The city of

Woonsocket Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsocket lies directly south of ...

in the U.S. state 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 ...

was established as a union of six

mill village A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe Italy * ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...

s along 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 ...

. These villages are described in more detail below. *Woonsocket Falls Village was founded in the 1820s, taking up much of the area around Market Square. Entrepreneurs built many factories in the area which were powered by Blackstone River water flowing to the factories from hand-dug trenches. *Social Village was the site of the city's first

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 ...

. In 1810 Ariel, Abner and Nathan Ballou, Eber Barlett, Job and Luke Jenckes, Oliver Leland and Joseph Arnold started the Social Manufacturing Company manufacturing cotton thread in a small wooden mill on the Mill River near Social Street. Eventually, the Social Mill, Nourse Mill and American Wringer Company were built in the area. *Jenckesville was founded 1822 by Job and Luke Jenckes when they sold their interest in the Social Manufacturing Company and constructed Woonsocket's first stone mill at 96 Mill Street. *Hamlet Village was founded 1815 by General Edward Carrington, a creator 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 ...

. Carrington built a textile mill near Hamlet Avenue and Davidson Street. *Globe Village was named after the Globe Mill located within it. Thomas Arnold, Thomas Paine and Marcel Shove started the Globe Manufacturing Company in 1827 which went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

two years later, and was acquired by George Ballou in 1864 who built a new state-of-the-art textile mill in 1873. The Social Manufacturing Company bought Ballou's complex after his death, and the company operated the mill until "it was acquired by the Manville-Jenckes Company in the early 1900s. Manville-Jenckes operated the mill until 1927 when it was closed. The mill buildings were demolished in the 1940s but employee housing on Front and Lincoln Street still remains

Globe Park remains a popular recreation area. *Bernon (originally Danville) was founded in 1827 by the Russell Manufacturing Company, which built a stone mill in the area. In 1832, Sullivan Dorr (father of

Thomas Wilson Dorr Thomas Wilson Dorr (November 5, 1805December 27, 1854), was an American politician and reformer in Rhode Island, best known for leading the Dorr Rebellion. Early life, family, and education Thomas Wilson Dorr was born in Providence, Rhode Isla ...

) and Crawford Allen of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

bought the Russell Manufacturing Company and formed the Woonsocket Mill Company and renamed the village Bernon. In 1833, Dorr and Allen built the

Bernon Worsted Mill The Bernon Worsted Mill is an historic textile mill at 828 Park Avenue in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It is a brick building, two stories tall, about in length. It was built in 1919 by Charles Augustus Proulx, and was operated as a producer of sp ...

. Eventually, the site became the property of the Blackstone Valley Gas and Electric.

References and external links

Woonsocket Village info
*History of Providence County Rhode Island edited by Richard M. Bayles and published by W. W. Peston & Co., New York, 1891 *Images of America – Woonsocket written by Robert R. Bellerose and published by Arcadia Publishing, Dover, NH, 1997. *Old Woonsocket – erastus & doc written by Alton Pickering Thomas, MD and published by Mowbray Company of Providence, RI in 1973. *Statewide Historic Preservation Report for Woonsocket, Rhode Island published by the Rhode Island Historic Preservation Commission in September, 1976. *Woonsocket, Rhode Island – A Centennial History 1888 - 1988 published by the Woonsocket Centennial Committee in 1988. *Woonsocket – Highlights of History 1800-1976 written by Alton Pickering Thomas, MD and published by the Woonsocket Opera House Society in 1973. {{DEFAULTSORT:Historic Mill Villages Of Woonsocket Villages in Providence County, Rhode Island Villages in Rhode Island Woonsocket, Rhode Island