People

Learn About the People Who Made the Park What It Is Today

There are many different people who contributed to the growth of the Blackstone River becoming "The Hardest Working River in America." From businessmen, to inventors, to workers and visionaries, each did their share to industrialize the area. Click on a picture below to learn about their personal story and how it relates to the growth of the American Industrial Revolution.

Important People of the Valley

Moses Brown

Learn more about investor and merchant Moses Brown.
Samuel Slater

Learn more about industrialist Samuel Slater.
African-Americans and Slater Mill

Learn more about the stories of African Americans at Old Slater Mill
Elizabeth Buffum Chace

Learn more about abolitionist and activist Elizabeth Buffum Chace
David Wilkinson

Learn more about the inventor and machinist David Wilkinson.
John Slater

Learn more about mill owner John Slater.
Wilbur Kelly

Learn more about sea captain and textile merchant Wilbur Kelly.
Elizabeth "Lillie" Chace Wyman

Learn more about social activist Lillie Chace Wyman
Brown and Ives

Learn more about merchants Brown and Ives.
Abby Kelley Foster

Learn more about abolitionist and women's rights activist Abby Kelley Foster
Adin Ballou

Learn more about preacher and utopian Adin Ballou.
Abby Hills Price

Learn more about women's rights activist and Hopedale community members Abby Hills Price
Paul and John Whitin

Learn more about industrial Whitin family.
Anne Burlak Timpson

Learn more about labor activist Anne Burlak
Ebenezer and George Draper

Learn more about this loom manufacturing family.
Rebecca Cole

Learn more about early Slater Mill employee and Pawtucket resident Rebecca Cole.