As local historian Joe Powers has commented, “towns and cities that have been built and then discarded are scattered all across America.” In 1852, the town of Fall River looked like this from the western shoreline of the Taunton River. Just two years away from becoming the 11th city of the commonwealth, the town had a population of more than 12,000, a valuation of $8.2 million and an annual tax of $56,000. ...By the late 19th century, the city would become known as “Spindle City” and be the preeminent production center of cotton cloth in the United States. Again, Joe Powers: “Through panics and depressions, the motto was, The mills always come back. Except for the last time in 1924 when the mills didn't come back.” By 1931, the city was bankrupt and would remain that way for the decade.