Cultural Landscape Inventory: Slater Mill Historic Site Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
Killion J, Kulick M, Fielding C. 2021. Cultural Landscape Inventory: Slater Mill Historic Site Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 976197. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Located on the banks of the lower Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Slater Mill Historic Site is a component of the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, a park unit established in December 2014. The park preserves, protects, and interprets the nationally significant resources that exemplified the industrial heritage of the Blackstone River Valley. The 4.23-acre property includes two historic mills and a cottage, a partially reconstructed raceway and tailrace, old stone and concrete river walls, remnant foundations, and a footbridge. These features are set amongst tree-shaded lawns and paved walkways that provide passive recreational space and offer views of the fast-flowing Blackstone River and roaring Pawtucket Falls. Slater Mill Historic Site is a designated National Historic Landmark, and recognized as the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. The core of the site preserves three historic buildings: Samuel Slater’s 1793 mill, Oziel and David Wilkinson’s 1810-1811 mill, and Sylvanus Brown’s 1758 cottage (moved to the site in the 1972). The Old Slater Mill was modeled after English cotton spinning mills and is the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in North America. The Wilkinson Mill played a critical role in the history of textile technology, in steam power generation, and in the development of the machine tool industry. The Brown House is where Brown’s pattern-making and carpentry skills helped him produce mechanized textile machinery with Samuel Slater between 1789 and 1791. The Old Slater Mill Association (OSMA) acquired the Old Slater Mill property in 1923 with the intent of transforming the mill into a museum to commemorate Samuel Slater’s role in opening the country’s first water-powered textile mill. Although funding shortages delayed the museum’s opening until 1955, the OSMA restored the mill and two other buildings, and with the City of Pawtucket, created public open space on the adjacent lots for passive recreation and special events. The OSMA owned the site until March 2021, when the property was acquired by the National Park Service.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Killion, Jeffrey T; Kulick, Maryrose; Fielding, Clelie
- Date of Issue
- 2021-07-21
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- BLRV
- Keywords
- Bicycle Trail, Business, Church School, Courthouse, Creating Social Institutions and Movements, Developing the American Economy, Expanding Science and Technology, Historic Preservation Movement, Historic Site, Industrial Innovations, Industrial Production Processes (Including Agriculture), Industry, Interpretive Landscape, Invention., Lounge), Machinery and Instruments, Manufacturing Facility (Mill), Manufacturing Organizations, Meeting Hall (Fraternal), Monument (Marker, Multifamily (4+ Units), Museum (Curatorial) Storage, Museum (Exhibition Hall), Old Slater Mill, Plaque), Restaurant (Bar, Single Family House, Slater Mill National Historic Landmark District, Social and Humanitarian Movements, Specialty Store (Shop), Technology (Engineering and Invention), Textile and Apparel Industries, The Industrial Revolution, Transforming the Environment, Urban Park