Woonsocket Falls - Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 41° 59.966 W 071° 31.052
19T E 291494 N 4652779
Historical marker about the role the water falls in Woonsocket played in its development.
Waymark Code: WM66Q2
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2009
Views: 13
Text of marker:
Woonsocket Falls
Woonsocket, RI
The Power of Falling Water
From the mist of Woonsocket Falls comes the roar of falling water--the sound of tremendous energy in motion. As the largest drop on the Blacksone River, Woonsocket Falls was -- and still is today -- a viable, natural source of power that can turn gears, run machinery, and generate electricity.
Though the falls posed an obstacle to travel on the river, settlers soon saw the potential in the falling water. They began harnessing its power as early as the late 1600s, when Richard Arnold, Sr. built a sawmill below the falls. Grist mills, forges, and other small enterprises followed. By 1842 -- at the height of the American Industrial Revolution -- dozens of mills tapped the power of the rushing waters to make textiles and other goods.
Today, the Woonsocket Thundermist Hydroelectric Plant produces more than 7 million kilowatt/hours of electricity per year, enough to power the city's water and sewage treatment plants. An underground conduit channesl water to the small brick structure you see at the corner of the bridge. A turbine converts water power into electricity for residential and commercial consumption. Centuries after settlers first tapped the power of Woonsocket Falls, the people of Woonsocket still benefit from the natural drop in the river.