North Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, settled as a farming community in 1666 and incorporated into its present form in 1871. North Smithfield includes the historic villages of Forestdale, Primrose, Waterford, Branch Village, Union Village, Park Square, and Slatersville. The population was 12,588 at the 2020 census.
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls and Lincoln to the north, and North Providence to the west. The city also borders the Massachusetts municipalities of Seekonk and Attleboro.
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson, and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the United Kingdom, he was called "Slater the Traitor" and "Sam the Slate" because he brought British textile technology to the United States, modifying it for American use. He memorized the textile factory machinery designs as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British industry before migrating to the U.S. at the age of 21.
The Blackstone River in the United States is a river that flows through Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is 48 mi (77 km) long with a drainage area of 475 mi2. It drains into the Pawtucket River at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Its long history of industrial use in the watershed has caused significant pollution, with the United States Environmental Protection Agency describing it as “the most polluted river in the country because of high concentrations of toxic sediments.”
The Moshassuck River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows 8.9 miles (14.3 km) from the town of Lincoln to the city of Providence. There are six dams along the river's length.
The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major factor in the American Industrial Revolution. It makes up part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and National Historical Park.
The Blackstone Canal was a manmade waterway, linking Worcester, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island, and Narragansett Bay, through the Blackstone Valley, via a series of locks and canals in the early 19th century. Construction started in 1825, and the canal opened three years later. After the opening of the Boston and Providence Railroad (1835), the canal struggled for business. Its transportation role was taken over by the Providence and Worcester Railroad, which completed a parallel line in 1847. The canal shut down in 1848. Several segments of the canal are preserved, and the canal alignment and remains are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Slater Mill is a historic water-powered textile mill complex on the banks of the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, modeled after cotton spinning mills first established in England. It is the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in America to utilize the Arkwright system of cotton spinning as developed by Richard Arkwright.
The John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor is a National Heritage Corridor dedicated to the history of the early American Industrial Revolution, including mill towns stretching across 25 cities and towns near the river's course in Worcester County, Massachusetts, and Providence County, Rhode Island. It makes up a historical area in the Blackstone Valley and is named for the late US Senator from Rhode Island John Chafee. In 2014, the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park was created out of a smaller portion of the National Heritage Corridor. The two units now exist as cooperative entities. The organization is headquartered at the building in Whitinsville, MA, which is located at 670 Linwood Ave, Whitinsville, MA 01588.
Slatersville is a village on the Branch River in the town of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the Slatersville Historic District, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district has been included as part of the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. The North Smithfield Public Library is located in Slatersville.
The Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park is a part of the state park system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). This 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) park "recalls the role of canals in transporting raw materials and manufactured goods between emerging industrial centers." The Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park at Uxbridge, Massachusetts, is the midpoint of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor of the National Park System. The Blackstone River and Valley is where the industrial revolution was born in America. The southern entrance to this state park is the site of the historic Stanley Woolen Mill, currently being redeveloped for commercial and tourism. The Native American Nipmuc name for the village here was "Wacentug", translated as "bend in the river".
Wheelockville is a village in the town (township) of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the village centering on Mendon and Henry streets is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheelockville Historic District. Wheelockville appears on the Blackstone U.S. Geological Survey Map. The Village receives municipal services from Uxbridge, for fire, police, EMS, School district, public works, and other services. Worcester's Judicial District includes Uxbridge District Court. The geography of Wheelockville includes several other distinct mill villages, including: Hecla and Elmdale.
West Hill Dam Reserve is a United States Army Corps of Engineers flood control project with a recreational park and wildlife management area located at Uxbridge, Massachusetts. The West Hill Dam Project was completed in June 1961. It is located on the West River, one of the branches of the Blackstone River which flows from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island. The West River originates in Grafton, Massachusetts, at Cider Mill Pond and Silver Lake, near Upton, Massachusetts, and the Upton State Forest. The dam is unusual in that it is not filled unless there is a flood. West Hill Dam was built after devastating floods during the 1950s; it is intended to protect the Blackstone Valley from future destructive flooding. The cities and towns downriver from Uxbridge, including Millville, Blackstone, Woonsocket, North Smithfield, Cumberland, Lincoln, Central Falls, Pawtucket and Providence, Rhode Island, suffered extensive flooding from the Blackstone during Hurricane Diane in 1955. Hurricane Donna tested this new dam in 1960 as the eyewall passed over. The West Hill Dam is located in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor near the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. Park rangers provide visitor assistance and offer scheduled interpretative programs. Fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing opportunities are available year-round. The park has a recreation area, 34 picnic sites, one playground, a swimming area and five miles of hiking trails. However, access to the park from West Hill Road is currently blocked as of 2021 because of landowner disagreements. West Hill Dam is also the field office for the Charles River Natural Valley Storage Area. It consists of scattered wetlands in the upper and middle Charles River watershed, between the towns of Bellingham and Needham. The wetlands provide flood storage area, fisheries, wildlife management, and recreation. The Charles River is the well-known watercourse that flows into Boston Harbor.
The Old Ashton Historic District is a historic district encompassing an early 18th-century industrial area along Lower River Road in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It includes the site of the first textile mill in Lincoln, which was established in 1810–15, and whose original mill building no longer survives. The proprietors of the mill built a series of modest worker houses on Lower River Road, which are now separated from the mill site by a section of the Blackstone Canal. The only structure near the mill site is the Kelly House, built in the 1820s by Wilbur Kelly, one of the mill owners. The area is now a stopping point in Blackstone River Bikeway State Park, with interpretive signs explaining the area's history.
The Blackstone Manufacturing Company Historic District encompasses the "New City" or "High Rocks" area of Blackstone, Massachusetts, an industrial village associated with the Blackstone Manufacturing Company, which began operations in 1809. It includes an area roughly surrounding Butler, Canal, Church, County, Ives, Main, Mendon, Old Mendon, and School Streets. The district includes a wide variety of worker housing, as well as a granite storehouse, the only surviving company structure. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The Valley Falls Company was founded in 1839 by Oliver Chace, in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, a historic mill village on both sides of the Blackstone River, within the modern-day town of Cumberland and city of Central Falls, Rhode Island. The Valley Falls Company is the original antecedent of Berkshire Hathaway, currently one of the world's largest and most successful companies.
Mill Conversion or mill rehab is a form of adaptive reuse in which a historic mill or industrial factory building is restored or rehabilitated into another use, such as residential housing, retail shops, office, or a mix of these non-industrial elements (mixed-use).
Stanley Woolen Mill is the common historic name applied to a defunct company based in southeastern Massachusetts and to the company's buildings which stand at the southern entrance to the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. The mill is an important footnote in the history of the textile industry in America. Stanley Woolen Mill is the centerpiece of the Central Woolen Mills District which is part of the National Historic Register.
The Rhode Island System refers to a system of mills, complete with small villages and farms, ponds, dams, and spillways first developed by Samuel Slater and his brother John Slater.
