S L AT E R S V I L L E ,N O R T H S M I T H F I E L D , R I

Walking Tour

until his death in 1843. The Slater family continued to

own Slatersville until 1900, when it was sold to James

R. Hooper, who used the mill to bleach and dye cloth.

In 1915, Hooper sold the village to Henry P. Kendall.

Like the Slaters before him, Kendall took a personal

interest in the village and initiated many improvement

projects. He renovated many of the homes, made sure

that the houses were maintained, lawns and shrubbery

were planted, and he forbade the removal of any tree

without his approval. Much of the traditional New

England character of Slatersville is attributable to the

efforts of Mr. Kendall.

The current residents still exhibit the sense of

pride instilled by the Slaters and Henry Kendall.

While the surrounding areas have been developed, the

village core has been preserved and Main Street looks

much as it did in the 1920’s after Kendall’s renovations.

Thus modern Slatersville is not only a mill village

entering its third century, but the end result of a

preservation project that has been lovingly carried out

on a community level for eighty years.

S L A T E R S V I L L E

At first glance Slatersville appears to be a classic New

England small town—crisp white houses stand neatly

aligned along quiet streets that merge at the town

common and the Congregational church. In reality,

Slatersville is America’s first planned industrial village

and its true heart is not the quaint common, but the

massive stone mill along the river.

In 1803, John Slater, younger brother of Samuel

Slater, came to America from England. Samuel Slater

assigned him the task of finding a site for a new textile

mill. After searching

throughout the region, he

chose Buffum’s Mills, a

small settlement along the

Branch River where a

sawmill, gristmill and

blacksmith’s shop were

already in operation. In

1805, the Slaters’ partners

William Almy and

Obadiah Brown began buying the land and water

rights, and on July 4, 1807, the new stone mill opened.

Unlike the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, this mill required

a village to house the workers. The success of

Slatersville proved that it was feasible to build mills

outside of population centers, thus opening up the

entire Blackstone Valley for industrialization.

John Slater became the resident manager of the

mill and remained the driving force behind the village

D I R E C T I O N S

From Route 146: Take theForestdale/Slatersville exit. From the south follow theSlatersville sign west for about 1 mile. At intersection with Green Street, at the common, take a left. Continuestraight onto Main Street.From the north, follow theSlatersville sign west on Rt. 146A. Turn left at intersectionwith Green Street, which mergeswith Main Street just past the town common. The library is on the left, 20 North Main Street,North Smithfield, RI.

A L O N G T H E WAY

Parking is available at the North Smithfield Public Library, which is on the left. Thetour begins just behind the parking lot.

The tour takes about an hour and covers about 1 mile. The route is not strenuous,but some might want to eliminate the walk down the hill to the Railroad Street Bridge.

Sidewalks are available for most of the tour, except for the stretch between TownHall and the church. Please take care while walking along the shoulder of the road.There is a crosswalk across Main Street in front of the library.

Facilities are available at the Library and Town Hall during business hours.

Other Sites in North Smithfield:

Forestdale: Forestdale was renowned for its scythe works that was begun in 1824 byNewton Darling. During the Civil War the scythe works produced 30,000 sabers for theUnion Army. The Red Forestdale Schoolhouse, built in 1877, is the headquarters of theNorth Smithfield Heritage Association.

Union Village: One of the most attractive Federal-era villages in the Blackstone Valleyis Union Village, situated on Route 146A. Union Village is a turnpike village establishedaround a number of taverns built to service stagecoach travelers along the Great Roadbetween Providence and Worcester. The village was named after the Smithfield UnionBank, the first bank in northern Rhode Island, which opened here in 1805.

In nearby Woonsocket visit theMuseum of Work and Culture. Learnabout the lives of the French Canadianswho left the farms of Quebec for thefactories of New England. 42 SouthMain Street, Woonsocket. For hoursand admission fees, call 401-769-9675or visit rihs.org/mowc.htm.

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B L A C K S T O N E R I V E R V A L L E YN A T I O N A L H E R I T A G E C O R R I D O R

Thanks to the North Smithfield Heritage Association, Irene Nebiker, Ray Auclairand Moe Bourget for their assistance on this tour. rev2012

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America’s first textile village.

Like his older brother, Samuel, JohnSlater gained experience by workingin textile mills in England beforecoming to America. John Slater alsotook note of the improvements madein the English mills in the fifteenyears since his brother immigrated,and helped to incorporate them intothe Slater family mills.

View of Slatersville c. 1860, looking north fromTabor Hill. The Center Mill can be seen in the rightforeground. In the background is Main Street andSchool Street, including the First Commercial Blockand the Congregational Church.

B L A C K S T O N E R I V E R V A L L E Y

National Heritage Corridor

J

John H. Chafee

B

Blackstone River

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90

95

295

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RHODE ISLAND

CONNECTICUT MASSACHUSETTS

146

146

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PROVIDENCE

Lincoln

East Providence

Pawtucket

Millbury

Grafton

Upton

Hopedale

Uxbridge

Northbridge

Mendon

Douglas

Blackstone

Woonsocket

Burrillville

Glocester

Cumberland

Millville

N. Smithfield

Smithfield

Sutton

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WORCESTER

Central Falls

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SLATERSVILLE

www.nps.gov/blac/index.htm

Congress established theBlackstone River Valley NationalHeritage Corridor Commission in1986, recognizing the nationalsignificance of the region betweenProvidence, RI and Worcester,MA–the Birthplace of theAmerican Industrial Revolution.The John H. Chafee BlackstoneRiver Valley National HeritageCorridor is an affiliated area of theNational Park Service.

This brochure was developedunder the direction of The RhodeIsland Historical Society inpartnership with the HeritageCorridor Commission.

11NOR T H S M I T H F I E L DT O W N H A L L 1 9 2 1

Built in 1921 on land donated by HenryKendall, the North Smithfield TownHall is an attractive brick neo-Georgianstyle structure. A hotel and boardinghouse stood here before the town hall.

12SLA T E R S V I L L EC O M M E R C I A L

B L O C K S

The First Commercial Block (on theright) was constructed in 1850, when ithoused the company store and theFirst National Bank. Many other busi-nesses have used this space over theyears, including barber shops and ahardware store. The stairway on thefar side of the block leads to the oldnight-deposit vault for the bank. TheSecond Commercial Block was built in1870. The upper floors of both build-ings were used for workers’ recreation- dances, social activities and latermovies. Today, both are still in use.

9EPI S C O P A LC H U R C H / G R A N G EH A L L

This building was erected in 1897 as achapel for the St. Luke EpiscopalMissionary. It was later used as asocial hall, and in 1920 became theUnion Grange Hall. It is now run by theNorth Smithfield Heritage Associationas Heritage Hall.

Turn left onto Green Street.

10OLD M E E T I N G H O U S E( 5 5 - 5 7 G R E E N S T . )

In 1808 John Slater held a lottery toraise $4,000 in order to buildSlatersville’s first church. Originally, itstood where the CongregationalChurch is today. In 1816 it was movedto School Street to serve as the villageschool. Then in 1887, it was moved toits current site, and is now a two-family home.

Continue west on Green Street toTown Hall.

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7SLA T E R S V I L L E

C O N G R E G A T I O N A LC H U R C H A N D

C O M M O N

There are very few town commons inRhode Island, but the small town greenin Slatersville, located in front of theCongregational Church, serves as animportant social center and focal pointfor the village. The green, laid out by theSlaters in 1838, also adds to the traditional New England essence ofSlatersville. Feel free to take advantageof the benches here before continuingyour tour.

Members of the Slatersville Congre-gational Church began meeting in 1816,and in 1838 the Slater family erectedthis church for the congregation. Thechurch is a lovely example of the GreekRevival style topped by a three-stagebelfry with an octagonal spire. Thechurch’s original steeple was blown off during the 1938 hurricane. Itsreplacement is much smaller.

Go past the church and turn right ontoSchool Street.

4SLAT E R S V I L L E M I L L

The original Slatersville Mill, built in1807, burned down in 1826 and wasreplaced by the current mill, known asthe Center Mill or the #1 Mill. It is afour-story building with a five-story stairtower. Behind the Center Mill is theGranite or #3 Mill, built in 1843, andalong the power trench is a brick weave-shed, built in 1894. In front of the CenterMill is a wooden office building, the lastremaining structure from the originalmill. In 2007, the Slatersville Millsbegan a new life as apartments, therestored mills once again providing afocal point for the village.

Walk back up the hill to Main Street andtake a right.

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1SLA T E R S V I L L ER E S E R V O I R

Follow the small path at the post officeend of the parking lot towards theriver. From here you can see twowaterfalls. The larger dam, known asthe Middle Dam, was built in 1849. Itis 300 feet long, and causes a twenty-foot drop. Behind the dam is the 170acre Lower Slatersville Reservoir. Thesmaller dam was built later to increasethe water power. The sluice gate herecontrolled the amount of water flowinginto the raceway that powered theSlatersville Mill.

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WORK E R H O U S I N G

Head back up the path towards MainStreet. Across the street are sixhouses. It is believed that they pre-date the mill, but all were used tohouse workers. The ring on the stonewall in front of #27 and #29 was usedto tie up horses.

Continue right on Main Street to the Library.

S L A T E R S V I L L EL I B R A R Y / W E S T E R N

M I L L S

In 1821, the Slaters built an eightbuilding mill complex, known as theWestern Mills, on the western side ofRailroad Street. Two of these buildingsremain. One, the former store house,became the North Smithfield PublicLibrary in 1966. Its rubble-stone con-struction shows us what the oldWestern Mill complex looked like.Proceed down the stairs to the left ofthe library and head east along thepower canal to the former pickerhouse that is currently not in use.

The tour takes about an hour and covers about 1 mile. The route is not strenuous, butsome might want to eliminate the walk down the hill to the Railroad Street Bridge.

G R E E N S T R E E T : D R . E L I S H A B A R T L E T T

H O U S E ( C . 1 8 5 0 ) /M I L L H O U S I N G

The attractive Greek Revival style houseat 2 Green Street was the home of Dr.Elisha Bartlett, one of the most remark-able residents of Slatersville. Born here

in 1804, he graduated in 1826 fromBrown University with a medical degree.He took up practice in Lowell,Massachusetts and was elected the firstmayor of that city in 1836. In 1842, hepublished the first thesis on typhoid inEnglish, and two years later wrote anessay on the Philosophy of Medicine.Suffering from poor health, Dr. Bartlettretired to his home town about 1850with his wife Elizabeth, who was JohnSlater’s daughter. The house is built onthe original site of John Slater’s home.

Just past the Bartlett house are six millhouses built between 1810-1820. Theyare among the first to be built by theSlater Company. In the 1920’s they were

S L A T E R S V I L L E

On the cover: Slatersville Congregational Church and Mill. Photo courtesy of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council. Postcards courtesy of RayAuclair. Photo of John Slater courtesy of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

J O H N S L A T E R H O U S E( 1 6 S C H O O L S T .

C . 1 8 1 0 )

Slater built his home in 1810. It origi-nally stood where Dr. Bartlett’s House istoday. It was moved to this site in 1843shortly after Slater’s death. Slater’shome is handsome, but modest.Additions have been made on each side,but the center section resembles thehouses built for the mill workers.

8PLAY G R O U N D /S L A T E R S V I L L EC E M E T E R Y

Turn left off School Street into the play-ground. In 1816, the original SlatersvilleMeeting House was moved to this siteto be used as the village school. Thebuilding was moved one more time toGreen Street in 1887 when theSlatersville School was built. The 1887school was used until the opening of theKendall Dean School in 1936. One of thedoorsteps for the old Slatersville Schoolis still here. Can you find it?

To the right is the Slatersville Cemetery.Many prominent Slatersville residentsare buried here. The Slater family plot isbehind the wrought iron fence in thecenter of the cemetery.

Proceed past the cemetery. To the rightis the Episcopal Church.

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Slatersville Middle Dam, c. 1900. In theforeground is part of the Western Millcomplex, along with the system ofcanals that powered it.

Main Street Slatersville during the 1890s. Tothe right are the Commercial Blocks, to theleft is part of the Western Mills, including thelibrary. Notice also the tracks in the street.They were for the horse drawn street carsthat connected Slatersville with the othervillages nearby.

The First CommercialBlock (1850) as itappeared at the turn ofthe century. At that timeit housed a bank, the postoffice, a cobbler, and ageneral store.

altered by Henry Kendall as part of hiseffort to make Slatersville look like a tra-ditional New England village.

Proceed to the Common.

Dr. Elisha Bartlett House

John Slater House.

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