
were quarrying stone.
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| In 1862, the border
between Fall River, Mass and Fall River, Rhode
Island was settled. The new border was moved south from Columbia Street
to State Street. The dispute was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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| By the 1880s, Fall River
could boast of the most modern conveniences,
including street cars, telephones and electric service. In education,
Fall River stood head and shoulders among its neighbors. The city
provided free textbooks to its pupils 10 years prior to the law
requiring it. When Durfee high school was opened in 1886, it was
considered the finest in the nation.
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| The first streetcar rails
were laid in 1880. The cars were first
pulled by horses. By the early 1890s, the system was electrified. By
1900, most of the city was accessible by street car. The streetcars
operated until 1936.
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| The first postal service
started in 1811 and the first free delivery
started in 1863.
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| The Troy Mills, built in
1814, spanned the Quequechan river, directly
behind city hall. After a fire in 1821, the mill was rebuilt. In 1860 a
five-story complex was built.
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| The Troy store was
situated on the corner of Pleasant and 4th streets.
The store advertised itself as, "The worlds cheapest store" It sold
groceries, furniture, clothing, sundries. The store closed when the
building was demolished in the 1930s. At one time, patrons could depart
from a landing at the rear of the Troy store and be taken by barge up
the Quequechan river. Their destination was a pine grove called
Adirondacks on the North Watuppa where a picnic was arranged on the
shore of the pond.
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| In 1877, Robert McWhirr
and Sarah Ramsay opened the first McWhirr
store near Charity Lane. In 1886 the store was moved to South Main
street and after the 1916 fire was rebuilt with twenty times more floor
space.
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| In 1885, The Fall River
Daily Globe, a Democratic newspaper, was
established. It was absorbed by the Fall River Herald News in 1929.
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| The Andrew Robeson house
on Rock Street, home of the Fall River
Historical Society, was originally built on Columbia Street in 1843.
Three-fourths of the house stood on Massachusetts ground, one-fourth on
Rhode Island ground. In 1870, the house was moved, piece-by-piece to
its present location.
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| Joseph Durfee, commanding
officer of the Patriots who repelled the
British at the Battle of Fall River, moved to Tiverton after the war.
He built the areas first cotton mill in 1811 in Fall River, Rhode
Island near the northeast corner of South Main Street and Globe Street.
The mill was built on Globe Pond and operated until 1829. Globe Pond
was eventually filled in and is known today as Father Kelley Park.
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| The Fall River stop on the
New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad
line was built in 1891. The station was situated near the intersection
of North Main Street and Presidents Ave.
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| The Brightman Street
bridge was opened in 1908. It cost a little over
a million dollars for the 922 feet long, 60 feet wide span. Adjacent to
where the bridge stands was once the location of a permanent Amerind
encampment.
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| The Braga bridge was
originally called the Taunton River Bridge. The
bridge was renamed after Charles Braga Jr., a Fall River native who
lost his life during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
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| Sandy Beach was situated
at the end of Bay Street. Before the 1890s
the area was known as Old Elm. Around 1892, the Dubois family developed
the area into an amusement park and bathing spot. The site became very
popular and could be reached by trolley from almost anywhere in the
city. A 1930 fire badly damaged the park. The hurricane of 1938
completed the devastation.
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| The Borden Flats
Lighthouse was built in 1880 to replace a beacon that
operated on this spot. A lighthouse keeper tended the light until 1937
when the lighthouse was automated. One of my great uncles, Arthur
Desmeules, was one of these lighthouse keepers. I am told there is a
picture, taken one winter by the local newspaper, showing Arthur
Desmeules walking across the frozen Taunton River, oar in hand, to get
groceries in town. I'm told this newspaper picture was used to depict
an unusually cold winter. The picture had to be taken sometime in the
1930s as my aunt Ora and my uncle Bob both remember it.
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| Before sewage lines were
extended to all parts of the city, cesspools
were emptied using a bucket at the end of a long pole and the refuse
was carted away in buckboards called honey carts. |
