History & Culture - Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) About. The Blackstone River Valley of Massachusetts and Rhode Island is the Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, the place where America made the transformation from Farm to Factory. America’s first textile mill could have been built along practically any river on the eastern seaboard, but in 1790 the forces of capital, ingenuity, mechanical know-how and skilled labor came together at Pawtucket, Rhode Island where the Blackstone River provided the power that kicked off America’s drive to industrialization.