Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located 36 mi (58 km) southwest of Boston and 15 mi (24 km) south-southeast of Worcester, at the midpoint of the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park. The historical society notes that Uxbridge is the "Heart of The Blackstone Valley" and is also known as "the Cradle of the Industrial Revolution". Uxbridge was a prominent Textile center in the American Industrial Revolution. Two Quakers served as national leaders in the American anti-slavery movement. Uxbridge "weaves a tapestry of early America".
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 Bernat Mill, also known as Capron Mill, and later Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, was an American yarn mill in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, that was for the most part destroyed by fire on July 21, 2007.
Daniel Day was an American pioneer in woolen manufacturing.
John Willard Capron was an American military officer in the infantry, state legislator, and textile manufacturer. Famous for being a military uniforms manufacturer, he became Colonel in the army and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
Luke Taft was an industrial pioneer in the manufacture of woolens in 19th century New England.
Moses Taft 2nd was born at Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He was significant as an early American Industrialist and financier in the historic Blackstone Valley, and a member of the famous Taft family.
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".
North Uxbridge is a village and a post office in the town (township) of Uxbridge in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The postal zip code is 01538. It is classified as a community or populated place located at latitude 42.088 and longitude -71.641 and the elevation is 266 feet (81 m). North Uxbridge appears on the Uxbridge U.S. Geological Survey Map. Worcester County is in the Eastern time zone and observes DST. North Uxbridge is located approximately 36 miles west-southwest of Boston, and 15 miles southeast of Worcester. The town meeting in 1885 set aside North Uxbridge as a "special district", since its population had exceeded 1000 people. North Uxbridge appeared as a separate Census tract in the 1960 census, with a population of 1882. In 2013, an Uxbridge DIY show, The Garage, with Steve Butler, went worldwide from Steve's garage in North Uxbridge.
The Wheelockville District is an historic district located at Mendon and Henry streets in the village of Wheelockville in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. It encompasses a collection of modest Federal and Greek Revival period worker housing, built primarily to house families of workers at the nearby Waucantuck Mill Complex. The oldest houses in the area were built c. 1825–35, and include cottages built by the mill owners. A second phase of growth between about 1860 and 1885 resulted in the construction of a number of buildings with vernacular Victorian elements, as well as the somewhat more ornate Italianate Wheelock House at 173 Mendon Street, which was built for a manager at another Uxbridge mill. The district runs roughly along Mendon Street from Hecla Street to the junction of Mendon and Henry Streets, and then along those two streets for about six houses.
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 Central Woolen Mills District is a historic district in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, USA. The centerpiece of this historic district is the Stanley Woolen Mill, also known as the Central Woolen Mill, built by Moses Taft in 1852, and earlier by his father, Luke Taft, in 1833, on the banks of the Blackstone Canal. The district is the southern entrance to the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. This parkland is the geographic center of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, an historic corridor of national significance as an example of the earliest industrial activity of the United States.
The Taft family is an American political family of English and Irish descent, with origins in Massachusetts. Its members have served in the states of Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont, and the United States federal government, in various positions such as representative (two), governor of Ohio, governor of Rhode Island, senator (three), secretary of agriculture, attorney general, secretary of war (two), acting secretary of defense, president, and chief justice.
The West River, in the US state of Massachusetts, is a 13.4-mile-long (21.6 km) tributary of the Blackstone River.
The history of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1727, may be divided into its prehistory, its colonial history and its modern industrial history. Uxbridge is located on the Massachusetts-Rhode Island state line, and became a center of the earliest industrialized region in the United States.
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.
Jeremiah Wheelock was an American early industrial pioneer in the Blackstone Valley of Massachusetts, a region that incubated the early American industrial revolution.
Richard Mowry became an Uxbridge farmer, in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States who "successfully built and marketed equipment to manufacture woolen, linen or cotton cloth", from around the time of the Revolution.
