Blackstone River - Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 41° 52.601 W 071° 23.001
19T E 302229 N 4638831
Marker giving a brief history of the role which the Blackstone River played in the industrial development of the United States. The marker is located near the Main Street bridge and the Pawtucket Falls.
Waymark Code: WMCQMQ
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 10/03/2011
Views: 13
Text of marker:
The Blackstone River
The Blackstone River's steady, steep drop powered the American Industrial Revolution. By 1830, every fall on the river provide power to mills. By 1870, when dozens of mill villages lined the river from Providence to Worcester, the Blackstone was called the "hardest working river in the United States."
Industrialists reshaped the economic and social landscape as well as the river itself. By 1835 the Blackstone Valley was one of the most densely developed industrial regions in the world, and Rhode Island the primary industrial state in the nation.
In 1809, there were 119 mills operation on the Blackstone, by 1870, the number increased to 439. By 1920, an estimated 1,144 miles produced cotton, woolens, leather goods, paper, tools, and machinery. Industrialization, urban growth, and overuse eventually took their toll; bleach, dyes, heavy metals, and sewage polluted the Blackstone.