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Tour of the
Week - Blackstone River Valley
Rhode Island, New
England, USA
May 4, 2007
Three
Centuries of Stately Homes |
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Sample Packaged Tour Itinerary |
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Three
Centuries of Stately Homes
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The Blackstone River is the centerpiece
of the 400,000 acre Blackstone River Valley. One of 14
American Heritage Rivers, the powerful Blackstone flows
between Worcester, Massachusetts and Providence Rhode
Island. As a special kind of place called a national
heritage corridor, it tells the story of the river's
role in starting New England's textile industry and the
American Industrial Revolution.
Known primarily for our textile mills
and mill villages, the Blackstone Valley is also home to
an impressive array of mansions built by the ship-owners
and merchants who built textile mills on the river.
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9:30 am
Lippitt House Museum |
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The Governor Henry Lippitt mansion was
termed by the New York Times to be "one of the most
complete, authentic and intact Victorian houses in the
country". This Renaissance Revival mansion was built during
the Civil War and completed in 1865. While other cities
declined economically during the war, Providence boomed. Not
only is the house worthy of accolades for its impressive
architecture and period decoration, it is also a living
history museum to a Rhode Island family whose members over
the years have included State governors, US Senators and a
myriad of distinguished public servants and businessmen. |
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11:00 am
John Brown Museum |
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One of America's grandest mansions when
completed in 1788, the home first to John Bown, an
entrepreneur, privateer and China trade merchant, he ordered
the best furniture early colonial cabinetmakers produced.
This included a desk considered to be the finest piece of
colonial furniture in existence - and imported the finest
decorative objects from abroad. |
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12:30 pm
Modern Diner |
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Enjoy your lunch at the Modern Diner.
Diners are Blackstone Valley invention - developed as a
response to mill workers' need for sustenance between and
after their factory shifts.The diner is a custom-built
Sterling Streamliner, a type of factory-made diner produced
in the late 1930s and 1940s.
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1:30 pm
Hearthside Mansion - The House that Love Built |
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Hearthside is a unique stone mansion built
in 1810 on pastoral Great Road, the first road through the
wilderness between Providence and Mendon, Massachusetts, and
one of the oldest thoroughfares in America. Hearthside has
been noted as one of the finest examples of early 19th
century Federal-style houses in the state of Rhode Island.
The romantic history behind the building of this beautiful
home by Stephen Hopkins Smith has caused it to be known as
"The House That Love Built". |
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3:00 pm
Slaterville |
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Our last stop is Slatersville, the hometown
of one of Rhode Island's earliest mill-owners, John Slater.
Its appearance is deceptive; it looks like a classic New
England Village, complete with a common lined with lovely
old homes. In actuality, Slatersville is America's first
planned industrial village. It is a mill village built
between 1803 and 1807 by the Slater brothers. Other textile
manufacturers adopted their concept of providing housing for
their mill workers and the industrialization of the Valley
began. |
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This is a guided tour.
Tour Operator
Price: $32
The price is based on a minimum of
37 people.
To schedule a tour contact:
Lilly Kayamba
Blackstone Valley Tourism Council
Blackstone Valley Visitor Center
175 Main Street
Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860
BVTCLilly@aol.com
800-454-2882
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