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.
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the UK, 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 stole the textile factory machinery designs as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British industry before migrating to the United States at the age of 21. He designed the first textile mills in the US and later went into business for himself, developing a family business with his sons. He eventually owned thirteen spinning mills and had developed tenant farms and company towns around his textile mills, such as Slatersville, Rhode Island.
A reservoir is most commonly an enlarged natural or artificial lake created using a dam to store fresh water.
The Woonasquatucket River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 15.8 miles (25.4 km) and drains a watershed of 130 km2 (50 sq mi).
The West River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 7.6 miles (12.2 km) and is the only named tributary of the Moshassuck River. It has a history of providing water to textile mills during the Industrial Revolution as evidenced by the 7 dams along the river's length.
The Scituate Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in the state of Rhode Island. It has an aggregate capacity of 39 billion US gallons (150,000,000 m3) and a surface area of 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²). It and its six tributary reservoirs—which make up a total surface area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km²)—supply drinking water to more than 60 percent of the state population, including Providence.
The Quinebaug River is a river in south-central Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut, with watershed extending into western Rhode Island. The name "Quinebaug" comes from the southern New England Native American term, spelled variously Qunnubbâgge, Quinibauge, etc., meaning "long pond", from qunni-, "long", and -paug, "pond". The river is one of the namesake rivers in the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor.
The Branch River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows for approximately 16 km (10 mi). There are six dams along the river's length, including those forming the Slatersville Reservoir. The river provided energy for many of the region's textile mills in the nineteenth century.
John Slater was an early American industrialist, founder of Slatersville, Rhode Island and younger brother of Samuel Slater, father of the American Industrial Revolution, and a member of the well-known Slater family.
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.
Forestdale is a village and historic district in North Smithfield, Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, one-half mile from Slatersville, Rhode Island. The historic district runs east and west along Main Street and north on Maple Avenue. School Street is the primary road through the village, and the one-room schoolhouse for which the street is named still stands. The Branch River runs through the valley adjacent to the School Street. The Village Haven Restaurant and local VFW chapter are also located in the village.
Primrose is a village in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States. The village is located in the area around Greenville Road and Providence Pike. The village takes its name from the Primrose railroad station which existed on Greenville Road for the Providence and Springfield Railroad which began service in 1873. The Primrose Fire Department and North Smithfield High School are located in the area. The historic Primrose Grange (1887) building is located on Grange Road as well as several eighteenth-century farms surrounded by stonewalls.
Ironstone is an historic village,, in the township of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, United States. It derived its name from plentiful bog iron found here which helped Uxbridge to become a center for three iron forges in the town's earliest settlement. South Uxbridge has historic sites, picturesque weddings, hospitality, industrial and distribution centers, and the new Uxbridge High School. This community borders North Smithfield, and Burrillville, Rhode Island, and Millville, Massachusetts. South Uxbridge receives municipal services from Uxbridge, for fire, police, EMS, School district, public works, and other services. There is a South Uxbridge fire station of the Uxbridge fire department. Worcester's Judicial District includes Uxbridge District Court. Ironstone appears on the Blackstone U.S. Geological Survey Map. Worcester County is in the Eastern time zone and observes DST.
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 1960. It is located on the West River, one of the branches of the Blackstone River which flows from Worcester, MA to Providence, RI. 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 isn't 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.
Miscoe Lake is a reservoir in Cumberland, Providence County, Rhode Island. It is about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) long and the northern tip of the lake lies in Wrentham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. At normal levels it has a surface area of 49 acres (20 ha). It has also been known as Grants Mills Pond and Miso Meadow Pond.
The Stillwater Mill was a former textile factory located in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
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 North Smithfield School District is a school district in the Primrose section of North Smithfield, Rhode Island. It operates two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.
The Slater family is an American philanthropic, political, and manufacturing family from England, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut whose members include the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution," Samuel Slater, a prominent textile tycoon who founded America's first textile mill, Slater Mill (1790), and with his brother John Slater founded Slatersville, Rhode Island in North Smithfield, Rhode Island in 1803, America's first planned mill village. The family includes various merchants, inventors, art patrons, and socialites. John Fox Slater, was a prominent abolitionist who founded the Slater Fund and built the historic John F. Slater House and Slater Library. William A. Slater was a noted art collector and philanthropist who created the Slater Memorial Museum in Connecticut. After moving many of their mills to the South from New England, the village of Slater-Marietta, South Carolina was named after the family.
Waterman Reservoir is a large lake along Putnam Pike in Glocester and Greenville in Providence County, Rhode Island.
