Typography - The town is built along a granite based ridge paralleling the Taunton river. Fall River took its name from the Quequechan river that runs from the Watauppa Ponds to the Taunton river with a deep ravine from Main street down to the Taunton river. The Quequechan river marks the juncture of North Main and South Main streets. Main street (both North and South) follows an old Indian path along the side of the Taunton river from the Freetown, Massachusetts on the North to Tiverton, Rhode Island on the South. It runs past many cotton mills and past the landing at Slade's ferry up the hill to the city center where the road bridges the Quequechan River. The road continues along a ridge until it climbs Townsend Hill as it goes into Tiverton, Rhode Island. Bedford Street was the other Indian path that ran east and west paralleling the Quequechan River from the Taunton River to the Narrows (at the Watauppa Ponds where it enters Westport, Massachusetts on the East. Somerset, Massachusetts lies on the opposite shore of the Taunton river to the West of Fall River. Before 1862, more than half the Quequechan River was in Rhode Island.
The early mills were built at western end of the river both because of the water falls located there and the Rhode Island jurisdiction. After 1862, when the river was completely within the state of Massachusetts, the Quequechan River flowed unvexed to the Taunton River, and with the availability of steam power, the mills did not have to be located at water falls.

Globe - Southwestern section. Colonel Joseph Durfee set up the first mill in 1811 at Globe Corners in what was then Rhode Island. Mill failed after a few years due to technical (the breast water wheel did not track well and lack of skilled workers) and financial (cash to buy supplies and to maintain equipment) problems. Ancona, Montaup, Laural Lake, Osborn, King Philip, Shove, and Bourne mills.

Flint - Eastern section. John D. Flint invested profits from his mercantile ventures in farm land and in building mills along the northeastern shore of the Quequechan River. Barnard, Wampanoag, Stafford, Flint mill, Seaconnet and Merino mills.

Center - Western section, along the Quequechan River. David Anthony and Dexter Wheeler built the Fall River Manufactory in 1813 at the highest water fall in the Quequechan River. Oliver Chace and Nathaniel Briggs Borden built the Pocasset mill next to the present day City Hall also in 1813. The credit for building the first successful mill depends on what yardstick you use - date of incorporation or first cotton yarn produced. Colonel Richard Borden and Major Bradford Durfee established the Fall River Iron Works in 1821 on the southern side of the Quequechan river next to the Taunton river shore. They used the profits from the Iron Works to take over control of the cotton mills and to establish new mills in the 1830s and 1840s. Tecumseh No. 1, Robeson, Davol, Union Mills, Durfee Mills, Granite Mills, Crescent. Richard Borden, Tecumseh No. 2, Chace and Barnaby mills.

Bowenville - Shore of the Taunton River, north of the Center, near the Slade's Ferry. Merchanics, Weetamoo, Naragansett, Sagamore, and the two Border City mills.

South of the Center, along the shore of Mount Hope Bay, the American Print Works, the Fall River Iron Works, the American Linen Company's two cotton mills and the Mount Hope Mill.

Maplewood - South eastern section. Estes mills, Stevens mills, Fall River Bleachery