Downtown Fall River Historic District

Downtown Fall River's historic district is a five-block commercial strip along Main Street north of City Hall, holding 28 low-rise masonry buildings from one to five stories. Its oldest building is the Mt. Hope Block of 1845, a Greek Revival hotel built after the 1843 fire that burned about 20 acres of the mill town. Later landmarks include the Italianate Old Red Bank of 1869, the Fall River National Bank of 1890, the granite Bank Street Armory of 1895-97 and the Public Library of 1896-98. A second fire in 1928 destroyed much of the Victorian downtown, and rebuilding was modest because the textile industry was collapsing. Art Deco buildings such as First Federal, the Burke Building and the Cooperative Bank date from that period, and the 1931 Customs House and Post Office was the last major addition. The district matters because the banks here financed the textile mills, and the monumental buildings reflect the city's years as a leading cotton-producing center.