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.
Linwood is a village with its own post office in the towns of Northbridge and Uxbridge, Massachusetts, United States.
The Waucantuck Mill Complex was a mill complex in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Despite its 2010 demolition, it is still listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Crane and Company Old Stone Mill Rag Room is one of the oldest surviving buildings of Crane & Co., one of the oldest papermaking businesses in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It is located in southwestern Dalton, on a site where paper has been manufactured since the early 19th century. The building, originally used for processing rags, has housed the Crane Museum of Papermaking since 1930, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1983.
The Bigelow Carpet Company Woolen Mills are a historic mill complex on Main Street in Clinton, Massachusetts. The sprawling mill complex was built or expanded by the Bigelow Carpet Company, one of Clinton's leading business for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It continues to be adaptively reused by smaller businesses.
The Bigelow Carpet Mill is an historic textile mill complex at Union and High Streets in Clinton, Massachusetts. Built in 1847 and repeatedly enlarged until 1922, this large mill complex was one of the world's major early automated manufacturers of Brussels tapestry, established by Horatio and Erastus Bigelow. The mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Ware–Hardwick Covered Bridge is a historic covered bridge spanning the Ware River on Old Gilbertville Road and Bridge Street in Ware and Hardwick, Massachusetts. It is one of a small number of surviving 19th-century covered bridges in the state. The bridge was built in 1886, extensively rebuilt in 1986–1987, and was closed in 2002 due to structural issues and a limited carrying capacity. The bridge reopened in October 2010 and no longer has a weight limit according to MassDOT. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The Fisherville Historic District is a historic district encompassing one of the four 19th century industrial villages of Grafton, Massachusetts. The area's first industrial activity was in 1831–2, when Peter Farnum and business partners built a brick mill there. A densely packed residential area grew around the mill complex, which achieved its present configuration c. 1909. The largest period of growth in terms of residential housing was in the last two decades of the 19th century, when a significant number of Italianate and Queen Anne worker houses were built.
Farnumsville Historic District is a historic district encompassing a historic mill village in Grafton, Massachusetts. It is located on the eastern bank of the Blackstone River, extending along Providence and Main Streets, roughly between Cross and Depot Streets, and radiating along those roads and adjacent streets. This area was one of Grafton's 19th century industrial mill villages, which was centered on the Farnum Mill, which first began operating in the second decade of the 19th century. The main mill building that survives dates to 1844, and the housing stock in the village is in a diversity of styles, built roughly between the 1820s and 1920s.
The Hopedale Village Historic District encompasses much of the historic 19th century industrial village center of Hopedale, Massachusetts. Its main focus is the mill complex of the Draper Company at Hopedale and Freedom Streets; the district includes much of northern Hopedale, extending along Dutcher and Freedom Streets, and including the mill pond. It extends to the south just beyond Mendon Street, including properties on that street from the Milford line west to Hopedale Cemetery. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The district has been included as part of the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park.
The Whitinsville Historic District is a historic district on Church, East, Fletcher, Hill, Woodland, Lake, and Water Sts., Castle Hill Rs., and Linwood Avenue in Northbridge, Massachusetts. The district encompasses the historic 19th century mill village of Whitinsville, which grew up around an 1826 brick mill building erected by Paul Whitin. The Whitin family came to dominate the textile trade in Northbridge, with numerous mill complexes.
The Washburn and Moen North Works District encompass an industrial complex that housed the largest business in Worcester, Massachusetts in the second half of the 19th century.
The Smith-Thaxter-Merrifield House is an historic house at 158 Holden Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built c. 1741 and probably altered in the late 18th century, it is one of the oldest houses in the city, and has only undergone minimal alteration. It is also a rare local example of a hip-roof central-chimney house. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Central Mills Historic District encompasses a historic mill complex on the Quinebaug River in central Southbridge, Massachusetts. Located at the corner of Foster and North Streets, the site consists of three brick buildings, the oldest of which has portions dating to 1837. Despite being extensively rebuilt in the early 20th century, the complex has an appearance that is more typical of 19th century mills.
The Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District encompasses the well preserved "Big Mill" complex of the Hamilton Woolen Company, built in the mid 19th century. Located at the confluence of McKinstry Brook and the Quinebaug River in central Southbridge, Massachusetts, the complex consists of a cluster of mill buildings and a rare collection of 1830s brick mill worker housing units located nearby. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Stevens Linen Works Historic District encompasses a 19th-century factory complex associated with the manufacturing of linen and flax fabric in Dudley, Massachusetts. Its centerpiece is the Stevens Linen Mill, built in the 1860s by Henry Hale Stevens and operated into the mid-20th century. The mill is a large granite U-shaped building, five stories high, with two seven-story towers at the corners of the U. The complex includes ten buildings in all, as well as a mill pond and dam.
The Eagleville Historic District encompasses a historic mill village in northwestern Holden, Massachusetts. The area, now part of the village of Jefferson, was developed beginning early in the 19th century, although no industrial structures from that period survive. The main dam and mill complex that now stand there were built c. 1850, and extended or modified into the early 20th century. The village also includes significant tracts of surviving mill worker housing.
Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park is a National Park Service unit in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The park was created for the purpose of preserving, protecting, and interpreting the industrial heritage of the Blackstone River Valley and the urban, rural, and agricultural landscape of that region. The Blackstone River Valley was the site of some of the earliest successful textile mills in the United States, and these mills contributed significantly to the earliest American Industrial Revolution. The subsequent construction of the Blackstone Canal, a few years after the successful completion of the Erie Canal, helped to sustain the region's industrial strength.
The Moran Square Historic District is a historic district encompassing an area of late 19th and early 20th-century industrial, commercial, and residential development in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Centered on the triangular junction of East Main Street with Lunenburg and Summer Streets, this area developed as a secondary node apart from the city's main commercial district, in an area were several industrial plants were undergoing significant growth. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
The Manchaug Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing the 19th century industrial village center of Manchaug in Sutton, Massachusetts. Developed in the 1820s around textile mills on the Mumford River, it was the largest industrial area in Sutton, with at least three mill complexes in operation. The district is centered on the junction of Main Street with Manchaug, Putnam Hill, and Whitins Roads.
