Looking North

Imagine standing on a balcony on North Main Street in the early 1900s, looking north – City Hall to your right. Horseshoes clopped rhythmically, carriage wheels groaned against cobbles, electric trolley lines cracked in motion, and the low murmurs of Fall Riverites engaged in conversation blended; it was the cacophony of the Spindle City reverberating off the Granite Block and other iconic structures.

The city looked, smelled, and acted a little differently back then.

The Government Center now occupies the space where the old city hall and the Talbots building once stood. On the right-hand side of the photograph, before Whiteheads, there is a street that people were crossing that no longer exists.

Now, horse-drawn carriages have been exchanged for horsepower and electric trolleys for buses. There is certainly less foot traffic on Fall River’s North Main Street, but the sounds of the city are still prevalent, albeit in a different key than before.