CHAPTER THREE :

Findings of

National Signifi cance,

Suitability, Feasibility, and 

Need for NPS Management

Evaluation of National Signifi cance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Suitability Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Feasibility Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Need for NPS Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Summary of Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 47

Evaluation of National Signifi cance

In accordance with NPS Management Policies 2006 

Section 1.3.1, cultural resources being considered for possible inclusion in the National Park System are evaluated 

by applying the National Historic Landmark (NHL) criteria 

contained in 36 CFR Part 65.

According to those criteria, national signifi cance may be 

ascribed to various types of cultural resources, including 

districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects that possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States in history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture, and that possess 

a high degree of integrity.

NHL standards require that the resources meet at least 

one of the following criteria in order to be considered nationally signifi cant:

1. are associated with events that have made a 

signifi cant contribution to, and are identifi ed with, 

or that outstandingly represent, the broad national 

patterns of United States history and from which 

an understanding and appreciation of those patterns 

may be gained; or

2. are associated importantly with the lives of persons 

nationally signifi cant in the history of the United 

States; or

3. represent some great idea or ideal of the American 

people; or

4. embody the distinguishing characteristics of 

an architectural type specimen exceptionally 

valuable for the study of a period, style or method 

of construction, or that represent a signifi cant, 

distinctive and exceptional entity whose components 

may lack individual distinction; or

5. are composed of integral parts of the environment 

not suffi ciently signifi cant by reason of historical 

association or artistic merit to warrant individual 

recognition but collectively compose an entity of 

exceptional historical or artistic signifi cance, or 

outstandingly commemorate or illustrate a way of 

life or culture; or

6. have yielded or may be likely to yield information 

of major scientifi c importance by revealing new 

cultures, or by shedding light upon periods of 

occupation over large areas of the United States. 

Such sites are those which have yielded, or which 

may reasonably be expected to yield, data affecting 

theories, concepts, and ideas to a major degree.

Resource Evaluation

Overview

The Blackstone River Valley is signifi cant as the fi rst 

industrial region in the United States. Extant resources 

within the valley convey this signifi cance as they relate to 

criteria 1 and 5. These resources form a cohesive industrial 

district that evolved and defi ned the principles of the Rhode 

Island System of manufacture, which became a paradigm 

for further American industrial development. As the nation’s fi rst heavily industrialized region, the valley became 

the prototype for a sweeping social transformation that 

included a fundamental shift in the nature of work. Here, 

as Gary Kulik phrased it, “the cotton mills themselves became the incubators of a new discipline of work, driven by 

clock-time and the pace of modernity.”44 Collectively, the 

resources evaluated here convey the full scope of this pattern of industrialization and its consequences more fully 

than any individual site can and make it possible to understand the magnitude of industrialization and its effects on 

the physical and social landscape.

After evaluating a broad range of industrial sites in the 

Valley, seven outstanding resources have been identifi ed 

because they best illustrate these nationally signifi cant 

themes and possess a high level of integrity. The aggregation of these sites and districts forms a well-defi ned though 

non-contiguous industrial district. As the point of origin of 

the Rhode Island System of manufacture, these resources 

are the original and most highly developed expression of 

this industrial system. This is in part the result of the Blackstone River’s natural drop – 430 feet over only 46 miles 

– which led to virtually the entire waterpower potential of 

the river being exploited. The Blackstone River became 

America’s fi rst “managed river,” with 34 dams at its peak 

of development. Water power systems, including dams, 

reservoirs, and power canals developed along the Blackstone River and its tributaries, are particularly prominent 

at Slatersville and Whitinsville. The Blackstone Canal, 

which closely parallels the main stem of the river, represents a further manipulation of the natural water system. 

Conceived and supported largely by families prominent in 

the textile industry, the canal helped unify the Valley. Wellpreserved segments of the canal are present in state parks 

in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island.45

44 “Notes on the Historical Signifi cance of the Blackstone Valley,” (www.nps.

gov/blac/parkmgmt/special-resource-study.htm, 1).

45 The Blackstone River and Canal State Heritage Park operated by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MA DCR) in Uxbridge, MA 

and the Blackstone River State Park operated by the Rhode Island Department of 

Environmental Management (RI DEM) in Lincoln, RI.
48 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

The Blackstone River Valley retains an exceptional concentration of mill villages, collectively forming a cohesive 

and highly developed industrial landscape that illustrates 

this chapter in American industrial history.46 In particular, 

the mill villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and 

Hopedale contain the manufacturing, residential, and civic 

infrastructure of suffi ciently high quality and integrity to 

depict this pattern. Being among the earliest industrial centers developed in the Blackstone Valley, Old Slater Mill, 

Slatersville, and Ashton were linked by a tight network 

of fi nancial and family connections. The mill villages of 

Whitinsville and Hopedale involved a different group of 

fi nancial and familial interests representing the later development of the system. They illustrate how this economic 

model was adopted and adapted to other places within the 

Blackstone Valley and beyond.

One resource, Old Slater Mill, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and has therefore already 

been determined to be nationally signifi cant. It will not be 

analyzed as fully in this study except in highlighting its 

relationship to other resources under consideration. Several 

resources including the Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, 

and Hopedale Historic Districts, possess historical signifi -

cance and integrity and are listed on the National Register 

of Historic Places. Slatersville was found to be signifi cant 

at the national level by the Rhode Island State Historic 

Preservation Offi ce. However, as an example of the situation recognized by NHL Criterion 5, the aggregate importance of these resources within a larger industrial district 

exceeds and enhances their individual value.

The Blackstone River Valley industrial heritage resources collectively meet NHL Criteria 1 and 5. This is 

because of their signifi cant contribution to and outstanding representation of broad national patterns in U.S. economic and industrial history and their potential to provide 

an understanding and appreciation of those patterns. Collectively, they compose an entity of exceptional historical 

signifi cance that illustrates the infl uence of Samuel Slater 

and the rise and evolution of the Rhode Island System of 

46 The density of industrial development is one of the strongest impressions 

conveyed by the scholars who visited the area in February 2008 on behalf of the 

Organization of American Historians and the National Park Service: Alison Kim 

Hoagland: “No other place has such a concentration of surviving mills and villages 

that can so eloquently illustrate this chapter of American history;” Gary Kulik: “No 

other mill valley has the density of mills and mill villages, many of which remain 

in their original condition, others altered in ways that are themselves historically 

signifi cant;” David Meyer: “The immense richness and density of sites within a distance of 45 miles between Providence and Worcester is not equaled anywhere else 

in the United States” (all www.nps.gov/blac/parkmgmt/special-resource-study.htm;) 

Walter Licht: “What is remarkable to me about the corridor is the density of these 

villages, their interaction.” (remarks at public meeting, Whitinsville, MA, Feb. 16, 

2008, transcribed by Alice Darling Secretarial Services, available from Blackstone 

River Valley National Heritage Corridor).

manufacture, a dynamic force in American industrial history from 1790 to 1950.

Analysis

Advances in historical understanding clearly show that 

there was no single, uniform Industrial Revolution. Industrialization followed several distinct paths; at least four in 

the U.S. alone.47 One of the principal paths to the emergence of industry in the United States was distinguished 

by small-scale textile mills, operating on the factory system and forming detached mill villages located at previously isolated waterpower sites within a rural setting. In 

the early 19th century, this pattern of industrialization was 

represented throughout the Northeast. The textile industry 

was the fi rst to which the factory system was applied in the 

United States. The textile mills were owned by individuals 

or partnerships and generally employed families initially 

drawn from the countryside. These distinctive features 

have commonly been used to defi ne the Rhode Island System of manufacture.

Old Slater Mill (1793) in Pawtucket was the fi rst successful water-powered cotton spinning mill in the United 

States. Coming on line a year before the fi rst water-powered 

textile mill at Paterson, New Jersey, Old Slater Mill illustrates the birth of industrialization in America and the personal contribution of Samuel Slater who, having brought 

essential technology from his native England to America, 

is considered the father of American industrialization. 

47 Walter Licht, Report of the Organization of American Historians and the National Park Service on the Blackstone River Valley Industrial Heritage Corridor,” 

www.nps.gov/blac/parkmgmt/special-resource-study.htm, 2; discussed in greater 

detail in his Industrializing America: The Nineteenth Century (Johns Hopkins Univ. 

Press, 1995). At least four paths toward industrialization in the United States are now 

evident.

 1. The diversifi ed manufacturing center: marked by small-to-medium size, 

family (or partnership) owned and managed enterprises, diverse product lines and 

work settings, specialization in processes and/or products, profi ting in niche markets, reliance on skilled labor, and fl exible, small-batch operations. Philadelphia is a 

quintessential example, but the same characteristics mark New York City (with less 

specialized products) and Newark and Trenton, New Jersey and smaller cities such 

as Albany, New York, Zanesville, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 2. The one-or-two industry city: marked by large-scale, corporately owned, 

bureaucratically managed, fully mechanized, standardized goods producing companies. This represents the big, smoke-stack industries, but concentrating on Lowell, 

Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Detroit misses the amount and quality of production and 

the technological innovations that occurred in less attention-grabbing instances and 

sites.

 3. Industrial slavery: industrialization unfolded in the antebellum period 

in the South with the slave system in place, adding to the complexity of the greater 

story

 4. The mill village: along the creeks and rivers of New England, the 

Middle Atlantic states and the South emerged countless mill village communities, 

starting with Samuel Slater’s Pawtucket, Rhode Island mill in 1793. Their prevalence is notable. By the time Lowell, Massachusetts had been established in the 

late 1820s, more than 400 mill village communities had been created in the United 

States, marked by the employment of families and the clear imprint of their founders 

on their physical, cultural and social landscapes. The mill villages of the U.S. were 

not quaint, ephemeral entities. They served as sites of extraordinary technological 

innovation and substantial production and they endured, in some instances, far into 

the twentieth century to the very moment that the U.S. glaringly lost its smokestack 

industries.
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 49

The village of Slatersville, Rhode Island (1807), founded 

by Samuel Slater and his brother John, is widely considered to be the fi rst planned industrial textile community in 

America. It represents the stage of industrial development 

that would succeed the one refl ected in Old Slater Mill. 

Slatersville’s component parts and spatial organization – 

with housing, civic amenities, and commercial resources 

clustered around a factory and its intact power canal system 

– were duplicated throughout the Blackstone Valley and 

beyond. Indeed, the entire region exhibits an exceptional 

collection of mill villages based on the Slatersville model.

Industrialization is one of the paramount forces shaping 

American history. Since the early 19th century, every aspect of life has been dominated by this mighty process. The 

Blackstone Valley was where this vast transformation fi rst 

gained a major and permanent foothold in the U.S., and 

the Valley contains an exceptional concentration of nationally signifi cant historic resources. The region and its representative resources remains the best place to interpret the 

origin and rise of an important type of American industry.

Relationship to the NPS Thematic Framework

The Thematic Framework was adopted by the NPS in 

1994 for evaluating and interpreting the role of historic 

sites in American history (http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/

thematic). The Framework identifi es eight major historic 

themes that encompass the full span of our nation’s history. 

It is used in the identifi cation of cultural resources that embody America’s past and to describe and analyze the multiple layers of history encapsulated in each resource. With 

their aggregation of inter-related resources, the Blackstone 

Valley’s sites and districts form a non-contiguous district 

composed of industrial history resources that strongly express three of the themes described in the NPS Thematic 

Framework: Developing the American Economy, Transforming the Environment, and Expressing Cultural Values.

Developing the American Economy

“This theme refl ects the ways Americans have worked 

[and]...the ways they have materially sustained 

themselves by the processes of extraction, agriculture, 

production, distribution, and consumption of goods 

and services. ...this theme encompasses the activities 

of farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, and managers, as 

well as the technology around them.”

The Blackstone Valley is the birthplace of American industrialization, with the fi rst successful water-powered textile mill in America established at Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1790. The NHL district includes 

Slater Mill, the Wilkinson Mill, and the Sylvanus Brown 

House, which together tell the story of Samuel Slater and 

the beginnings of water-powered cotton spinning in America, the lives of the mill workers and their adaptation from 

farm to factory life, and to a lesser degree, early labor protests.

Industrial development in the Blackstone Valley operated within larger contexts, and the resources there offer 

compelling opportunities to interpret these contexts. One 

is the “cotton economy,” in which the Valley obviously occupied a vital position. This overarching construct—“the 

major expansive force” in the economy between 1800 and 

1850 in the words of historian Douglass C. North—was 

one of the few factors that held the North and South uneasily together. The Old Slater Mill Historic Site demonstrated 

the potential of this approach with its 2008 exhibit, “The 

Cotton Economy.” The Valley’s resources provide a basis 

for comparison and study of the textile industry’s evolution, including its later migration to the American South, 

and serves as a starting point for the exploration of larger 

themes in American history. Examining this topic opens up 

the contentious issue of slavery and the North’s role in perpetuating it. While the mill owners benefi ted from slavery 

as both consumers and suppliers, some idealistic manufacturers such as the Drapers of Hopedale strongly opposed 

the institution. Financial and trade issues can also be addressed, on both a national and international levels. The 

emergence of a vital hub of innovation in the Blackstone 

Valley, which helped spread technology to other industrial 

centers, is a topic with acute present-day relevance.

Following Slater Mill, dozens of mills were established 

across the Blackstone Valley, manufacturing textiles, machinery, and other products. Outstanding extant mill buildings that help tell this story are found at Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale. These factories and the 

housing and communal facilities associated with them illustrate the social and economic conditions in which the 

workers existed. The Blackstone Canal, carrying goods and 

materials in support of local industries from 1828-1848, 

was later adapted for industrial use, providing water power 

for mills.

These Blackstone Valley resources are well suited to 

convey the wide range of ideas that scholars of industrialization now address. In the initial phase of interest in 

industrialization, scholars emphasized technology and its 

physical manifestations, as well as traditional categories 

such as capital and labor. More recently, these fi elds of in50 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

quiry have expanded to embrace everything from the role 

of a vital commodity (the cotton economy) to the efforts 

of individual workers or families to make the most of their 

environment, even while living in standardized company 

housing.48 The multiplicity of resource types refl ects the 

many dimensions of the sweeping social and economic 

transformation in the wake of American industrialization 

and makes it possible to depict compellingly the lives of 

the working men and women who participated in this massive change.

Transforming the Environment

This theme “examines the variable and changing 

relationships between people and their environment, 

which continuously interact. . . .The American 

environment today is largely a human artifact, so 

thoroughly has human occupation affected all its 

features. . . .While conservation represents a portion 

of this theme, the focus here is on recognizing the 

interplay between human activity and the environment 

as refl ected in particular places.”

The landscape of the Blackstone Valley was transformed 

by industrialization, as natural resources were manipulated 

to provide water power and mill villages were established 

throughout the countryside. The Blackstone River became 

an engineered resource that, along with the mill ponds, 

reservoirs, and canal, formed a system upon which industrial activity in the Valley depended. The exploitation of 

the river and harnessing of water power is interpreted at 

Old Slater Mill Historic Site, which includes a working waterwheel. The extant sections of the Blackstone Canal also 

speak to this theme, as do the many ponds, reservoirs, and 

dams that survive in the Valley’s distinctive mill villages 

and which are particularly evident in Slatersville, Ashton, 

Whitinsville, and Hopedale.

The Rhode Island System of manufacture involved the 

recruitment of entire families to work in the mills and the 

construction of housing, stores, schools, churches and other amenities to support these families. The fi rst planned industrial textile village in America was established by John 

and Samuel Slater at Slatersville in 1807, and its principal 

characteristics were replicated in planned villages throughout the Valley. The Slater brothers and their partners transformed the Branch River, a tributary of the Blackstone 

River, from a free-fl owing stream into an engineered power 

system, with dams, reservoirs, gates and raceways, and 

48 See Gabrielle M. Lanier, “Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor 

Assessment,” www.nps.gov/blac/parkmgmt/special-resource-study.htm, 2.

built housing and services for their workers. This theme 

is illustrated by other excellent examples of mill villages–

including mills, housing, and water systems–at Hopedale, 

Whitinsville, and Ashton.

The 19th-century landscape was shaped by pockets of 

industrial settlement in an agricultural region. The early 

industrial entrepreneurs of the Valley looked for places 

that possessed the resources that would support the development of a mill and its infrastructure and would allow them to secure the water rights that would enable them 

to impound and channel water resources for their textile 

operations. Many of the mill villages characteristic of the 

Blackstone Valley survived in their original form with little 

sprawl or expansion into the surrounding rural, agricultural 

landscape. Other villages expanded beyond their original 

boundaries and grew into larger urban centers such as Pawtucket and Woonsocket in Rhode Island. 

Expressing Cultural Values

This theme encompasses “expressions of culture–

people’s beliefs about themselves and the world 

they inhabit,” as well as “the ways that people 

communicate their moral and aesthetic values.”

The mill buildings and mill villages, as well as the hilltop towns and farms of the Blackstone Valley, express the 

cultural and aesthetic values of their time through their 

architecture and landscapes. A variety of mill architecture 

survives in the Blackstone Valley, from the Old Slater Mill 

(1793 et seq.) to late 19th-century brick mills like that at 

Ashton. Of particular signifi cance among the mill villages 

are Slatersville (described above), notable for being the fi rst 

planned industrial textile village in America, and Hopedale. Settled in the 1840s as a religious commune, Hopedale 

grew into a major manufacturing center under the Draper 

family and was nationally recognized as a model company 

town. The street grid in the village center, with the large 

mill complex located at its core, architect-designed homes, 

and a large park designed by Warren Manning, all of which 

survive today, refl ect both the social hierarchies and the 

planned, paternalistic nature of the community. The workers’ housing, mill owners’ mansions, civic amenities, and 

well-developed commercial center in Whitinsville are also 

illustrative of this theme.

The organization and design of the mill villages, and 

more specifi cally the mill housing, is a defi ning characteristic of the Rhode Island System of manufacture. Because 

Blackstone Valley mill owners sought to attract entire families to work in the mills and support the operation of the 
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 51

mill villages, they created housing and community amenities that would be attractive to this workforce. The characteristic use of vernacular form for both mills and residential 

structures illustrates the attempt to make industrialization 

appear less threatening to traditional values. In their basic 

layout, the mill villages of the Rhode Island System display the paternalistic and hierarchical values that defi ned 

the system; worker housing typically consisted of small, 

multifamily dwellings as opposed to the large tenements 

and boarding houses found in industrial cities like Lowell. 

Corporate farms, like Castle Hill in Whitinsville, were also 

served by this family-based workforce and provided dairy 

products to the village.

Integrity

National Historic Landmark criteria specify that a resource must retain the essential physical features that enable it to convey its historical signifi cance. The essential 

physical features are those elements that defi ne both why a 

resource is signifi cant (NHL criteria and themes) and when 

it was signifi cant (periods of signifi cance). They include:

 Location is the place where the historic property 

was constructed or the place where the historic 

event occurred. The actual location of a historic 

property, complemented by its setting, is particularly 

important in recapturing the sense of historic events 

and persons.

 Design is the combination of elements that create 

the historic form, plan, space, structure, and style 

of a property. This includes such elements as 

organization of space, proportion, scale, technology, 

ornamentation, and materials. Design can also apply 

to districts and to the historic way in which the 

buildings, sites, or structures are related. Examples 

include spatial relationships between major features; 

visual rhythms in a streetscape or landscape 

plantings; the layout and materials of walkways and 

roads; and the relationship of other features, such as 

statues, water fountains, and archeological sites.

 Setting is the physical environment of a historic 

property. It refers to the historic character of the 

place in which the property played its historical 

role. It involves how, not just where, the property is 

situated and its historical relationship to surrounding 

features and open space. The physical features that 

constitute the historic setting of a historic property 

can be either natural or manmade and include such 

elements as topographic features, vegetation, simple 

manmade paths or fences, and the relationships 

between buildings and other features or open spaces.

 Materials are the physical elements that were 

combined or deposited during a particular period 

of time and in a particular pattern or confi guration 

to form a historic property. If the property has been 

rehabilitated, the historic materials and signifi cant 

features must have been preserved. The property 

must also be an actual historic resource, not a recreation.

 Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts 

of a particular culture or people during any given 

period in history. It is the evidence of artisans’ labor 

and skill in constructing or altering a building, 

structure, object, or site. It may be expressed in 

vernacular methods of construction and plain 

fi nishes or in highly sophisticated confi gurations and 

ornamental detailing. Examples of workmanship in 

historic buildings include tooling, carving, painting, 

graining, turning, and joinery.

 Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic 

or historic sense of a particular period of time. 

It results from the presence of physical features 

that, taken together, convey the property’s historic 

character. For example, a rural historic district that 

retains its original design, materials, workmanship, 

and setting will relate the feeling of agricultural life 

in an earlier period.

 Association is the direct link between an important 

historic event or person and a historic property. A 

property retains association if it is the place where 

the event or activity occurred and is suffi ciently 

intact to convey that relationship to an observer. 

Therefore, a property where a nationally signifi cant 

person carried out the action or work for which they 

are nationally signifi cant is preferable to the place 

where they returned to only sleep, eat, or spend 

their leisure time. Like feeling, association requires 

the presence of physical features that convey a 

property’s historic character.

Any productive or extractive industrial facility or transportation system, if successful, changes over time to meet 

new needs or employ advancing technology. The Blackstone River Valley was an active industrial region for approximately 150 years, and during much of that time it was 

being expanded and improved. The Blackstone River Valley resources under consideration in this evaluation display 

the cumulative evidence of its manufacturing history, with 

structures of various periods co-existing – from the earliest days of industry to late-period resources. Of over 20 

mill villages evaluated in the Blackstone Valley, four retain 

the most completeness in terms of overall physical features 
52 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

to convey their signifi cance. The mill villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale all show this incremental, fundamentally conservative layering, often set 

against a backdrop of an enduring rural landscape. Even 

at Old Slater Mill, the birthplace of American industry, the 

earliest structure is embedded within later additions. The 

Blackstone Canal is an example of a resource that has retained much of the physical evidence of its period of operation, but its short lifespan is not typical of the industries 

that defi ned the region’s character.

These representative Blackstone River Valley resources 

have overall integrity as a highly developed industrial district. A visitor readily comprehends the industrial character 

that defi ned the Blackstone Valley for almost 150 years. 

These villages contain a great diversity of factory and residential buildings that illustrate the development and impact 

of the Rhode Island System of manufacture, as described in 

the Historical Overview.

The mill village communities that defi ned the Blackstone River Valley and gave physical expression to the 

Rhode Island System survive to a remarkable degree and 

generally display their original spatial arrangement and 

inherent social stratifi cation. In terms of integrity of location, the villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and 

Hopedale remain in their original locations with little disruption of historic points of access, internal circulation, 

or the spatial relationship among contributing features 

within each village. The historic relationship between the 

Blackstone River and its tributaries, the Blackstone Canal, 

and the Blackstone River Valley’s primary industrial sites 

is readily visible in many locations. Integrity of location 

is further supported by the fact that, with a few distinct 

exceptions, the majority of physical resources remain in 

their original location. Notable exceptions include the John 

Slater House in Slatersville, moved to its present location 

in 1844, and the Mechanics Shop (also referred to as the 

“Little Red Shop”), which was relocated by the Draper 

Corporation to town parkland in Hopedale in 1950.

The element of design integrity is particularly well addressed in the mill villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale. As described above, they remain remarkably intact compared to other village sites throughout 

the region. The relationship between the early reliance on 

water power and the design and location of industrial buildings is particularly evident at sites like Old Slater Mill and 

in the villages of Slatersville, Whitinsville, and Hopedale, 

where the early mill buildings are situated immediately adjacent to the river. Regardless of when each of these communities emerged as a fully developed mill village, they 

all display their fundamental organizing principles. At the 

core of each of these villages is the mill complex, which is 

centrally located and dominates the landscape. Each village also includes a cluster of commercial buildings (primarily banks and shops) and civic buildings (schools, libraries, gymnasiums, etc.), most of which were constructed 

and maintained by the mill corporation. In Whitinsville, the 

town hall was constructed by the Whitin family. Less evident is local infrastructure like water and power, which also 

was often developed and provided by a community’s industrial benefactors. This was particularly the case in Whitinsville and Hopedale. Finally, the variety of the design and 

location of housing in each village refl ects the hierarchy of 

housing, the design and location of which is refl ective of 

the employment status among the inhabitants.

Overall the setting of many of the mill villages has experienced only a modest degree of change. Though there have 

been some modern intrusions on the outskirts of these villages, by and large, they would still be recognized by their 

19th-century residents. The presence of the reservoir and 

power canal systems in each of these villages offers a powerful illustration of the integrity of their setting. In general, 

the reservoirs and dams have changed little over time and 

continue to serve the community as recreational amenities. 

The Blackstone River and its tributaries and Blackstone 

Canal continue to form the spine of the Valley and provide an important organizing element for the distribution 

of these industrial heritage resources. Old Slater Mill and 

Ashton are immediately associated with the river, canal, 

or a combination of the two. Slatersville, Whitinsville, and 

Hopedale are each located on Blackstone tributaries – the 

Branch, Mumford, and Mill Rivers, respectively. While the 

agricultural land and open spaces that once dominated the 

larger landscape have been diminished by suburban development, the industrial landscape across the Blackstone 

Valley remains evident. The villages under consideration 

in this analysis are the best, though not the only, remaining examples of this once-robust industrial landscape. The 

remnant mill villages that dot the valley contribute to the 

larger setting of the subject villages.

In each of the mill villages under consideration, original materials continue to be evident and are a dominant 

feature of each site (e.g., the clapboard housing and stone 

mills at Slatersville or the bricks of Ashton). With rare exceptions, few structures have been affected by the application of asbestos or vinyl siding or the addition of modern 

commercial facades. Many of the structures and landscape 
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 53

features under consideration here possess great integrity of 

workmanship. Much of the simply constructed industrial, 

residential, and commercial architecture in each of these 

villages demonstrates the skills of area craftspeople at the 

time of construction and the building technologies of the 

period. Several intact sections of the Blackstone Canal in 

both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and its remaining 

locks, highlight the work of the laborers and engineers responsible for its construction. In Hopedale and Whitinsville, examples of more elaborate workmanship are evident 

in the many architect-designed civic structures, parks, mill 

owner housing, and late-period housing developed to attract and retain skilled laborers. The design and construction of numerous dams and raceways, particularly evident 

in Slatersville and Hopedale, also provide evidence of integrity of workmanship.

In many locations the sense or feeling of the industrial 

village as an isolated, self-contained place is retained. Although some previously open space has given way to development, the preponderance of resources continue to retain 

their integrity in terms of design, materials, and workmanship in the mill villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale and permit an observer to understand 

and appreciate the historic character and value of these 

resources. Segments of the Blackstone River also possess 

values that conjure up this historic sense of a particular 

time, especially at points where it has been dammed, passes 

through existing developed areas such as Old Slater Mill in 

Pawtucket and Ashton, or through urban centers like Pawtucket and Woonsocket. Likewise, the Blackstone Canal 

offers similar opportunities, particularly where restoration 

efforts have already been underway and/or the tow path has 

been well preserved.

Figures 7 through 12 illustrate the historic integrity of 

these mill villages. Figures 7 and 8 depict Slatersville. 

Likewise in comparing Figures 9 and 10 of Ashton and Figures 11 and 12 of Whitinsville, the relationships among and 

the overall character of the built environment including the 

various types of structures, roads and waterways, parks and 

other landscape features remain remarkably intact.

Conclusion – Finding of National Signifi cance

Industrialization is one of the paramount forces shaping American history. Since the early 19th century, every 

aspect of life has been dominated by this mighty process. 

The Blackstone River Valley was where this vast transformation fi rst gained a major and permanent foothold in the 

U.S., and the Valley contains an exceptional concentration 

of historic resources that convey this national signifi cance 

as they relate to criteria 1 and 5.

The region, with its representative resources, remains 

the best place to interpret the origin and rise of an important type of American industry. These resources form 

a cohesive industrial district that evolved and defi ned the 

principles of the Rhode Island System of manufacture, 

which became a paradigm for further American industrial 

development. As the nation’s fi rst heavily industrialized region, the valley became the prototype for a sweeping social 

transformation that included a fundamental shift in the nature of work. The multiplicity of resource types found in 

the Blackstone Valley refl ects the many dimensions of the 

sweeping social and economic transformation that came in 

the wake of American industrialization and makes it possible to compellingly depict the lives of the working men 

and women who participated in this massive change.

Collectively, the Blackstone River and its tributaries, the 

Blackstone Canal, Old Slater Mill, and the villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale convey the 

full scope of this pattern of industrialization and its consequences more fully than any individual site could, making 

it possible to understand the magnitude of industrialization 

and its effects on the physical and social landscape.

The landscape of the Blackstone Valley was transformed 

by industrialization, as natural resources were manipulated 

to provide water power, and mill villages were established 

throughout the countryside. The Blackstone River became 

an engineered resource that, along with the mill ponds, reservoirs, and canal, formed a system upon which industrial 

activity in the Valley depended. The extant sections of the 

Blackstone Canal also exemplify the substantial infl uence 

of the Rhode Island System of manufacture over the valley landscape. The exploitation of the river and harnessing of water power are clearly illustrated at Old Slater Mill 

Historic Site and by the many ponds, reservoirs and dams 

that survive in the Valley’s distinctive mill villages; these 

themes are particularly evident in the villages of Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale.

The four mill villages also retain the manufacturing, residential, and civic infrastructure of high quality and integrity necessary to depict this pattern of history. The organization and design of the mill villages, and more specifi cally 

the mill housing, is a specifi c manifestation of the Rhode 

Island System of manufacture. With their emphasis on total 

family employment, Blackstone River Valley mill owners 
54 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

Figure 7: Slatersville, RI 1895 Bird’s Eye View.

Figure 8: Slatersville, RI 2009 Aerial View. Source: Bing.com.

Commercial

Blocks

Worker

Housing

Congregational

Church

Worker

Housing Congregational

Church

Commercial

Blocks

Mill Complex
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 55

Figure 10: Ashton Village 2009 Aerial View. Source: Bing.com.

Figure 9: Ashton Village Circa 1870.

Brick Worker

Housing

Blackstone

Canal

Kelly House /

Old Ashton

Blackstone

River

1867

Brick Mill

Kelly House /

Old Ashton

Blackstone

Canal

Blackstone

River

1867

Brick Mill

Brick Worker

Housing
56 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

Figure 12: Village of Whitinsville, MA 2009 Aerial View. Source: Google Maps.

Figure 11: Village of Whitinsville, MA Circa 1880.

Brick

Mill

Whitin Machine

Works

Worker

Housing

Whitinsville

Cotton Mill

Worker

Housing

Whitin Machine

Works

Whitinsville

Cotton Mill

le Maps

Brick

Mill
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 57

created housing and community amenities that would be 

attractive to such a workforce.

In conclusion, the Blackstone River Valley industrial 

heritage resources cited above collectively meet NHL Criteria 1 and 5, based on their signifi cant contribution to and 

outstanding representation of broad national patterns in 

U.S. economic and industrial history and their potential to 

provide for an understanding and appreciation of those patterns. Collectively, they compose an entity of exceptional 

historical signifi cance that illustrates the infl uence of Samuel Slater and the rise and evolution of the Rhode Island 

System of manufacture, a dynamic force in American industrial history from 1790 to 1950. These representative 

Blackstone River Valley resources have overall integrity 

as a highly developed industrial district in terms of their 

location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, 

and association; a visitor readily comprehends the industrial character that defi ned the Blackstone River Valley for 

roughly 150 years.

In June 2009 the Signifi cance Statement was submitted to the NPS Washington History Program Offi ce for 

its review and concurrence. After a July 2009 site visit 

to tour the resources under consideration, the review was 

completed, and a letter dated August 4, 2009 indicated the 

Program Offi ce’s concurrence with a fi nding of National 

Signifi cance, summarized as follows:

One National Historic Landmark, six National 

Register Historic Districts, and the Blackstone 

River and its tributaries within the John H. Chafee 

Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor 

meet the National Historic Landmark criteria. 

This conclusion is based on : 1) the important 

association of the property with the development of 

industrialization and 2) the high degree of integrity 

that allows for the property’s national signifi cance to 

be conveyed.

A copy of the NPS Washington History Program Offi ce 

letter can be found in Appendix B.

Suitability Analysis

NPS Management Policies 2006 state that an area is 

considered suitable for addition to the National Park System if it represents a natural or cultural resource type that 

is not already adequately represented in the National Park 

System, or is not comparably represented and protected for 

public enjoyment by other federal agencies; tribal, state, or 

local governments; or the private sector. It is important to 

note that the suitability analysis is not limited to whether 

resources are represented in the system, but extends the 

analysis to similar resources protected by other public entities and the private sector. Adequacy of representation is 

determined on a case-by-case basis, by comparing the potential area to other comparably managed areas representing the same resource type, while considering differences 

or similarities in the character, quality, quantity, or combination of resource values. The comparative analysis also 

addresses the rarity of the resources and their interpretive 

and educational potential. The comparison yields a determination of whether the proposed new area would expand, 

enhance, or duplicate resource-protection or visitor-use opportunities found in other comparably managed areas.

Blackstone River Valley – Cultural Resources

As was the case in evaluating national signifi cance, in 

considering the suitability of cultural resources within or 

outside the NPS, the “Thematic Framework” is used to 

evaluate history and prehistory. The three thematic concepts 

applicable to the Blackstone River Valley as expressed in 

the Statement of Signifi cance are Developing the American 

Economy, Transforming the Environment, and Expressing 

Cultural Values.

Developing the American Economy

This theme refl ects the ways Americans have worked, 

including slavery, servitude, and non-wage, as well as paid 

labor. It also refl ects the ways Americans have materially 

sustained themselves by the processes of extraction, agriculture, production, distribution, and consumption of goods 

and services. Topics that help defi ne this theme include extraction and production, distribution and consumption, industrial towns, labor organizations and protests, exchange 

and trade, and economic theory. This theme is applicable 

to historic industrial districts such as the Blackstone River 

Valley and specifi cally to the mill villages.

There were several different models of American industrialization, and the resources of the Blackstone River Valley represent the Rhode Island System of manufacture, one 

of the most important and distinctive of these models. The 

particular area of signifi cance for the Blackstone River Valley is production, as expressed in the Rhode Island System 

of manufacture of textiles and support industries in a cohesive, intensely developed area. The Rhode Island System 

was distinguished by small mills operating on the factory 

system and forming detached mill villages located at previously isolated water power sites within a rural setting. 
58 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

The textile mills were owned by individuals or partnerships 

and generally employed families initially drawn from the 

countryside.

Units of the National Park System that refl ect the theme 

of Developing the American Economy in the area of industry and that are comparable to similar resources of the 

Blackstone River Valley include:

1. Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, 

New Jersey (authorized) – Paterson Great Falls 

offers an example of another distinct model of 

industrialization. Created by Alexander Hamilton 

and others to move the United States toward 

further economic independence from England, it 

is representative of privately fi nanced and planned 

industrial development. Located in Paterson, New 

Jersey, the Great Falls of the Passaic are part of a 

National Historic Landmark (NHL) district and 

as the Great Falls of Paterson/ Garrett Mountain 

are also a designated National Natural Landmark 

(NNL). At the Great Falls, Alexander Hamilton 

implemented a plan to harness the force of water to 

power the new industries that he hoped would secure 

the new nation’s economic independence by means 

of a new, publicly sanctioned, corporate structure: 

the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures 

(S.U.M). Although the initial vision enjoyed only 

limited success, Paterson later became a center for 

the manufacture of textiles, silk fabrics, railroad 

engines, paper, sail cloth, and hemp, among other 

products.

2. Lowell National Historical Park, Massachusetts

– Lowell offers another distinct model of 

industrialization: the large-scale, corporate, 

vertically integrated system of manufacture. While 

it originated as a center for textile manufacturing, 

Lowell became the focus of many other industrial 

pursuits, among them machinery fi rms established 

to meet the demands of textile manufacturers 

throughout New England and steam locomotives for 

the region’s expanding rail network. Other textilerelated fi rms manufactured and distributed a broad 

array of mill fi xtures, tools, and textile machine 

parts.

3. Springfi eld Armory National Historic Site, 

Harpers Ferry National Historic Site, and 

Charlestown Navy Yard at Boston National 

Historical Park – These three examples represent 

still another distinct model of industrialization: 

federally supported and funded industry limited 

to production for national defense. Springfi eld 

Armory was founded in 1794 and developed and 

produced fi rearms for the military until 1968. It was 

responsible for many innovations in arms design and 

production in the realm of interchangeable parts and 

precision manufacturing. The United States Armory 

and Arsenal was established at Harpers Ferry in 

1799 and transformed the location from a remote 

village into an industrial center. In this setting, 

inventor John H. Hall pioneered interchangeable 

fi rearms manufacture from 1820 to 1840 and helped 

lead the change from craft-based production to 

manufacture by machine.

 The Charlestown Navy Yard at Boston National 

Historical Park was established in 1800 by the 

U.S. government and served as a ship-building 

and repair center until 1974. The men and women 

of its workforce built more than 200 warships 

and maintained and repaired thousands. From its 

inception the yard was in the forefront of shipyard 

technology, from building the Navy’s only ropewalk, 

supplying the Navy with most of its rope supplies, 

to becoming a center of missile and electronics 

conversions.

4. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, 

Pennsylvania – Hopewell, an iron “plantation,” 

or a facility that produced lower-grade (“pig”) 

iron, presents another distinct model of early 

industrialization. Operating from 1771-1883, it 

represents the relatively isolated, self-suffi cient 

village established to conduct extractive industry.

5. Edison National Historic Site, New Jersey – 

Edison NHS is an example of a research and 

development facility designed to create products 

that could be profi tably manufactured or licensed. 

For more than 40 years, the inventions developed 

at Thomas Alva Edison’s laboratory had enormous 

impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide.

Sites outside the National Park System that express the 

theme of Developing the American Economy in the area of 

industry and which are comparable to similar resources in 

the Blackstone River Valley include:

1. Old Slater Mill Historic Site and Museum, 

Pawtucket, Rhode Island – Old Slater Mill is the 

earliest example of a textile mill within the larger 

landscape of the model of industrialization known as 

the Rhode Island System of manufacture. An NHL, 

the Old Slater Mill complex includes the Old Slater 

Mill, Wilkinson Mill, and Sylvanus Brown House, 

which together describe the infl uence of Samuel 

Slater and the advent of American industrialization. 

The property is owned by the Old Slater Mill 
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 59

Association and is operated as a museum that is 

regularly open to the public.

2. Hagley Museum and Library/Eleutherian Mills, 

Delaware – The Hagley Museum/Eleutherian Mills 

is another example of early industrialization. This 

National Historic Landmark is the site of the 1802 

works that revolutionized gunpowder manufacturing 

and grew into the E.I. DuPont Company, a leader 

in several branches of industry. The NHL boundary 

includes DuPont’s residence, offi ces, mills, and 

structures for workers. The museum is open to the 

public and offers tours and educational programs.

3. Harrisville Historic District, New Hampshire

– A center for the manufacture of woolen goods 

beginning in 1789, and now a NHL, Harrisville’s 

mills, stores, boarding houses, dwellings, and 

churches depict the life of an early 19th-century 

New England mill town. Many facets of the mill 

town’s form and organization may be attributed 

to the infl uence of the Rhode Island System of 

manufacture during this period. Historic Harrisville 

is a primary property holder in the district and 

owner of the Cheshire Mills, a key contributing 

complex within the district. There are no public 

programs in the district, and the goal of Historic 

Harrisville, Inc. is to maintain the “essential 

character of a small, quiet, relatively isolated village 

where real people live and work.”

4. Boston Manufacturing Company, Massachusetts 

– A National Historic Landmark in Waltham 

Massachusetts, this manufacturing complex, begun 

in 1813, gave its name to the “Waltham System,” 

an alternative model to the “Rhode Island System” 

exemplifi ed in the Blackstone Valley. A model 

that attained a fuller development at Lowell, the 

Waltham System is characterized by a single, large, 

heavily capitalized, vertically integrated system 

of manufacture. The Charles River Museum of 

Industry uses the structures for exhibits and visitor 

programs. The museum is currently closed due to 

the spring 2010 fl oods.

5. Cheney Brothers Historic District, Connecticut – 

A National Historic Landmark, this 175-acre milling 

community in South Manchester, Connecticut 

commemorates and interprets the Cheney family’s 

silk-manufacturing enterprises. With over 200 

mill buildings, worker houses, churches, schools, 

and the Cheney family mansion, this is a wellpreserved example of a 19th- to early 20th-century 

paternalistic mill town devoted to a single industry. 

Established originally in 1838, Cheney Brothers 

became the single largest and most profi table 

silk producer in the nation by the late 1880s. The 

Manchester Historical Society provides multiple 

educational and interpretive opportunities within the 

resources of the district, including access to Cheney 

company resources such as Cheney Hall, the Cheney 

Homestead, company fi rehouse, the Old Manchester 

Museum located in the former Cheney School, and 

the Manchester History Center located in the former 

Cheney Machine Shop.

6. Coltsville Historic District, Connecticut – Like 

Cheney Brothers, Coltsville is a paternalistic, 

planned manufacturing community concentrating 

on a single industry, in this case the manufacture of 

fi rearms. Coltsville was an extensive manufacturing 

complex established in 1855 by Samuel Colt as the 

location of the Colt Firearms Company. An NHL 

in Hartford, Connecticut, the Coltsville Historic 

District includes Armsmear, the home of Samuel 

and Elizabeth Colt. The site was the subject of a 

Special Resource Study conducted by the NPS to 

determine whether it met the criteria for designation 

as a unit of the National Park System. Coltsville was 

found to meet the criteria for national signifi cance 

and suitability but did not meet the criteria for 

feasibility or the need for NPS management.

Transforming the Environment

This theme “examines the variable and changing relationships between people and their environment, which 

continuously interact...The American environment today is 

largely a human artifact, so thoroughly has human occupation affected its features... While conservation represents a 

portion of this theme, the focus here is on recognizing the 

interplay between human activity and the environment as 

refl ected in particular places.” Topics that help defi ne this 

theme are: manipulating the environment and its resources; 

adverse consequences and stresses on the environment; and 

protecting and preserving the environment. The particular 

area of signifi cance for the Blackstone River Valley is manipulating the environment and its resources, as evidenced 

in the exploitation of the river and surrounding landscape 

for the furtherance of industry, throughout the length of 

the Blackstone River and its tributaries. While the other 

topics defi ned by this theme are evident in the Blackstone, 

this is the topic most closely refl ected in the statement of 

signifi cance.

Units of the National Park System that refl ect the theme 

of Transforming the Environment in the area of manipulat60 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

ing the environment and its resources, specifi cally related 

to water power, include:

1. Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, 

New Jersey (authorized) –Located in Paterson, New 

Jersey, the Great Falls of the Passaic are included 

within an NHL district and have been designated 

an NNL under the name Great Falls of Paterson/ 

Garrett Mountain. At the Great Falls, Alexander 

Hamilton implemented a plan to harness the force 

of water to power the new industries that he hoped 

would secure U.S. economic independence. Paterson 

became a center for the manufacture of textiles, silk, 

railroad engines, paper, sail cloth, and hemp, among 

other products.

2. Lowell Locks and Canals District, Lowell, 

Massachusetts – According to the 1977 National 

Historic Landmark nomination, “the Locks and 

Canals District encompasses all of the canals in 

the city of Lowell, their associated locks, and the 

mills that were powered by the canals. This canal 

system led to the supremacy of Lowell as the cotton 

textile manufacturing center of the United States, 

and contributed to the evolution of the fi rst major 

American industrial city. The District contains 

virtually unaltered waterways, mills and machinery.”

3. Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West 

Virginia - George Washington chose Harpers 

Ferry for a new national armory in 1794 because, 

he claimed, it possessed an “inexhaustible supply 

of water.” The park offers a place to explore the 

legacy of waterpower in America. Cradled between 

the free-fl owing and often unpredictable waters of 

the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, Harpers Ferry 

demonstrates the important relationship between 

nature and man’s early industrial activities.

4. Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, 

Massachusetts – According to the park’s website, 

Saugus Iron Works was “the fi rst successfully 

integrated manufacturing facility for the production 

of cast and wrought iron in North America. The 

historic structures of the Iron Works are nestled 

along the banks of the Saugus River, an important 

natural resource for newly settled families and 

workers to the area during the 17th century.” The 

iron works began production in 1645. The Saugus 

River provided a means of transportation and waterpower. A canal fed water from a dam upstream into 

sluiceways leading to each building.

Sites of national signifi cance outside the National Park 

System that refl ect the theme of Transforming the Environment, specifi cally related to water power, include:

1. Augusta Canal National Heritage Area and 

Historic Augusta Canal and Industrial District 

NHL, Georgia – Located on the Savannah River, 

Augusta Canal is the nation’s only industrial power 

canal still in use for its original purpose. Native 

Augustan Henry H. Cumming built the Augusta 

Canal in 1845, intending that Augusta could one 

day become “the Lowell of the South.” By 1847 the 

fi rst two of many factories that would eventually line 

the canal were built; a saw and grist mill and the 

Augusta Factory.

2. Lightfoot Mill, Pennsylvania – A National Historic 

Landmark located in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, 

“Lightfoot Mill represents an extremely rare 

archetypal example of a small, 18th century custom 

grain mill with an intact power transmission system. 

Surveys suggest that no other custom mills in the 

United States survive from this period with intact 

machinery. The basic technology of this mill dates 

from the mid-18th century, adapted to make use of 

several of the automating inventions of the famous 

American inventor, Oliver Evans, which were 

appended to the original works. The milling system 

functions today much as it did in the mid-18th 

century.”49

3. Columbus Historic Riverfront Industrial 

District, Georgia – An NHL in Columbus, Georgia, 

“dating from 1844 to 1900, this area physically 

documents the evolution of hydrotechnology and 

its contributions to the growth of an important 

southern textile center. Here is the best surviving 

concentration of 19th and early 20th century hydromechanical and -electrical engineering systems in 

the South.”50

Expressing Cultural Values

This theme encompasses expressions of culture: people’s beliefs about themselves and the world they inhabit, 

as well as the way that people communicate their moral and 

aesthetic values. Topics that help defi ne this theme include: 

educational and intellectual currents; visual and performing arts; literature; mass media; architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design; and popular and traditional 

culture. The particular area of consideration for the Blackstone River Valley is architecture. As expressed in the sig49 National Historic Landmark Program website.

50 National Historic Landmark Program website.
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 61

nifi cance statement, the mill buildings and mill villages, as 

well as the hilltop towns and farms of the Blackstone Valley, express the cultural and aesthetic values of their time 

through their architecture and landscapes.

Similar to the Blackstone River Valley, the following 

sites and districts embody the cultural and aesthetic values 

of their time through their architecture and their landscape. 

In addition to their respective time periods, they also differ 

in the refl ection of each area’s social or industrial purpose. 

Units of the National Park System that refl ect the theme 

of Expressing Cultural Values in the area of architecture 

specifi c to industrialization include:

1. Lowell National Historical Park, Massachusetts 

– Lowell interprets a major alternate model 

of industrialization. The story of female labor 

and living conditions is told at the Patrick J. 

Mogan Cultural Center, located in a Boott Mill 

boardinghouse. The practice of employing single 

female workers in group housing is one of the 

defi ning points of difference that distinguishes 

Lowell from the Rhode Island System of 

manufacture, which preferred to employ family 

units.

2. Keweenaw National Historical Park, Michigan

– Keweenaw, signifi cant for its copper mining 

history, consists of two units located 12 miles 

apart. In addition, 19 offi cial Keweenaw Heritage 

Site partners are located within and beyond park 

boundaries. The resources center on the mines 

and include company-planned aspects of the 

mining community. The park’s enabling legislation 

notes that “the corporate-sponsored community 

planning in Calumet, Michigan, as evidenced in the 

architecture, municipal design, surnames, foods, and 

traditions, and the large scale corporate paternalism 

was unprecedented in American industry and 

continues to express the heritage of the district.” 

The planned, paternalistic aspects in some ways 

resemble the mill villages of the Blackstone Valley, 

but Keweenaw was a later, isolated community, 

built on a larger scale and devoted to an extractive 

industry.

3. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, 

Alaska – This National Park includes the Kennecott 

Mill Town, the center of copper operations from 

1901 through 1938. Like Keweenaw, the Kennecott 

NHL district was a self-contained company town 

that included a hospital, store, school, skating rink, 

tennis court, recreation hall, and dairy.

Sites outside the National Park System that refl ect the 

theme of Expressing Cultural Values and relate to similar 

resources of the Blackstone River Valley include:

1. Harrisville Historic District, New Hampshire

– A center for the manufacture of woolen goods 

beginning in 1789, and now a NHL, Harrisville’s 

mills, stores, boarding houses, dwellings, and 

churches depict the life of an early 19th-century 

New England mill town. Historic Harrisville is a 

primary property holder in the district and owner 

of the Cheshire Mills, a key contributing complex 

within the district. There are no public programs in 

the district; and among the goals articulated on its 

website, Historic Harrisville, Inc. describes itself 

as maintaining the “essential character of a small, 

quiet, relatively isolated village where real people 

live and work.”

2. Pullman Historic District, Illinois – A National 

Historic Landmark located in Chicago, Pullman was 

constructed between 1880 and 1884 for George M. 

Pullman (1831-1897), an engineer and industrialist. 

The Pullman Company made sleeping cars for the 

railroads. Pullman was a completely planned model 

industrial town intended to provide, on a thoroughly 

paternalistic basis, a dramatic and pioneering 

departure from the unsanitary, over-crowded, 

makeshift living conditions found in workingclass districts in other 19th-century industrial 

environments.

3. Old Salem Historic District, North Carolina – An 

NHL in Winston, Old Salem is a restored example 

of an 18th-century theocratic planned community, 

established by Moravians in 1766. A governing 

board of church offi cials controlled the lands, plan, 

buildings, and industries. The planned industrial 

town was built in 1880 and designed by architect 

Solon Beman and landscape architect Nathan 

Barrett. There is a Visitor Center, and interpretive 

tours are conducted.

4. Cheney Brothers Historic District, Connecticut

– An NHL, this 175-acre milling community in 

South Manchester commemorates and interprets 

the Cheney family’s silk manufacturing enterprises. 

Established originally in 1838, Cheney Brothers 

became the single largest and most profi table silk 

producer in the nation by the late 1880s. With 

over 200 mill buildings, worker houses, churches, 

schools, and the Cheney family mansion, this is an 

excellently preserved example of a 19th- to early 

20th-century paternalistic mill town devoted to a 

single industry.
62 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

5. National Coal Heritage Area, West Virginia – 

Located in West Virginia, National Coal Heritage 

Area interprets the history of the coal industry. 

Due to the isolated locations of coal mines, it was 

necessary for coal companies to build towns and 

houses for their miners throughout the region. By 

1922, nearly 80 percent of West Virginia miners 

lived in company houses.

Conclusion – Finding of Suitability

As noted in the signifi cance statement, no single, uniform process transformed the nation into a major industrial 

power. The course of industrialization varied by region, 

time period, and industry. Several distinct pathways to industrialization have been identifi ed and, as a result, no one 

site can convey the full extent and complexity of American 

industrialization.

The sites described above represent various models of 

industrialization that emerged in response to different industrial requirements, types and availability of capital investment, ownership and management structure, and the 

nature of the labor force. While some closely parallel or 

refl ect the Blackstone River Valley’s experience, they all 

differ from it in some way. As a result these places complement, rather than compete with, the Blackstone River 

Valley in possessing resources that convey the complex 

story of the nation’s industrial development. This is true 

across all three thematic areas – Developing the American 

Economy, Transforming the Environment, and Expressing 

Cultural Values.

Based on the analysis of comparable resources and interpretation already represented in units of the National 

Park System, or protected and interpreted by others, this 

study concludes that the resources of the Blackstone River 

Valley depict a distinctive and important aspect of American history that is not adequately represented or protected 

elsewhere and are therefore suitable for inclusion in the 

National Park System.

Feasibility Analysis

Areas found suitable for potential designation as units 

of the National Park System are subject to a feasibility 

evaluation, which determines among other factors whether 

long-term resource protection can be assured and visitors 

accommodated. Factors used to examine feasibility include 

size and confi guration; landownership; access; threats to 

the resource; and public support.

Size and Confi guration

The Blackstone River forms the natural spine of the 

Blackstone River Valley and is the source of the region’s 

physical and historical identity. In its 46-mile journey from 

its headwaters in Worcester to its outlet on Narragansett 

Bay in Providence, the river meanders past quiet, wooded 

landscapes, courses through once-bustling mill villages, 

and is channeled through intensely developed urban centers. The Blackstone River is joined by four major tributaries (the Branch, Mumford, Quinsigamond, and West) along 

with many smaller branches, forming a watershed that encompasses 500 square miles and supports over 1,300 acres 

of ponds, lakes and reservoirs. Seventeen of the original 

34 dams on the Blackstone River remain intact. Likewise, 

numerous historic dams and impoundments remain on its 

tributaries, including sites in Slatersville, Whitinsville, and 

Hopedale.

The Blackstone Canal largely runs parallel to the Blackstone River from Providence to Worcester. The Rhode 

Island Department of Environmental Management (RI 

DEM) owns and manages a three-mile segment of the canal, located to the west of the river, and approximately 150 

acres of land on either side of the canal trench, as part of 

Blackstone River State Park. In Massachusetts a four-mile 

segment of the canal including the tow path trail and three 

water-control structures are maintained by the Department 

of Conservation and Recreation (MA DCR) at the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in the towns of 

Uxbridge and Northbridge. Within the state park, MA DCR 

also owns remnants of 2 locks and a canal landing.

Old Slater Mill and the four mill villages that form the 

core of historic resources in this analysis are non-contiguous and are located throughout the Blackstone Valley. Old 

Slater Mill and Ashton immediately adjoin the Blackstone 

River, with Ashton also being near a restored segment 

of the Blackstone Canal. Slatersville, Whitinsville, and 

Hopedale are all located along tributaries of the Blackstone 

River (the Branch River, the Mumford River, and the Mill 

River, respectively).

Likewise, a number of pre-existing gateway visitor centers are also located throughout the Valley. The Blackstone 

Valley Visitor Center is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island immediately across the street from Old Slater Mill. 

Blackstone River State Park adjoins historic Ashton village in Lincoln, Rhode Island and is the location of the 

Captain Wilbur Kelly House, which offers visitor information and exhibits. In downtown Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 63

when North Smithfi eld’s Town Council approved a Local 

Historic District within the village of Slatersville.

The Ashton Village Historic District (Cumberland, RI) 

encompasses an approximately 61-acre area, divided between the “lower village” and the “upper village.” The 

lower village occupies land on the east bank of the Blackstone River and includes the mill complex, brick workers’ 

housing, a dam, and a rail line. The upper village is organized along a roughly half-mile segment of Mendon Road 

(Route 122) and a portion of Scott Road and is situated 

at a dramatically higher elevation, overlooking the river. 

Religious, commercial, and civic buildings as well as additional worker residences characterize the upper village. 

Like Slatersville, the district boundaries largely follow 

parcel/ lot lines, though the boundaries of this district are 

somewhat more compact. The Ashton Village Historic District has been designated a local historic district in the town 

of Cumberland.

The Whitinsville Historic District (Northbridge, MA) 

encompasses about 250 acres and approximately 350 structures built over the course of a century. The District is wideranging, with components on both sides of the Mumford 

River. At its core, where Hill Street, Main Street, Douglas 

Street, Linwood Street, and Church Street converge, are 

the three mill complexes, religious, civic, and commercial 

institutions including parks, libraries, and schools. As the 

district radiates out from the core, residential neighborhoods representing different economic strata within the 

community and periods of development are evident. The 

district also encompasses dams and reservoirs that were 

developed to power the village’s industry. The historic district also includes the approximately 100-acre Castle Hill 

farm located across the river from the district’s core area. 

The district boundaries largely follow parcel/ lot lines. As 

noted in Slatersville, the designation of a local historic district would be encouraged but would not have to follow 

the existing confi guration of the National Register District 

boundary, and the local historic district boundary could be 

more tightly drawn.

The Hopedale Village Historic District is roughly 

bounded by the Milford Town Line, Malquin Drive, Mendon Town Line, and Upton Town Line in Hopedale, Massachusetts and encompasses about 800 acres and almost 800 

resources including buildings, designed landscapes, structures, and objects. The district has a fairly regular boundary that includes parklands, recreational fi elds, industrial, 

commercial, civic, and residential development. The district also encompasses the dams and reservoirs that were 

the Museum of Work and Culture offers visitor information and exhibits. In Massachusetts, River Bend Farm at 

the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, and 

the proposed Worcester Visitor Center currently do or 

will offer visitor information and exhibits. The facilities 

at Pawtucket, Blackstone River State Park, Woonsocket, 

and Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park are 

all located along the Blackstone River. A Blackstone River 

Bikeway has been under development for several years and 

will eventually parallel the entire length of the Blackstone 

River and canal to link Worcester and Providence. Some 

segments of the bikeway have been completed, particularly 

in Rhode Island, and offer links to these visitor service facilities and historic sites.

The mileage chart (Figure 13) describes the distances 

between the various historic and visitor services resources. 

The single longest distance exists between resources located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island and Worcester, Massachusetts – approximately 41 miles.

Old Slater Mill Historic Site NHL includes three buildings on the west bank of the Blackstone River in downtown 

Pawtucket: Old Slater Mill, Wilkinson Mill, and the Sylvanus Brown House. The approximately 4.2-acre site also 

encompasses an open-space parcel on the opposite side of 

the river, two dams, and a parking area. The confi guration 

of the property is compact and well-contained within a single city block bounded by the Blackstone River, Roosevelt 

Avenue, Main Street, and Leather Avenue.

The Slatersville Historic District (North Smithfi eld, RI) 

encompasses an approximately 130-acre area that radiates 

from the intersection of Main Street, North Main Street, 

Green Street, and Church Street. The boundaries of the 

district are defi ned largely by parcel/ lot lines. A variety 

of building types are located at the center or hub of the 

district, including the mill complex, a reservoir, religious, 

commercial and civic buildings, and a limited number of 

residences. As one moves to the edges of the district, the 

predominant building type is residential. Within one of the 

management options proposed in Chapter Four, local communities would be encouraged to create local historic districts to better protect the most essential, character-defi ning 

resources in the historic district. The proposed local historic districts would not necessarily have to follow the existing 

confi guration of the National Register District boundary, 

and the lines could be more tightly drawn, as was the case 

51 Pedestrian access between the Kelly House and Ashton Village via Blackstone 

River Bikeway is considerably shorter.
64 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

developed to power local industry. The district boundaries 

largely follow parcel lines and in some cases fall just short 

of or just over the town’s municipal boundaries. As noted 

previously, the designation of a local historic district would 

not necessarily have to follow the existing confi guration of 

the National Register District boundary, and the lines defi ning the local district could be drawn more tightly.

Nearly all of the pre-existing visitor services resources 

are small in scale and are operated in conjunction with a 

larger entity. The Blackstone Valley Visitor Center is located on the ground fl oor of a rehabilitated department 

store that includes other commercial, retail, academic, and 

transportation functions. The Captain Wilbur Kelly House 

is a free-standing historic home that has been rehabilitated 

for use as an exhibit space. The Kelly House is part of RI 

DEM’s Blackstone River State Park. The Museum of Work 

and Culture in Woonsocket occupies the ground and second stories of a rehabilitated mill building. The museum is 

part of and is operated by the Rhode Island Historical Society. The visitor facility at River Bend Farm is a rehabilitated barn that is located in MA DCR’s Blackstone River 

and Canal Heritage State Park.

Conclusion

Despite the non-contiguous nature of the resources and 

the distances that separate them, the existing road systems 

and visitor infrastructure provide the necessary linkages to 

overcome this logistical challenge. The Blackstone River 

Bikeway, the gateway visitor facilities, and a corridor-wide 

system of directional signage all contribute in this vein. 

The confi guration of the National Register Historic Districts varies in scale and geography, however, as noted in the 

analysis, for management purposes smaller, more tightlydrawn local historic districts may be designated to ensure 

Figure 13: Mileage Chart (by Vehicle). 

0 5.4 mi. 6.0 mi. 16.2 mi. 12.6 mi. 27.9 mi. 27 mi. 28.6 mi. 41.4 mi.

5.4 mi. 0 1.9 mi.51 10.7 mi. 7.4 mi. 18.4 mi. 21.8 mi. 23.4 mi. 31.9 mi.

6.0 mi. 1.9 mi. 0 10.8 mi. 8.5 mi. 18.2 mi. 22 mi. 18.5 mi. 32 mi.

16.2 mi. 10.7 mi. 10.8 mi. 0 3.9 mi. 7.6 mi. 11.8 mi. 13 mi. 21.9 mi.

12.6 mi. 7.4 mi. 8.5 mi. 3.9 mi. 0 10.4 mi. 15.1 mi. 10.6 mi. 25.1 mi.

27.9 mi. 18.4 mi. 18.2 mi. 7.6 mi. 10.4 mi. 0 3.6 mi. 6.2 mi. 17.8 mi.

27 mi. 21.8 mi. 22 mi. 11.8 mi. 15.1 mi. 3.6 mi. 0 10.2 mi. 14.2 mi.

28.6 mi. 23.4 mi. 18.5 mi. 13 mi. 10.6 mi. 6.2 mi. 10.2 mi. 0 19.2 mi.

41.4 mi. 31.9 mi. 32 mi. 21.9 mi. 25.1 mi. 17.8 mi. 14.2 mi. 19.2 mi. 0

Old Slater Mill / 

Pawtucket

Ashton

(Cumberland, RI)

Blackstone River

State Park /

Kelly House

Slatersville

(North Smithfi eld,

RI)

Woonsocket, RI

River Bend Farm

(Uxbridge, MA)

Whitinsville

(Northbridge, MA)

Hopedale

Worchester

Visitor Center

(proposed)

Old Slater Mill / PawtucketAshton(Cumberland, RI)Blackstone RiverState Park /Kelly HouseSlatersville(North Smithfi eld,RI)Woonsocket, RIRiver Bend Farm(Uxbridge, MA)Whitinsville(Northbridge, MA)HopedaleWorchesterVisitor Center(proposed)
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 65

local protection of the most important, character-defi ning 

features in the historic district. As a result of these mitigating factors, the size and confi guration of these resources 

supports the feasibility of a proposed new unit.

Land Ownership

The vast majority of land under consideration in this 

study is currently in private ownership, while several key 

properties are publicly owned.

• In Pawtucket, the building housing the visitor center 

is owned by the City of Pawtucket’s redevelopment 

authority (a public entity) and Old Slater Mill is 

owned by the private, non-profi t Old Slater Mill 

Association.

• In Ashton Village, the properties are almost entirely 

in private ownership. Many of the housing units 

have been made available for lease. In Ashton 

Village a couple of major property owners hold 

multiple parcels. Much of the property, particularly 

in the area west of Mendon Road, is available as 

residential rental property, a percentage of which is 

made available as affordable housing.

• The Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket 

occupies a city-owned structure.

• The Village of Slatersville contains a combination of 

municipal and private holdings. Scores of individual 

properties are located within the Slatersville 

National Register District most of which are private 

residences.

• Within Hopedale’s historic district, a substantial 

number of acres (particularly the parklands) are 

municipally owned. The town owns civic structures 

like the library and community center, as well as 

the Little Red Shop (an early industrial building). 

Otherwise, property continues to be held in 

private ownership. The National Register District 

encompasses nearly 800 properties, many of which 

are private residences.

• Most of the property within Whitinsville’s historic 

district is in private ownership. The exceptions 

include some of the civic institutions like the 

town hall, library, community center, schools, 

and memorial park, which are owned by the 

municipality. Hundreds of properties are located 

within the National Register District, again most of 

which are private residences.

Land ownership and development varies greatly along 

the edges of the Blackstone River and its tributaries and 

the Blackstone Canal. The number of owners is presumed 

to be considerable and has not been thoroughly evaluated 

at this time. The states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts 

each maintain a state park unit that encompasses a segment 

of the Blackstone River and Blackstone Canal – Blackstone River State Park in Lincoln, Rhode Island and Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in Uxbridge and 

Northbridge, Massachusetts.

Conclusion

Lands within the proposed park boundaries would encompass a variety of ownerships – the vast majority of 

which would be private. NPS ownership would be limited 

under any management option. Overall, any acquisition 

strategy would emphasize resource protection and public 

access. A partnership approach would be required to ensure 

that key resources within the park are protected.

Access

All of the historic areas are currently accessible to the 

public for exterior viewing and walking tours. Old Slater 

Mill offers interior tours and exhibits of the mill buildings 

from May through October, six days a week; an admission 

fee is charged. The villages of Slatersville, Hopedale, and 

Whitinsville have all collaborated with the Corridor to publish guides for walking tours, highlighting and interpreting key resources within the community. Commission staff 

also offer guided walking tours of all of the historic sites 

under consideration. No structures are currently open to the 

public for interpretation or visitor services in Slatersville 

or Whitinsville. At Ashton, the nearby Blackstone River 

State Park does offer visitor services at the Captain Wilbur 

Kelly House, though outside the offi cial district boundary. 

At Hopedale, the Little Red Shop has been rehabilitated 

and offers exhibits interpreting Hopedale’s industrial past. 

The Little Red Shop museum is currently open Sunday afternoons and by appointment.

As previously noted, a number of visitor services facilities located throughout the valley offer maps, brochures, 

exhibits, and other information to orient the visitor to the 

Valley’s resources: Pawtucket, Lincoln, and Woonsocket, 

Rhode Island; and Uxbridge, Massachusetts, with a fi fth 

location proposed in Worcester. These facilities serve as 

visitor gateways, providing an overview as well as in-depth 

information on different facets of the Blackstone River Valley’s history. Both the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center and 

the Museum of Work and Culture are open year-round, six 

days per week. The Captain Wilbur Kelly House Museum, 

located at Blackstone River State Park in Lincoln, Rhode 
66 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

Island, is open from April through October, seven days a 

week. Finally, the River Bend Farm Visitor Center, located 

at the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in 

Uxbridge, Massachusetts, is open year-round, seven days 

per week.

The sites are served by a well-developed network of surface roads (often historic and scenic routes) and limitedaccess highways. Public transportation in the Blackstone 

Valley is limited. The City of Pawtucket is interested in 

establishing rapid bus service as well as pursuing the establishment of a commuter rail station on the border with 

Central Falls. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail offers service connecting 

Boston with Worcester and Providence respectively. Both 

Worcester and Providence are served by Amtrak and have 

regular regional public bus service. Pawtucket also benefi ts 

from a smaller volume of local bus service with connections to Providence. The villages of Ashton, Slatersville, 

Whitinsville, and Hopedale are not well served by public 

transportation, though Ashton is on a bus route located 

along Mendon Road. The region is served by two major 

international airports – T. F. Green International Airport in 

Warwick, Rhode Island and Logan International Airport in 

Boston, Massachusetts.

The Blackstone River Bikeway offers another opportunity for access to the Blackstone River and Canal, as well as 

the industrial villages that are located along it. The bikeway 

is currently under development, with nearly 12 miles completed in Rhode Island and just over 2.5 miles completed in 

Massachusetts. The bikeway will eventually link Worcester 

and Providence. Similarly, reaching some of these sites by 

water is becoming increasingly popular as public access to 

the region’s waterways grows.

Conclusion

All of the sites and districts proposed for inclusion in 

the park offer published guides for walking tours, signage, 

and some interpretive media to enable current visitors to 

understand and appreciate the resources. However, few of 

them offer in-depth opportunities for visitors to access interpretive programming or exhibits. As noted previously 

(in size and confi guration), the system of roads, directional 

signage, the recreational bikeway, and the gateway visitor 

facilities enable visitors to obtain access to these sites and 

districts from the nearby interstate highway and regional 

airports and provide physical linkages among them. Existing opportunities for visitor access to these locations as 

well as the potential for future enhancements contribute to 

the feasibility of the proposed new unit.

Threats to Resources

The Larger Landscape

According to a Heritage Landscapes Inventory focusing on 10 Massachusetts communities in the Blackstone 

River Valley that was completed by the Commission and 

MA DCR in 2006:

In the Blackstone Valley, a great deal of recent 

development has already altered the character of some 

communities, and steps are being taken to manage 

future growth in a variety of ways. Partnerships 

between public and private organizations have aided 

in the protection of heritage landscapes through 

zoning bylaws, preservation restrictions, open space 

acquisition, and planning for smart growth.

Excerpt from Heritage Landscape Inventory Regional 

Historic Context – Quinebaug-Shetucket and John 

H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage 

Corridors, by Susan W. Frechette. pp.38-39.

A survey of fi ve Rhode Island communities, cosponsored by the Commission and the Rhode Island Historical 

Preservation and Heritage Commission, was completed in 

2010.52 Based on the observations of the study team, the 

state of the rural character of the valley in Rhode Island 

was similar to conditions identifi ed in Massachusetts. The 

agricultural and rural character of the Blackstone River 

Valley’s outlying areas is gradually being eroded by suburban development. In its recent report entitled “Losing 

Ground,” the Massachusetts Audubon Society identifi ed 

the Blackstone River Valley as a “sprawl frontier” having 

one of the highest rates of development in the state. The 

interrelationships among the valley’s mill villages, urban 

centers, rural agricultural lands and open space, and the 

Blackstone River itself, contribute to a distinct “sense of 

place” that pervades the region and provides the essential 

context for its core industrial heritage resources. Protection 

of the region’s larger rural landscape is an important part 

of preserving the integrity of the Blackstone River Valley’s 

industrial heritage resources.

The Blackstone River & its Tributaries

Despite signifi cant improvements over the last 30 years, 

the Blackstone River remains subject to many stresses and 

52 The Rhode Island communities involved in the project include: Burrillville, 

Glocester, Lincoln, North Smithfi eld, and Smithfi eld.
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 67

problems that affect its ecological, recreational and aesthetic values along its entire length. These issues include 

contaminated sediments; the impacts of permitted wastewater discharges on downstream water quality; the presence of hazardous waste sites, old dumps, and landfi lls 

that cause non-point source pollution; non-point sources of 

pollution that affect habitat and water quality and threaten 

drinking water supplies; and water withdrawals.53 At present, the Blackstone River is considered suitable only for 

non-contact recreation. Many tributaries of the Blackstone 

River, including portions of the Branch and Mumford Rivers, are considered to be swimmable and fi shable.

The Blackstone River Coalition, a bi-state organization 

representing many agencies, institutions, and individuals 

with an interest in the watershed, has been waging a campaign to make the Blackstone swimmable and fi shable by 

2015. The Coalition has worked collaboratively to develop 

and implement a strategic plan to improve the ecological 

health of the watershed.

The Blackstone River also harbors many cultural features such as dams, reservoirs, and other remnants of its 

industrial past. Some of the remaining dams continue to be 

used to generate hydropower, such as the Riverdale dam in 

Northbridge and the Tupperware dam in Blackstone – both 

in Massachusetts – and Thundermist Dam in Woonsocket, 

RI. A proposal to develop a hydropower plant in Slatersville is making its way through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) process. Most of these features 

are in private ownership; some are recognized as part of 

existing National Register districts, but none are listed individually on the National Register. As part of the larger 

water management scheme that pervaded the Valley and 

powered its industry, these features need to be recognized 

and their future management considered.

The Blackstone Canal

The Blackstone Canal is listed in the National Register 

of Historic Places as two separate districts – one in Massachusetts, one in Rhode Island. Segments of the canal trench 

and towpath, along with other canal features – some remarkably intact – survive in both states. The best-preserved 

section of canal in Rhode Island is located in the town of 

Lincoln, within the Blackstone River State Park. In Massachusetts, the best-preserved canal segments and features 

are found in Uxbridge and Northbridge within Blackstone 

River and Canal Heritage State Park. Studies and preser53 RI Rivers Council/ State Planning Council. RI Rivers Policy and Classifi cation 

Plan (State Guide Plan 162). Originally adopted in Jan. 1998; amended May 2004.

vation plans for both the Rhode Island and Massachusetts 

portions of the canal have been completed, with recommendations for prioritizing resources based on existing conditions and restoration potential. Much of the remnant canal 

is broken out among many different private ownerships.

Old Slater Mill

Old Slater Mill has been owned and operated by the Old 

Slater Mill Association since 1921 and was designated a 

National Historic Landmark in 1966. The state holds a 25-

year preservation covenant for the exterior of the Wilkinson Mill that ends in 2015 and a 50-year preservation covenant for Slater Mill that will end in 2060. The trustees of 

the Old Slater Mill have expressed a willingness to sign 

a permanent historic preservation easement with the National Park Service.

Though the Old Slater Mill Association has maintained 

its commitment to preserving these resources and to providing public access and programming, its fi nancial condition has fl uctuated over its nearly 90 years. Over its own 

25-year history, the Commission has provided funding 

support for preservation and the development of exhibits 

and programs. More recently the Commission has provided 

some staff support to Old Slater Mill. Maintaining fi nancial 

stability has been one of the greatest sources of concern for 

the institution.

Ashton Village, Cumberland, Rhode Island

Ashton Village was designated a historic district (overlay zoning district) in accordance with Title 45, Chapter 

24.1, of the General Laws of Rhode Island, as amended, 

which declares the preservation of structures of historic or 

architectural value to be a public purpose and authorizes 

the creation of the Historic District Commission (HDC) for 

that purpose in the Town of Cumberland. Ashton is one of 

seven historic preservation overlay districts created in the 

town. In a local historic district zone, all exterior alterations and new construction must be reviewed and approved 

by the historic district commission, which ensures that the 

historic character of the buildings is maintained when necessary changes are made. In addition, the town of Cumberland has adopted Development Plan Review Standards.

The Ashton Mill completed a rehabilitation project with 

federal tax credits in 2005 with a 5-year NPS review period.
68 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

Slatersville, North Smithfi eld, Rhode Island

North Smithfi eld’s Town Council approved the designation of a Local Historic District within the Slatersville 

Historic District in November 2010. The Local Historic 

District is concentrated in the center of the Village and 

does not include the Congregational Church adjoining the 

Village Green. The town’s by laws allow the Local Historic 

District designation to expire in two years if it is deemed 

necessary. They are currently in the early stages of their 

effort. The Slatersville Mill Complex was rehabilitated for 

use as housing and received a federal historic preservation 

tax credit in 2007. In consultation with the RI State Historic Preservation Offi ce, the National Park Service must 

review and concur with any proposed changes to the structure until 2012.

The Slatersville National Register District crosses several land use zones, the largest of which is Manufacturing, 

followed by Suburban Residential, Urban Residential, Rural Estate/ Agriculture, and Business Neighborhood.

Whitinsville, Northbridge, Massachusetts

The Town of Northbridge has designated a core area of 

the National Register District (approximately 20 percent) 

as a Heritage District. It is an overlay zoning district addressing land use and is administered by the town’s zoning 

board, though it does not address changes to the appearance 

and historic character of the structures in the zoning district. The Heritage District is concentrated on the downtown 

intersections of Hill, Church, Linwood, and Main Streets 

and encompasses community resources like the Town Hall, 

community center, library, schools, the memorial square, 

churches, the older mill buildings, and some private residential properties, it excludes the Whitin Machine Works 

complex. According to Northbridge’s zoning bylaws, the 

purpose of the Heritage District is to preserve and reinforce 

the visual and historical character of the Memorial Square 

Area of the Town of Northbridge by regulating the type and 

intensity of uses that may be proposed within it. Specifi -

cally, the bylaws note that the intent is to provide for uses 

that are similar to those existing at the time of enactment of 

the section in 1980.

The Massachusetts Historical Commission holds preservation restrictions in perpetuity on several properties located within the heritage district, including: Northbridge 

Town Hall, Trinity Episcopal Church, Whitin Community 

Gym, Whitinsville Mill and Forge (Alternatives, Inc.), and 

the Whitinsville Old Cotton Mill.54

Other land uses permitted within the National Register 

District include four different residential zones allowing 

for different densities of development and combinations 

of use, a substantial industrial use area encompassing the 

area around the Whitin Machine Works, and two business 

zones. The Castle Hill Farm area is zoned R-1 which permits the development of detached, single-family homes and 

a wide variety of other uses. The town has also expressed 

an interest in preserving and protecting the property.

Hopedale, Massachusetts

Hopedale contains no designated local historic districts. 

A signifi cant portion of the area within the historic district 

is town-owned and is presumed to be protected from development. Another area within the National Register district 

is zoned as Historic Multi Family. The Historic Multi Family zone encompasses a single block bounded by Hopedale, 

Freedom, Dutcher, and Chapel Streets and is occupied by 

a single multifamily structure, parking area, and small area 

of town-owned open space. Other land use zones within the 

historic district include town lands, two types of residential 

use, industrial, and general business.

The Massachusetts Historical Commission holds a permanent preservation restriction on the Bancroft Memorial 

Library.

Conclusion

The analysis of threats to resources throughout the 

Blackstone River Valley and within the sites and districts 

that would compose the proposed park reveals much progress in terms of understanding and protecting resource values, but also indicates that there is still a continuing need. 

The National Park Service and the Commission contributed much both directly and indirectly to previous efforts. 

The remaining threats to the Valley’s “sense of place” and 

to the integrity of the sites and districts that would compose 

the proposed park unit reinforce the need for a National 

Park Service presence.

Public Support

Members of the study team have engaged in preliminary 

consultations with the members of the Commission, board 

members at Old Slater Mill, local municipal offi cials in the 

54 Source: Massachusetts Historical Commission, 2008 State Register as reported by Michael Steinitz.
CHAPTER THREE : FINDINGS | 69

affected communities, the academic community, and Native American tribes. In general, there is considerable and 

continuing support for the Corridor and rising concern that 

the Commission will soon expire. There is an expressed 

appreciation for the federal presence that the Corridor 

has brought to the Blackstone River Valley. Public meetings conducted during the study process and described in 

Chapter Six: Coordination and Consultation indicate broad 

public support for potential designation of a new unit of the 

National Park System.

Feasibility Conclusion

Distances among historic sites and districts and visitor 

services resources are bridged by a well-developed road 

system that enables quick and easy access to many areas 

via limited-access highways. Secondary roads offer a less 

direct but often more scenic and historic option for traveling between sites. Suggested auto and bicycle routes, signage, and other visitor service amenities could make navigating the region easy and informative for visitors.

Creating smaller, more tightly drawn local historic districts that encompass the most important character-defi ning 

features in these often large, historic districts could facilitate both management and protection. The wide-ranging 

scope of these resources can support many interesting and 

diverse interpretive opportunities.

Relative to feasibility, landownership patterns and resource protection requirements are closely related. To ensure that key resources across the Blackstone River Valley 

receive adequate protection, some measure of NPS full-fee 

or less-than-fee ownership may be necessary to protect the 

most signifi cant or fragile of resources. However, much of 

the responsibility for the long-term care and protection of 

these resources would continue to fall to local municipalities and their residents. NPS support for protection activities would increase their likelihood of success.

Public support for a federal presence in the Blackstone 

River Valley is fi rm, and specifi c support for the formal 

designation of an NPS unit in the Blackstone River Valley 

has been verifi ed via public comments received in response 

to the Preliminary Alternatives newsletter.

Based on its analysis of the factors addressing feasibility, as summarized above, the study team concludes that the 

resources meet the feasibility criteria for inclusion in the 

National Park System.

Need for NPS Management

The need for NPS management is the fi nal criterion for 

the potential establishment of a unit of the National Park 

System. The criterion requires a fi nding that NPS management would be superior to potential alternative management arrangements by other entities.

In the 1984 Assessment of the Blackstone River Valley, NPS found public support for a limited federal role in 

the Corridor that emphasized federal recognition, coordination of interstate efforts, mediating use confl icts in the 

river corridor, and studying and interpreting the Corridor’s 

historical resources. This has been the role and function of 

the Commission, a federal body staffed by NPS, for nearly 

25 years.

While the Corridor would continue to exist under nonfederal management when the Commission expires in 

October 2011, the region will keenly feel the loss of the 

federal interpretive presence and technical support for resource protection and visitor services. No other organization within the Valley provides the same level of expertise 

in these areas as that offered by the National Park Service. 

Further, NPS has developed knowledgeable staff members 

who have served the region and its resources with a consistently high level of quality and professional depth that 

would be diffi cult for other organizations to replicate. NPS 

acquisition may be an essential strategy for ensuring protection of and public access to nationally signifi cant properties within the Valley.

The Corridor and its Commission have created a new 

sense of cohesion among the two states and numerous municipalities. Although the continued presence of the Corridor will perpetuate some of this feeling, no substitute for 

the NPS presence is anticipated that will intensify (or even 

maintain) the understanding of the Blackstone River Valley 

as a unifi ed and distinctive historical entity, as described 

in the Historical Overview and Statement of Signifi cance.

Generally, a National Park Service presence in the 

Blackstone River Valley and more specifi cally, NPS resource protection and interpretive support of the core sites 

and districts considered in this analysis would be superior 

to conceivable management arrangements undertaken by 

other entities.

The study team fi nds that under the right conditions in 

terms of NPS authorities, fi nancial resources, and staffi ng, 

and with broad-based, public support for an NPS presence 

and commitment to resource protection, the resources un70 | BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY

der consideration would be best managed with the involvement of NPS.

Summary of Findings: 

Criteria for New Parklands

Based on extensive analysis and with the concurrence 

of the National Park Service’s History Program Offi ce in 

Washington, the study team concluded that the Blackstone 

River Valley’s industrial heritage resources including the 

Blackstone River, the Blackstone Canal, Old Slater Mill 

National Historic Landmark District, and the villages of 

Slatersville, Ashton, Whitinsville, and Hopedale met the 

criteria for national signifi cance. This is based on their signifi cant contribution to and outstanding representation of 

broad national patterns in U.S. economic and industrial history and their potential to provide for an understanding and 

appreciation of those patterns.

The suitability analysis considered comparable resources representing various models of industrialization 

throughout the United States. While some of these resources were similar in some ways, they differed in others. 

These other places were more likely to complement, rather 

than compete with, the Blackstone River Valley in terms 

of possessing resources that convey the complex story of 

the nation’s industrial development. Based on this analysis 

the study concludes that the resources of the Blackstone 

River Valley depict a distinctive and important aspect of 

American history that is not adequately represented elsewhere and is therefore suitable for inclusion in the National 

Park System.

The feasibility analysis indicated that the size and confi guration of the non-contiguous sites and districts that 

would compose the proposed park would not be a prohibiting factor for management and is mitigated by existing 

roads and visitor infrastructure (e.g., visitor facilities, directional signage, and interpretive media). The area enjoys 

good highway access and is served by two international 

airports as well as intercity train and bus service. Visitor 

access has been facilitated by existing directional signage 

systems, published tour guides, and maps. Much of the primary resource base continues to be under private ownership 

and that is unlikely to change. Strategic NPS acquisition of 

key properties (in full or partial fee) for preservation or 

public access purposes would be one facet of the proposed 

park’s resource management strategy. Partnerships with 

local communities and property owners to encourage resource protection would also be critical.

Finally, with regards to the need for NPS management 

the study concludes that given the appropriate authorities, 

fi nancial and human resources, the resources under consideration would be best managed with the long-term involvement of the National Park Service.

In conclusion, the study team fi nds that, based on the 

factors cited above and the extensive analyses conducted 

during the course of this special resource study, the resources associated with the Blackstone River Valley are 

nationally signifi cant and both suitable and feasible for inclusion in the National Park System. It further concludes 

that there is a demonstrated need for NPS management of 

these resources in partnership with others described in this 

report.