Blackstone

River rising in Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA, and flowing through Massachusetts and Rhode Island into the Providence River; length 80 km/50 mi. It is named after William Blackstone, the first white settler in the area (1634). Below the Pawtucket Falls it is called the Seekonk River.

Acknowledged as the site of the US Industrial Revolution, factories along the river were the first in the US to mass produce fabric and clothing. It is an American Heritage river; the Blackstone River Valley national heritage corridor was set up in 1985, and the Blackstone River Watershed Association is dedicated to enhancing and protecting the environment of the river.

Course It flows generally southeast from its source through Worcester, Millbury, and Northbridge, then through Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and between Central Falls and Pawtucket, where the Pawtucket Falls furnish power for industry. Below Pawtucket it passes between Providence and East Providence, into the Providence River, an estuary at the head of Narragansett Bay (Providence harbour).