BlockBefore
Decorative drawing: a small American settlement seen from a low hill. Not a photograph of this place.

Fall River, Massachusetts

36 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1888 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Fall River City. It stands on Quiquechan River. The Survey maps it on the Fall River quadrangle. 94,000 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 121 feet above sea level.

Fall River within Bristol County

Population over time

2 figures

Fall River grew from 88,857 to 94,000 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201088,857
202094,000+5,143 (+6%)

Then and now

1888 to 1985

The same ground, surveyed 97 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Fall River, surveyed 1985
Topographic sheet of Fall River, surveyed 1888

Topographic sheets covering this place

36 sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires nearby

26 since 2001

The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Fall River between 2001 and 2020, burning about 56 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined12
Debris and open burning5
Arson/incendiarism4
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
20 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
16 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 August 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMassachussetts State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
23 August 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 July 2017Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 June 2017Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
6 May 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 May 2017Debris and open burning1.2 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Bristol County

Specimens collected nearby

12 of 1,065 shown

Museums hold 1,065 specimens collected within 10 miles of Fall River between 1844 and 1975: 586 Animalia, 369 Plantae, 77 Fungi, 29 Chromista, 4 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A E Schuyler, A. B. Hervey, A. Macrae and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Hibiscus moscheutos, not of this specimenHibiscus moscheutos subsp. moscheutos1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Pluchea camphorata, not of this specimenPluchea camphorata (L.) DC.1844not recorded
A photograph of the species Ranunculus bulbosus, not of this specimenRanunculus bulbosus L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Vitis labrusca, not of this specimenVitis labrusca L.1850not recorded
A photograph of the species Carex spicata, not of this specimenCarex spicata Huds.1859Collector unspecifiedPortsmouth.
A photograph of the species Scolopax minor, not of this specimenScolopax minor J.F.Gmelin, 17891860Alan PooleWestport
A photograph of the species Chondrus crispus, not of this specimenChondrus crispus Stackhouse1874F. WolleFall River
A photograph of the species Conomitrium julianum, not of this specimenConomitrium julianum (Savi ex DC.) Mont.1874unknownFall River
A photograph of the species Doellingeria umbellata, not of this specimenDoellingeria umbellata (Mill.) Nees1874J. H. Redfield
A photograph of the species Ectocarpus littoralis, not of this specimenEctocarpus littoralis (L.) Lyngb.1874F. WolleFall River
A photograph of the species Lathyrus japonicus, not of this specimenLathyrus japonicus var. glaber (Ser.) Fernald1874not recorded
A photograph of the species Ulva latissima, not of this specimenUlva latissima L.1874F. WolleFall River

All 1,065 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries nearby

2 within 5 miles

The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Fall River: 1 unknown, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Swansea PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPlant
Tiverton PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown

Every working recorded in Bristol County

Storms nearby

24 since 1997

The National Weather Service names Fall River in 24 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 10 flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2018FloodFall River$15,000At 1:25 PM EST, several cars were trapped in flood waters on Quequechan Street and Warren Street, near a Walmart store. The two streets were closed due to flooding.
June 2012FloodFall River$15,000A car was stuck in flood waters on Milliken Boulevard. It had to be towed out of the water.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindFall River$10,000In Fall River, a building that was under renovation had a portion of the facade of the building collapse.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindFall River$10,000In Fall River, several trees and large branches were down including a tree on a car.
August 2018FloodFall River$10,000At 12:37 PM EST, a basement at a house on Purchase Street in Fall River was reported flooded.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindFall River$5,000A tree on Robeson Street was downed by thunderstorm winds, blocking half the street.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindFall River$1,000In Fall River, there was a large tree blocking the road on Bush St. A tree also fell on a garage and two cars with a hole in the roof of the garage.
June 2017FloodFall River$1,000At 915 AM EST, a heavy downpour flooded a section of Pleasant Street in Fall River with one lane blocked off.
July 2025Flash FloodFall River-In Fall River, several roads were flooded throughout town.
August 2024Flash FloodFall River-In Fall River, Brayton Ave at Pleasant St was flooded and impassable.
August 2023Flash FloodFall River-In Fall River, Plymouth Ave between I-95 and Pleasant St was flooded and impassable.
July 2023Flash FloodFall River-In Fall River, Broadway at Ponte Delgada Blvd. was flooded and impassable.
July 2023FloodFall River-In Fall River, Plymouth Ave was flooded and impassable with a car stuck.
August 2018FloodFall River-At 11:53 AM EST, the intersection of Quarry Street and Pleasant Street in Fall River was reported flooded and impassable.
October 2017FloodFall River-At 230 AM EST, Bedford Street near Sixth Street in Fall River was reported flooded.
July 2015FloodFall River-Warren Street was flooded and impassable. A car was stuck in flood waters on Pleasant Street at the intersection with Quarry Street. Manhole covers popped off due to flooding on Globe Street.
July 2015FloodFall River-Portions of Warren and Jefferson Streets were closed due to flooding.
August 2012FloodFall River-Davol Street was closed due to flooding near the Global Gas Station.
July 2009Flash FloodFall River-Several streets in Fall River and Forest Street in Attleborough were closed due to flooding.
August 2015HailFall River-no account filed
July 1999LightningFall River-no account filed
June 1997HailFall River-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindFall River-no account filed
August 1997Funnel CloudFall River-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Bristol County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Fall River Station0.9 miles36
Slades Ferry1.4 miles36
Oak Grove Village1.5 miles36
Mechanicsville1.6 miles36
Flint Village1.6 miles36
Bowenville1.7 miles36
Brayton Point1.7 miles36
Globe Village2.1 miles36

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Fall RiverAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q49194The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 612595. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.