Blackstone River & Canal

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About Blackstone River & Canal

Welcome to the Blackstone River & Canal Group

I take my fair share of pictures on and around the Blackstone River, mostly in Northern Rhode Island and in Southern Massachusetts.

Please share your photos of the Blackstone River, canal and tributaries from all along its 48 mile length.

Please add to the description where the picture was taken.
Photos of wildlife along the river are welcome as well as nicely framed shots of fly fisherman, kayakers, canoeist, etc.
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Photos may be removed from the group at the admin's discretion if they are:

- Out of focus or blurry
- Too dark
- Poorly framed or cropped
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Please try to take the time to leave a comment or two on other members photos. Everyone likes getting comments, so let's make someone's day and leave a comment and thank them for sharing their photo with the group.



Here is some Blackstone River History from Wikipedia.org:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone_River

The Blackstone River begins in central Massachusetts at the confluence of Middle River and Mill Brook in Worcester and travels through south-central Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island until plunging over Pawtucket Falls into the Seekonk River (an extension of Narragansett Bay) in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It is approximately 48 miles (77 km) in length, and drains approximately 540 square miles (1,400 km²) of land area in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The river is named after William Blaxton who arrived in Rhode Island in 1635 and built his home on the river, in what would become Cumberland.

The industrial revolution in the United States started in 1790 when Samuel Slater built Slater Mill at Pawtucket Falls. This was the first textile mill in the United States and was powered by the waters of the Blackstone River. So many mills followed that the Blackstone became known as "America's hardest working river", but industrialization also lead to the river being identified by the end of the 20th century as the primary source of Narragansett Bay pollution.[1]

In August 1955, severe flooding on the Blackstone caused extensive damage to Woonsocket, Rhode Island; where the river is usually 70 feet (21 m) wide it swelled to over 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. Much of this flooding was caused by excessive rain that occurred as a slow moving tropical cyclone moved over the area.

The river, together with the Woonasquatucket River, was designated an American Heritage River in 1998.

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