Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park is a

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

unit in the states of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The park was created for the purpose of preserving, protecting, and interpreting the industrial heritage of the Blackstone River Valley and the urban, rural, and agricultural landscape of that region. The Blackstone River Valley was the site of some of the earliest successful

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s in the United States, and these mills contributed significantly to the earliest American

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The subsequent construction of the

Blackstone Canal The Blackstone Canal was a waterway linking Worcester, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island (and Narragansett Bay) through the Blackstone Valley via a series of locks and canals during the early 19th century. History The initiative for th ...

, a few years after the successful completion of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

, helped to sustain the region's industrial strength. The park's establishment was included as part of the

National Defense Authorization Act The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense. The first NDAA was passed in 1961. The U.S. Congress o ...

for Fiscal Year 2015, which was signed into law by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

on December 19, 2014. It is closely related to the

Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor The John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor is a National Heritage Corridor dedicated to the history of the early American Industrial Revolution, including mill towns stretching across 24 cities and towns (400,000 acre ...

, which is not a unit of the National Park System, but the National Historical Park contains only a subset of the sites associated with that

National Heritage Area In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

. The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor continues to exist independently of the National Historical Park.

Background

Samuel Slater Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" (a phrase coined by Andrew Jackson) and the "Father of the American Factory System". In the ...

, an English industrialist, constructed his first

in Pawtucket, in 1793, along the Blackstone River. In addition to utilizing advanced new technology he had learned about in England, which had previously never been used in an American mill, Slater implemented an innovative management style that helped his factory find significant success. He went on to establish other factories, including the

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

s like the village of

Slatersville Slatersville is a village on the Branch River in the town of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the Slatersville Historic District, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic distr ...

North Smithfield, Rhode Island North Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, settled as a farming community in 1666 and incorporated into its present form in 1871. North Smithfield includes the historic villages of Forestdale, Primrose, Waterfo ...

. The textile industry continued to expand in the Blackstone region, spawning numerous mill towns. By the late 1820s, the industry was thriving to such an extent that more efficient transportation methods were needed, which led to the construction of the Blackstone Canal connecting Worcester, Massachusetts to the sea port at Providence, Rhode Island. The region's advances were an important component in American industrial history. This history was deemed nationally significant by Congress in 1986 when it created the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, a collaboration between the National Park Service, state and local governments, and non-profit entities to encourage preservation and tourism in the region. In looking for ways to enhance achieving those goals, Congress requested that the National Park Service conduct a special resource study to determine if certain sites in the region should be included as a formal unit of the National Park System. This study was completed in 2011, and recommended the creation of a National Historical Park, which was then established in 2014.

Park sites

Based on its establishment legislation, the park encompasses the following sites: * Blackstone River State Park, Rhode Island: This park borders both the Blackstone River and Canal and contains bike paths, walking trails, and river access. The Wilbur Kelly Museum, built by former merchant ship's captain and mill owner Wilbur Kelly, is also within the park, and the museum tells the story of the region's transportation history. * Ashton Historic District, Rhode Island: Built in 1867 by the Lonsdale Company, the Ashton Mill village is the second generation

village expanded from Wilbur Kelly's mill that was located directly across the Blackstone River in what is now the Blackstone River State Park. * Slater Mill National Historic Landmark District, Rhode Island: Originally built in 1793, the Slater Mill is one of the oldest successful

s in the United States and a contributor to the industrial development of the region. The mill complex is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

. *

Slatersville Historic District Slatersville is a village on the Branch River in the town of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the Slatersville Historic District, a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic dist ...

, Rhode Island: This district includes the Slatersville Mill and the company town established by Samuel Slater after he had achieved success at the original Slater Mill in Pawtucket. The district is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. *

Whitinsville Historic District The Whitinsville Historic District is a historic district on Church, East, Fletcher, Hill, Woodland, Lake, and Water Sts., Castle Hill Rs., and Linwood Avenue in Northbridge, Massachusetts. The district encompasses the historic 19th century m ...

, Massachusetts: This district is centered around an 1826 brick mill building. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. *

Hopedale Village Historic District The Hopedale Village Historic District encompasses much of the historic 19th century industrial village center of Hopedale, Massachusetts. Its main focus is the mill complex of the Draper Company at Hopedale and Freedom Streets; the district ...

, Massachusetts: This district includes a historic 19th century mill complex. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. * 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 ...

itself, its tributaries, and the

References

External links

Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
{{authority control 2014 establishments in Massachusetts 2014 establishments in Rhode Island National Historical Parks of the United States National Park Service areas in Massachusetts National Park Service areas in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Providence County, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Protected areas established in 2014