Woonsocket,. Ri
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WOONSOCKET,. RI , VAIN STREET. V/OONSOCICET RHODE ISLAND Greetings from Woonsocket! BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEV National Heritage Corridor WOONSOCKET and Jenksville incorporated as the City of Woonsocket. The Blackstone River makes several lazy bends as it On this walk you will discover remaining hints of their curves through downtown Woonsocket on its way separateness. As you walk along the city's streets, you from Worcester to Narragansett Bay. Scholars debate will find that you are criss-crossing the Blackstone the meaning and translation of the name Woonsocket, River - once on your way from Market Square to old probably from "nisowosaket," but the most popular Bernon Village and again on your way back to Main choice is thunder mist, a good description of the roar Street in old Woonsocket Falls. from the river's largest falls. Don't be surprised on this loop to hear passers-by A plantation grant in the late 1600s from the and shopkeepers speaking as much French as English. Providence Committee to members of the Arnold The nationwide economic boom after the Civil War family established the Rhode Island colony's posses- Black5ton RIver and Nourse MIII!I, Woonsocket. R, I. sion of this huge northerly tract ofland. However, boundary disputes with Massachusetts, which escalated to the kidnapping of each other's settlers and the use of armed forces by 1683, remained heated until the 1730's. Over the next century, water-powered grist- mills, a sawmill, a fulling mill, and an iron forge set up spurred great growth for Woonsocket manufacturers shop around Woonsocket Falls. who hired thousands of job-seeking immigrants from Woonsocket Falls was "on the map" by the early Quebec, Canada. Over time, the so-called melting pot 1800's as a crossroads along the Boston-Hartford tempered some of the strong ethnic flavor of Highway, and commercial activity increased when the Woonsocket. The French-language daily newspaper, Worcester- Providence Blackstone Canal opened in La Tribune was no longer published after 1942. The 1829. By 1850 the area was full of factories, mostly daily French-language broadcasts of wwon (now textile mills, and served by the new Providence & WOON) radio ceased in the 1960's. Still, the second, Worcester Railroad. Tapping into the hydro-energy third, and fourth generation descendants of these required a complicated maze of sluiceways and power Northern American immigrants, continue to give trenches to be fitted in between buildings and along Woonsocket a genuine "Canadien" taste, and enjoy the streets, walkways, railroad tracks, and bridges. listening in on weekends to music and commentary in In 1888, the neighboring factory communities of "Woonsocket-dialect" Qjiebecois- French aired by Woonsocket Falls, Globe, Social, Bernon, Hamlet, local stations. Old picture post cards are treasured by stamp collectors, post card collectors, signature hounds, genealogists, writers, researchers, and especially by the home- town folks looking for a view of something as "it used to be. " Nearly every second- hand store and antique shop in Woonsocket has a shoebox full of old post cards priced at anywhere from 25 cents to a few dollars. "We are on our visit }o,I"on~f falls,, W04llsaci-e-I. 1(. I. for a few weeks in Woonsocket. Hoping you are all well. Your friends." (Postmarked June 30,1921.) WOONSOCKET As you circle around Market Square you will pass the Falls Yarn Mill building, built sometime before 1846. level, submerging this island and most Originally the Woonsocket Rubber of the park. A large area of water is Company, processors of rubber for Welcome to old Bernon Village! Once. shown here on some 19th-century boots and clothes wringers, it was you have reached Front Street, you are Begin your tour at Market Square. maps-but no island. Since colonial days later the Falls Yarn Mill, producers of no longer in old Woonsocket Falls Crossing to the falls at the intersection the building of dams, mill ponds, wool and merino yarns until 1984. Village. Turning left, you are on the main of South Main Street, you will find trenches, sluiceways and later canals, wayside information. Mechanical flood locks, and towpaths, required a compli- control barriers now in place diminish the natural beauty of the cascade, however you can still get a sense of the river's raw power by standing close enough to feel the mist and spray. Beyond the falls, the turbines in the Blackstone Electric Company's Thunder Mist Plant continue to convert the A few yards along Bernon Street, enter energy of running water to electric River Island Park. The footpaths cross energy, as the 46-mile river pitches over the remnants of the "tailrace" downward about 30 feet here. from one of the many power trenches still found in downtown Woonsocket. cated legal process involving buying and "How would you like to dive from this little From the steps at the water's edge, selling water rights, land rights, mill island. Have a swim for me tomorrow. Have you should be able to see an island you finished read ng your book yet. Love." rights, and easements. "Your card received a few days ago. upriver. When the Bernon Dam was in (Postmarked July 16, 1912. Note' This idyllic scene is Harris Pond in Woonsocket, a Glad to hear from you. I saw that build- place downriver before 1900, it held Along the left-hand side of Bernon ing that was on your card when I was feeder to the Blackstone River.) back enough water to raise the river there. Write when you can. Love." Street Bridge, looking downriver, you (Postmarked May 17 1912.) can see the Court Street Bridge-which you will cross later. You also have a good view of the Pond/Narragansett street through old Bernon Village. It led Knitting Mill. This mill's machinery, to Hamlet, the next village downriver. although fully operated by electricity, At 115 Front Street is Mill #2, built in also continued to draw on water power 1833, and part of the Bernon Mill com- from the river until a 1955 flood dam- plex now listed on the National aged the Bernon Dam. Register of Historic Places. In the cen- Below are the vegetation-covered ruins ter is Mill #1, built in 1827 and later of another large power trench along the enlarged. Originally a cotton mill, it is far riverbank. The gates are still intact the oldest surviving example of slow- at the foot of the pilings, and when burning factory construction. Compared opened, rushing water diverted from the to wood mills, this structure's heavy- river powered the mills on Front Street. timber framing, double-planked floors and rubblestone walls were a vast Main Street - an unnamed com- improvement in fire-protection. Mill #4, mercial block, 1902; 106-108 Main closer to the bridge, dates from 1857. Street-Honan's Block, 1879; and 1 Mill #3 was demolished. MA ET Main Street-Hanora-Lippitt Building. Turn left on Main Street. Many proper- After 55 Main Street look for the nightly, and occasionally daytime excur- ties along this stretch of Main Street Lyman-Arnold Trench, dating back sion trains travel the scenic river valley. are significant for their architecture to the 1820s and named for Samuel Arnold and David Lyman Once across the Court Street Bridge, you and historic value in illustrating the who purchased 25 acres here in are back in the original village of themes and patterns of Woonsocket's 1814. Peer through the railing- Woonsocket Falls. history. Together, the buildings are to the left you can see where the Turnleft onto the Court Street Bridge. silent, solid proof of Woonsocket's The train station in Depot Square water flowed underneath the Fromhere, there is a birds-eve view of 19th-century success as an important replaced the wooden station which the historic Bernon Mills and the river. burned. Built in 1882, this more fireproof Allen Street, a narrow, straight lane to depot was proudly regarded as the most the left below, was the Blackstone Canal impressive on the line. No longer serving before it was completely filled in and passengers or parcels, it is now the pavedover. Old maps show that Truman Blackstone River Valley National Drive,the next street below, was a large Heritage Corridor Commission office. bodyof water called Clinton Pond. Inside are free exhibits, videos, program Before 1850 the area beneath you would schedules, and information about the have looked just like a busy seaport, full Blackstone River Valley National Park of boats and commotion all the way back Service rangers cheerfully answer visi- to Market Square. tors' questions. Looking downriver, the Providence & Slightly behind the former terminal is Worcester railroad bridge is held up by the 1855 Harris Warehouse, listed on massive stone pillars dating from 1847. the National Register of Historic Places. That bridge is a clue to why the canal The rubblestone building is gracefully .-'liar[is t-nsti 1JlJ.I1c!1Rdt(J.J.tJlifal,.JJf iJ:ilkflicilIt.;.IY.OJJ.'f:racliSt.:1f:.:t ~~~~~~~~~!I~ business collapsed within twenty years. curved, and was designed with train "You see where I put the C osses 0 Everyonewho once eyed the waters of tracks running inside so freight cars full urban center, busy with retailing, bank- the other side. Well, that IS where I m the river and canal to bring travelers, of raw wool could be unloaded, and fin- ing, publishing, government and pro- workmg. They tore the old buildmg commerce, and correspondence down and built a new one." ished woolen goods reloaded, regard- fessional services, and even saloons switched to watching the front door of (Postmarked May, 1914.) less of the weather.