The Museum of Work and Culture is a museum in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, that features exhibits focusing on the city's textile manufacturing heritage. The museum is operated by the Rhode Island Historical Society and located at 42 South Main Street in Market Square in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. [1]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants flocked to Rhode Island in search of work and prosperity within the state's mill towns. Their labors - both on and off the factory floor - helped define the culture of the Blackstone River Valley. Today, the Museum of Work and Culture preserves their stories for future generations. Visitors begin their journey in a farmhouse and imagine the experience of agricultural life in nineteenth-century Québec. From there they cross the border into the United States and enter the workday world of the Industrial Era. The Museum's other exhibits recreate the new settlers' life at home, at work, and at school, and present the story of the Independent Textiles Union (I.T.U.). The Museum of Work and Culture explores the continued impact of the industrial revolution and honors the experience of the people, past and present, who have enriched the Blackstone River Valley.
Blackstone is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,208 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the Providence metropolitan area.
Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest town in the state.
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.
Woonsocket, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of the Massachusetts state line and constitutes part of both the Providence metropolitan area and the larger Greater Boston Combined Statistical Area.
The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi (80 km) and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi (1,400 km2). Its long history of industrial use has left a legacy of pollution, and it was characterized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1990 as "the most polluted river in the country concerning toxic sediments."
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 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.
Blackstone is a predominantly residential neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. It is in the northeast corner of the city and is bounded to the south and west by Lloyd Avenue and Hope Street respectively. It is one of six neighborhoods comprising the East Side of Providence.
The Blackstone River Greenway is a partially completed 48-mile (77 km) paved rail trail defining the course of the East Coast Greenway through the Blackstone Valley from Worcester, Massachusetts to Providence, Rhode Island in the United States.
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".
Lonsdale is a village and historic district in Lincoln and Cumberland, Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, near Rhode Island Route 146 and Route 95. The village was originally part of the town of Smithfield until Lincoln was created in the 1870s, and was originally centered on the Lincoln side of the Blackstone River. William Blaxton settled in the area in 1635. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Lonsdale was home to several manufacturers including the Lonsdale Company's Bleachery, and the Ann & Hope mill was also located in the village in Cumberland.
The Woonsocket Company Mill Complex is a historic district encompassing one of the largest mill complexes in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The district includes all of the buildings historically associated with the Woonsocket Company, a major manufacturer of cotton textiles in the 19th century. The complex is located along the eastern bank of the Blackstone River between Court and Bernon Streets. It includes three handsome stone mills, built between 1827 and 1859, and a power plant that was built on the site of the former #3 mill between 1890 and 1920, as well as the remnants of the canal that originally carried water to the buildings for power.
The West River, in the US state of Massachusetts, is a 13.4-mile-long (21.6 km) tributary of the Blackstone River.
The city of Woonsocket in the U.S. state of Rhode Island was established as a union of six mill villages along the Blackstone River. These villages are described in more detail below.
The Block Island Historical Society is a historical society which runs a museum at 18 Old Town Road and Ocean Avenue on Block Island in Rhode Island.
The Stillwater Mill was a former textile factory located in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
Woonsocket station is a former railroad station located at Depot Square in downtown Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1882 to replace a previous station built in 1847.
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 Naushon Company Plant is a historic textile mill complex at 32 Meeting Street in Cumberland, Rhode Island. First built in 1902-04 and enlarged over time, it illustrates the adaption of the site to differing uses between then and the 1950s, when its use for textile manufacture ended. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
41°59′57″N71°30′58″W / 41.999303°N 71.516067°W
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