North Uxbridge is a village and a post office in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

(township) of

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

in Worcester County,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, United States. The postal zip code is 01538. It is classified as a community or populated place (Class Code U6) located at latitude 42.088 and longitude -71.641 and the elevation is . North Uxbridge appears on the Uxbridge U.S. Geological Survey Map. Worcester County is in the Eastern time zone (GMT -5) and observes DST. North Uxbridge is located about 36 miles WSW of Boston, and 15 miles SE of Worcester. The town meeting in 1885 set aside North Uxbridge as a "special district", since its population had exceeded 1000 people. North Uxbridge appeared to be a separate Census tract in the 1960 census with a population of 1882. In 2013, an Uxbridge DIY show, ''The Garage, with Steve Butler'', went worldwide from Steve's garage in North Uxbridge.Uxbridge DIY Show goes worldwide from Steve Butlers Garage, November 23, 3013, WCVB Boston
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Description of the village

North Uxbridge, the main northern village of the town, is also known as the "north end". The village receives municipal services from Uxbridge, for fire, police, emergency medical services, school district, public works, and other services. Worcester's Judicial District includes Uxbridge District Court. There is a North Uxbridge fire station Number 2, of the Uxbridge Fire Department. The commercial district includes a CVS pharmacy, small shops, businesses and restaurants. The Cornerstone Church (the former North Uxbridge Baptist Church) is a well known icon in the downtown area of the village. The village is no longer recognized as a separate census-designated place but is considered part of Uxbridge by the US Census bureau. Major employers include the local school district, and a commercial plastics manufacturing company in the former Rivulet mill. Residential construction has grown substantially in the last 20 years. The former North Uxbridge elementary school was also the Virginia Blanchard Pre-K Center, and is a historic building.

Historic features

The village is home to the historic Rogerson Village built by

Robert Rogerson Robert Rogerson was an early American industrialist. He was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, and died in the United States. Early career Robert Rogerson was born in Taunton to parents who immigrated to the US from the UK. After leaving Taunton, he ...

in the 1820s. This village contains the Crown and Eagle Mills, considered an architectural masterpiece of an early

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

mill village with worker housing and a water-powered cotton mill. This system of water-powered mills, driven by

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s, with

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...

s, and surrounded by mill villages, became known as " The Rhode Island System". North Uxbridge had other historic mills such as the Rivulet Mill and Richard Sayles Mills, originally built by Chandler Taft in 1814, and the Clapp Mill (1810). Blanchard School and a number of other historic sites here such as

Samuel Taft House The Samuel Taft House is a historic house at 87 Sutton Street in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. The main block of the story timber-frame house was built in 1774, and is a typical local variant of Georgian styling, with a gambrel roof, central chimney ...

, and the A. Whipple House, are listed on the Federal Register of historic places. It was also home to the Blanchard Granite quarry from which was mined large quantities of granite known throughout the Eastern United States. Blanchard's quarry supplied

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's reconstruction after its 1872 fire and sold

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

its curbstones. The North Uxbridge School, or Virginia A. Blanchard School, is on the register of Historic Places (see also below), as is the Rogerson's Village. The village is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor of Massachusetts and

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

which is part of the

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 propert ...

. The Blackstone River Valley is the oldest industrialized region in the United States. North Uxbridge borders

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia * Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...

and Northbridge. Mendon is to the East.

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

is to the west. French Canadian Linwood's cotton mill and

' masterpiece Crown and Eagle Cotton Mill were near Italian North Uxbridge's Rivulet Mill.

Recent history

In the late 20th century, the former James Whitin Estate, also known as "GrayRock", served as an exclusive substance abuse treatment facility. Famous individuals receiving treatment included Joan Kennedy (the first wife of the late US Massachusetts Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

), and actress Amanda Blake, (who played Miss Kitty, on '' Gunsmoke''). This estate burned in a major fire a few years later and is today the location of Fire Station Number 2, of the Uxbridge Fire Department.

Government

See Uxbridge for Local Government Town websit
uxbridge-ma.gov

Industrial era photos

File:Crown&EagleMillUxbridge 101.jpg, Crown & Eagle Mill, built in 1824 by

, and is considered a masterpiece of early American Industrial architecture File:Larkin Building, Uxbridge, MA.png, The Company Store, now known as the Larkin Building at Rogersons Village Historic District File:Rogersons Village Housing, Uxbridge, MA.jpg, Rhode Island System of mill worker housing at Rogersons Village Historic District File:RogersonsVillage 098.jpg, Rogersons Village Mill worker housing circa 1824 File:VirginiaBlanchardCenterUxbridgeMA 103.jpg, Historic North Uxbridge School File:North Uxbridge Baptist Church, North Uxbridge MA.jpg, The Cornerstone Church (the former North Uxbridge Baptist Church) File:North_Main_Street,_North_Uxbridge_MA.jpg, North Uxbridge Business District File:UFD Sta 2, North Uxbridge MA.jpg, Former Station 2 of Uxbridge Fire Department at North Uxbridge. A replacement station was built near the former James Whitin Estate, at Rogerson's Village, a section of North Uxbridge File:Rivulet Mill Complex, 1814, North Uxbridge, MA.JPG, Rivulet Mill, 1814, North Uxbridge File:Historic Marker, Rivulet Mill Complex, North Uxbridge, MA.jpg, 1814 historic marker of Rivulet Mill Village, North Uxbridge File:Samuel Taft House, Natonal Historic Site, Uxbridge, MA.jpg,

where newly elected President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

slept in 1789 giving Uxbridge a motto "President Washington really did sleep here". President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

visited local sites of his ancestors, including the

Samuel Taft Samuel Taft (September 23, 1735, at Upton, Worcester County, Province of Massachusetts – August 2, 1816, at Uxbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts) was a Revolutionary War soldier who later hosted his former commander in Chief, Presiden ...

house in 1910, and where his grandfather

Peter Rawson Taft Peter Rawson Taft (April 14, 1785 – January 1, 1867) was an American politician. He was President William Howard Taft's paternal grandfather. Early life and family Peter was born to Aaron Taft and Rhoda Rawson on April 14, 1785 at Uxbridge in ...

was born. File:Stone Arch Bridge on Hartford Ave, Uxbridge MA.jpg, The Taft brothers built the first bridge across 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 ...

in 1709. This stone arch bridge is a familiar scene in the North Uxbridge area off of East Hartford Ave, when walking along the Canal northward at the

Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park The Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park is a part of the state park system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). This park "recalls the role of canals in tra ...

. File:A Whipple House, Uxbridge, MA, 1810.jpg , Historic A. Whipple House, Sutton Street. Built in 1810, Federal Architecture period

Local links

List of Registered Historic Places in Uxbridge, Massachusetts Uxbridge, Massachusetts has 53 sites on the National Register of Historic Places. The locations of National Register properties and districts (at least for all showing latitude and longitude coordinates below) may be seen in an online map by cli ...

, Lists buildings relevant to this village *
Town of Uxbridge Massachusetts, official website

References

{{authority control Uxbridge, Massachusetts Villages in Worcester County, Massachusetts History of the textile industry Villages in Massachusetts