Blackstone Valley Byway

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Worcester

   Worcester is the city people drive around on the way to somewhere else, which is a pity, because it has more going on than its reputation suggests. It is the second-largest city in New England, a hilly place of triple-decker houses, brick factories and church towers, and the old industrial heart of central Massachusetts. Its nickname is the Heart of the Commonwealth, and the pronunciation, Wuss-ter, trips up every newcomer.

   Read the complete Worcester write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Worcester is where the day begins. Next is Northbridge.

2. 2. Northbridge

   Northbridge is an old mill town on the Blackstone River, and the Blackstone is a bigger part of American history than its modest size suggests. The river drops about a hundred metres on its way from Worcester to Providence, and in the early nineteenth century that fall of water powered a string of textile mills that helped start the American Industrial Revolution. The canal built along it in 1828 carried goods and cotton between Worcester and the sea, and the valley is now a national historical park, strung with mill villages, locks, towpaths and old brick factories.

   Read the complete Northbridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Northbridge comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Uxbridge.

3. 3. Uxbridge

   Uxbridge is a Massachusetts mill town that made its place in the history of American industry. It sits in the Blackstone Valley, on the upper reaches of the Blackstone River, in the south-central part of the state close to the Rhode Island border. The river fell steeply enough to drive water wheels, and in the early nineteenth century that was all it took: textile mills went up along its banks, a canal was dug to carry goods to Providence, and the valley became one of the first industrial landscapes in the country. Today the whole area is protected as the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, which tells the story of those early years with surviving mill buildings, locks and villages.

   Read the complete Uxbridge write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 32 km into the recorded legs you reach Uxbridge. Next is Woonsocket.

4. 4. Woonsocket

   Woonsocket is the northern end of the Blackstone Valley in Rhode Island, right up against the Massachusetts line, and it has a character that sets it apart from every other New England mill town. In the late nineteenth century thousands of French-speaking families from Quebec came south to work in its textile mills, and by the early twentieth century Woonsocket was the most French city in the United States, with French-language newspapers, Catholic parishes, mutual aid societies and credit unions. The accent and surnames are still strong, and the city was nicknamed Little Quebec.

   Read the complete Woonsocket write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Woonsocket closes the day.