Blackstone River

The Blackstone River begins in central Massachusetts and travels through Rhode Island until emptying into Naragansett Bay which connects to the Atlantic River. It has a length of approximately 48 miles. It drains approximately 540 square miles of land area in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The industrial revolution started in the United States on this river at the Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This was the first textile mill in the United States and was powered by the waters of the Blackstone River.

In August 1955, severe flooding on the Blackstone caused extensive damamge to Woonsocket, Rhode Island; where the river is usually 70 feet wide it swelled to over 1 mile wide. Much of this flooding was caused by excessive precipitation that occured as a slow moving tropical cyclone moved over the area.