• The Slater Mill (yellow) and Wilkinson Mill (stone), along the Blacktone River in Pawtucket RI

    Blackstone River Valley

    National Heritage Corridor MA,RI

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  • BLACKSTONE RIVER SAFETY ALERT

    DUE TO HIGH AND FAST WATER CONDITIONS ON THE BLACKSTONE RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT GOING OUT IN CANOES OR KAYAKS OR OTHER SMALL VESSELS ON THE RIVER UNTIL WATER LEVELS AND FLOW HAVE RETURNED TO NORMAL. PLEASE BE SAFE!

Special Resource Study

Slater Mill and falls

The Wilkinson and Slater Mills along the banks of the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, RI.

A Fresh Look at the Blackstone River Valley
On July 18, 2011 the National Park Service released a Special Resource Study of the Blackstone River Valley. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the sites and landscape features within the Heritage Corridor that contribute to the understanding of the Blackstone River Valley as the Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States are eligible for inclusion as a unit of the National Park System.

You may download a PDF version of the Special Resource Study to see what recommendations the National Park Service has made to Congress about establishing a new National Park. You may also make public comments about the Special Resource Study through this link.

UPDATE: Due to the huge turn out at the first public meeting, the site of the second meeting has been moved. It will now be held on Tuesday, August 16 at 7 PM at Alternatives, at 50 Douglas Road, Whitinsville, MA. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to learn about and comment on the study's findings and proposed management options.

Comments may also be submitted via electronic mail or by U.S. Mail by sending them to Ellen Carlson, Project Manager, National Park Service, Northeast Region - Boston Office, 15 State Street, Boston, MA 02109; e-mail us.

The public comment period will be open until August 26, 2011.

Please visit our non-profit partner to learn more.

In February, 2008 a group of six scholars came to the Blackstone Valley to review the nationally significant resources of the region and the themes that can be best interpreted here. Each of the scholars then produced a short paper on their views of the region, and how the Blackstone Valley fits into the current scholarship on industrialization in America. To see these papers, click the links below.

Alison Kim Hoagland:
Professor of History & Preservation, Michigan Technological University

Gary Kulik:
Independent Consultant

Gabrielle Lanier:
Associate Professor of History, James Madison University

Walter Licht:
Annenberg Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania

David Meyer:
Professor of Sociology, Brown University

Jonathan Prude:
Associate Professor of History, Emory University

Did You Know?

Nipmuck Dancing

Parts of three different Native American nations lived in the Blackstone River Valley: the Nipmuc, the Wampanoag and the Narragansett. Members of each of these nations, along with other Native Americans, still live here today.