Regenerating the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution
Blackstone River Valley
National Heritage Corridor
Massachusetts and Rhode Island

In New England’s Blackstone River valley, telling the story of an historically significant region has also meant working to preserve the architectural record of the story, create new recreational opportunities, assist in the biological recovery of the river itself, and to gird against the pressures of contemporary development through cooperative regional planning.

The Blackstone is sometimes known as America’s “hardest working river,” and the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. In the 1790s there the cottage industry of weaving was trans­formed into the highly organized, large scale, capital- and energy-intensive mass production industry of textile manufacturing.

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Partnerships and Cooperation

In 1986 Congress created the Black­stone River National Heritage Corridor to “preserve and interpret” the factories, dams, mill villages, commercial towns, cities, and rural landscapes of the valley. At the time, the National Heritage Area program was in its infancy. Blackstone was just the second area designated.

The National Parks Service Commission for the area has no power to own or manage land or regulate land use. Its only strategic tools are public education and outreach, partnerships with local governments, private business or community based organizations, and a modest budget for targeted investments.

The program’s “model of partnership and cooperation,” however, appears to be prov­ing itself. Not only has the Commission created new programs to interpret the story of the valley, but they have helped save significant mills, farms and fields, led the effort to clean up the river, and helped prompt the first stirrings of regional planning.

The area encompasses 18 towns and six cities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, stretching almost 50 miles from Worcester to Pawtucket. The Commission consists of 19 members representing cities, towns, and citizen groups throughout the area. The Commission also operates one conventional National Park, The Roger Williams National Memorial.

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