The Blackstone Park Conservation District is a public, 45-acre

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

conservation area on the East Side of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. It is run by the non-profit Blackstone Parks Conservancy in partnership with the Providence Parks Department. The park is situated on the west bank of the tidal

Seekonk River The Seekonk River is a tidal extension of the Providence River in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 km (5 mi). The name may be derived from an Algonquian word for skunk, or for black goose. The river is home to t ...

, within the watershed and

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

of the

Blackstone River The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi (80 km) and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi (1,400 km2). Its long history of industrial use has left ...

Valley. Unlike many city parks, it is actively managed for the purpose of providing habitats for wildlife and supporting a healthy ecosystem for native flora and fauna.

Ecology

Ecologically, the Blackstone Conservation District is a Northeastern coastal forest. The woodland is dominated by broadleaf trees, predominantly

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

, American beech, and

black birch Black birch is a common name for several trees, and may refer to: * Asian black birch, the English name for '' Betula dahurica'', tree species native to eastern Asia * Black birch, a common name for ''Betula lenta'', tree species native to eastern ...

. The woods and shoreline are home to many species of shorebirds,

gulls Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari (bird), Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and Skimmer (bird), skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders ...

, owls and

songbirds A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5 ...

, as well as various small mammals. The ponds are home to several species of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

. Along the Seekonk River, there are horse mussels,

horseshoe crabs Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arac ...

, and occasional

harbor seals The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...

. Frequently sighted birds include

sandpipers Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...

buffleheads The bufflehead (''Bucephala albeola'') is a small sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Anas albeola''. The genus na ...

tree swallows The tree swallow (''Tachycineta bicolor'') is a Bird migration, migratory bird of the family Hirundinidae. Found in the Americas, the tree swallow was first described in 1807 by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot as ''Hirundo bicolor''. It has ...

, mute swans,

ring-billed gulls The ring-billed gull (''Larus delawarensis'') is a medium-sized gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''delawarensis'' refers to the Delaware River. Description ...

and American black ducks.

History of the site

The park is situated in an area where people of the

Narragansett Indian The Narragansett people are an Algonquian American Indian tribe from Rhode Island. Today, Narragansett people are enrolled in the federally recognized Narragansett Indian Tribe. They gained federal recognition in 1983. The tribe was nearly lan ...

tribe lived for centuries before the arrival of European settlers in the 17th century. In the 1700s, the site was a part of the 300-acre farm owned by a wealthy merchant and abolitionist

Moses Brown Moses Brown (September 23, 1738 – September 6, 1836) was an American abolitionist and industrialist from New England, who funded the design and construction of some of the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industr ...

(for whom an adjacent

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

is named). The area was subdivided by Brown's descendant Moses Jenkins in 1861 as the Blackstone Park Plat. In 1866, Jenkins subdivided his land, donating five acres of land for a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

. Several decades later, in 1893, the city purchased eighteen acres from landowners for park development, with additional land acquired over subsequent decades.

Management and funding

The Blackstone Parks Conservancy and the City of Providence Parks Department jointly manage both the Blackstone Park Conservation District and the nearby

Blackstone Boulevard Park Blackstone Boulevard Park is a public park and footpath that runs down the center of Blackstone Boulevard on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island. It is located in the Blackstone neighborhood, an affluent and primarily residential part o ...

. In addition to public funding and private donations, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) provided partial funding to the Conservancy in 2020 for coastal upland edge restoration, to mitigate trail erosion. File:Blackstone park.jpg, Walking trail in Blackstone Park Conservation District. File:Blackstone Park, Providence Rhode Island.jpg, Blackstone Park entrance at Parkside Rd. File:Blackstone Park, Providence Rhode Island-tall sign.jpg, Blackstone Park entrance at Angell St. and Albin Moser Boathouse. File:Blackstone Park, Providence Rhode Island-bench.jpg, View from Blackstone Park toward the Henderson Bridge and

. File:Waterway in Blackstone Park, Providence, September 2018.jpg, Waterway in Blackstone Park.

References

{{reflist, {{cite web , title = Neighborhood Parks , publisher = City of Providence Parks Department, url = https://www.providenceri.gov/providence-parks/neighborhood-parks/ , accessdate = October 21, 2020 {{cite web , title= Blackstone Parks Conservancy , url=https://www.blackstoneparksconservancy.org/ , publisher= Blackstone Parks Conservancy , accessdate=October 17, 2020 {{cite web , title = Northeastern coastal forest , publisher = World Wildlife Foundation , url = https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na0411 , accessdate = October 21, 2020 {{cite web , title = Blackstone Park, Providence , page = eBird , url = https://ebird.org/hotspot/L804728 , access-date = 2022-07-23 {{cite web , title = Historical Perspective of the Narragansett Indian Tribe , publisher = Narragansett Indian Tribe , url = http://narragansettindiannation.org/history/early/ , accessdate = October 17, 2020 {{cite book , title= Rhode Island Educational Circulars: Historical series, Volumes 1-6 , publisher = Office of Commissioner of Education, State of Rhode Island , year = 1908 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=odJYAAAAMAAJ , accessdate = October 17, 2020 {{cite web , title = Blackstone Park Historic District - National Register of Historic Places Registration Form , publisher = National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior , url = http://www.preservation.ri.gov/pdfs_zips_downloads/national_pdfs/providence/prov_blackstone-park-hd.pdf, accessdate = October 18, 2020 {{cite web , title = CRMC Funds Seven R.I. Habitat Restoration Projects , date = April 8, 2020 , publisher = ecoRI News , url = https://www.ecori.org/natural-resources/2020/4/7/crmc-funds-seven-habitat-restoration-projects, accessdate = October 18, 2020

External links

Blackstone Parks ConservancyProvidence Parks Department
Urban public parks Conservation areas of the United States Geography of Providence, Rhode Island Urban green space

Ecology

History of the site

Management and funding

See also

References

External links