A snow and ice-covered view of the Mumford River dam at the Linwood Mill in Whitinsville, MA. |
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Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor |
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In This Edition - February 9, 2022
- Skills Workshop: Prepare for the Great Backyard Bird Count - February 16
- Great Backyard Bird Count - February 18 to 21
- Maple Sugar Day at River Bend Farm - March 5
- Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce Home & Community Expo - March 12
- Hikes With the Blackstone Heritage Corridor Trail Ambassadors
- Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park's General Management Plan
- Work/Life Series with Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
- Saturdays: February 12 and 26
- Parked at Home Virtual Series with Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park
- Thursdays: March 10, March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7, April 14
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Skills Workshop: Prepare for the Great Backyard Bird Count |
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Skills Workshop Series:
Prepare for the Great Backyard
Bird Count
Wednesday, February 16
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
On Zoom
Dr. Clarkson will cover the logistics of data collection and data submission and answer any questions you may have about the Bird Count.
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The Great Backyard Bird Count - February 18 to 21 |
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“Connect to Birds, to Nature, and with Each Other”
Get your binoculars ready! Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park invite you to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. This backyard birding event starts Friday, February 18, and ends on Monday, February 21, 2022.
There are multiple ways to share your bird sightings with us:
Want to see the results? Join us for a virtual meet-up in March. We will share the results and some of the best photographs from the Blackstone River Valley Great Backyard Bird Count!
Photo of Cedar Waxwings in Uxbridge, MA by Carol Dandrade, a Blackstone Heritage Corridor Photography Ambassador.
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Maple Sugaring in the Blackstone Valley |
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Maple Sugar Day
at River Bend Farm
Saturday, March 5
One Day Only
Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park
287 Oak Street, Uxbridge, MA
The sweet tradition returns! Learn how maple syrup is made as park staff and volunteers at River Bend Farm take visitors through a guided tour of the art and science of tapping maple trees, gathering sap, and producing maple syrup.
Free tours will be offered at 11 a.m., Noon, 1 p.m., and 2 p.m., and last about 90 minutes.
NOTE: Pre-registration is required this year.
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Come Visit Us at the Expo! |
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Come learn about programs we are lining up for this year and how you can get involved, either as a volunteer with our Volunteers-In-Parks program or a community partner.
Print the ticket pictured above for free admission or bring a non-perishable food item to benefit Peace of Bread Community Kitchen. Admission is $3 per person otherwise.
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Who is ready for some group hikes? We are actively planning guided hikes throughout the Blackstone River Valley this year. We hope you'll join us! |
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Nature and History Walk - Wunnashowatuckqut
North Smithfield, RI
Saturday, February 12
9:30 a.m.
Join the North Smithfield Heritage Association, our newest Volunteers-In-Parks program partner, to hike along abandoned dirt roads and trails in North Smithfield. Highlights include Old Harkness Rd., Old Colony Rd., the Rolling Dam, High Rocks Gorge, and stone features.
Meet at Forestdale School,190 School Street, North Smithfield, RI.
Dress in layers, bring water, wear snow and ice grippers if there's a snow cover.
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Monthly Hikes at Hunt's Mills
East Providence, RI
Sundays: March 13, April 10, May 8, June 12, July 10, August 14, September 11, October 9, November 13
All walks depart at 1:30 p.m.
No pre-registration is required for Hunt's Mills hikes.
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Hike at the Monastery
Cumberland, RI
Saturday, April 2
9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
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Save the dates for more hikes with BHC Trail Ambassador Ernie Germani!
Saturday, May 7: Ponaganset Covered Bridge, Glocester, RI
Sunday, June 26: Historic Providence, Providence, RI
Sunday, July 31: Tri-State Marker, Thompson, CT; Douglas, MA; Burrillville, RI
Saturday, August 6: Mercy Woods, Cumberland, RI
Sunday, September 25: Turner Reservoir, East Providence, RI
Saturday, October 1: Moshassuck River Preserve
Friday, November 25: Wolf Hill, Smithfield, RI
We are also planning hikes in the Massachusetts Corridor communities!
Stay connected to learn more!
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We Need Your Help!
Massachusetts Friends Needed to Reach Out to Legislators
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Governor Charlie Baker has a nearly 5 billion dollar bond bill (House 4336) that is focused on maintaining, repairing, and modernizing state buildings and assets throughout the Commonwealth.
This is a very rare opportunity to advance several important projects here in the Blackstone River Valley, including the Blackstone River Bikeway/Greenway and repairs to the historic Blackstone Canal and Towpath.
We are asking our friends in Massachusetts to contact your state legislators in our area and urge them to take the lead in pushing these items currently in committee and during any floor debate.
Click this link to access the newsletter which has a letter you can send to your legislators:
Thank you for your support!
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Spring is near! Join Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park rangers for guided walks to enjoy some beautiful places in the Blackstone Valley!
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Wednesday, March 30
National Take a Walk in the Park Day: Hopedale Parklands
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Meet at the Little Red Shop Museum
12 Hopedale Street
Hopedale, MA
Join us to celebrate National Take a Walk in the Park Day! We will be taking a leisurely stroll along the carriage trails at the Hopedale Parklands. Enjoy picturesque views of Hopedale Pond on wide and flat trails and learn some Hopedale history along the way.
Leading the walk will be Ranger Allison from Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park.
Free, limited parking is available.
Please pre-register at:
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Wednesday, April 6
National Walking Day: Walk with a Ranger
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Meet at Blackstone River State Park
1075 Lower River Road
Lincoln, RI
Join us to celebrate National Walking Day with a leisurely stroll in Blackstone River State Park. Leading the walk will be Ranger Mark from Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park.
Learn about canal construction and how black powder was used to carve new landscapes. Explore the evolution of a nearby mill village. Highlights include the Captain Wilbur Kelly House Transportation Museum, the Blackstone River, the Blackstone Canal, Canoe Rock, and the Ashton Mill.
Free, limited parking is available.
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Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park Invites You To
Give Public Comment on Its General Management Plan
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Did you miss Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park's General Management Plan meetings?
Learn more about the planning process the park is undergoing and watch a recording of the presentation below. You can also find it on the Park's YouTube Page.
Public comment is open until February 15, 2022.
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Stay Connected With Two Virtual Lecture Series |
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These 60-minute discussions will take place on Saturday afternoons at 1:00 PM.
February 12 - Discussion on Rest
During the past two years, a staggering number of people have left their jobs in the midst of a global pandemic. Millions of workers have also reported unprecedented levels of burnout. With this in mind, what can histories of workplace injuries and mental health teach us today? For this discussion, labor history scholar Robert Forrant will offer an overview and history of how industrial accidents have been managed. We'll also be joined by Paul Piwko with Alexandra Orlandi, who coordinate the National Museum of Mental Health Project, Inc. They will share the local history of the movement for mindfulness and wellness at work.
February 26 - Discussion on Play
What do you do with your free time? For centuries, workers who have reported their time or been bound to a clock have struggled for more opportunities for leisure. During this talk, rangers will offer a short history of Slater Mill, as both an industrial workplace and later, as a place where people could ride bicycles for pleasure indoors. We'll also be joined by Joe LyonWurm, the founder of Pedal Powered Anthropology, a highly creative approach to blending fitness and education about human history.
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Six Sites, Six Connections, Endless Stories
Do you plan on spending part of your winter and spring parked at home? Explore America's national parks with us!
Join us as we travel through the sites that make up Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, connecting with national park staff from important sites along the way. Over the course of six virtual chats, we look forward to sharing unexpected connections and tips for finding your park.
All programs are free and hosted online at 7:00 PM EST.
March 10 - COMMUNITY
Our first discussion in the “Parked at Home” series is all about communities: how they are made, what makes them thrive, and what happens when they fall apart. For this talk, we will be joined by a staff member from Pullman National Monument.
Thousands of miles separate Pullman, Illinois, and Slatersville, Rhode Island. Though their exact origin stories differ, both these historic sites began as planned industrial communities. What can we learn from their respective founders? How do these parks preserve stories of workers in the United States? Tune in and get an insiders’ view into parks that serve as bookends in America’s industrial story.
March 17 - CONSTRUCTION
During this talk, we’ll be connecting with folks out in Ohio to talk about canals. Who built the infrastructure that made America’s age of industry? How do pathways along historic canalways allow us to connect with the past and recharge for the future?
March 24 - FAMILY
You may not think that the folks who were “first in flight” have much in common with a family from Whitinsville, Massachusetts. During the 19th century, the Whitins built a manufacturing dynasty in Northbridge. Much like the Whitin family, the Wright brothers used their spirit of innovation to change not just their personal fortune but national history, too.
March 31 - EQUALITY
During this virtual discussion, we will travel from a small town in Massachusetts to the nation’s capital. What is our goal? To learn about people who have fought for a more just society, on a local level, as well as the long fight for expanded suffrage.
In the 1840s, activists in Hopedale, MA, formed a community based on principles of equality. Nearly eighty years later, the 19th Amendment was ratified, expanding some women’s access to voting rights in the United States. What can Hopedale and Belmont-Paul teach us about battles for equality in the United States? How can you dive deeper and continue exploring this history without leaving home? We look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments, and questions!
April 7 - SPACE
Join us as we soar beyond earth’s atmosphere to discuss space. From beta cloth to the Kennedy Space Center, National Parks have both historic and modern connections with our human fascination with space travel.
April 14 - COTTON
Slater Mill is the first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill in America. Where did the cotton come from? Slave labor was essential to many of Rhode Island’s businesses and much of its early industry. During this talk, we’ll learn more about cotton cultivation and the system of plantation slavery with staff from Kingsley Plantation, part of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Florida. Together, we’ll look at the global system of enslaved labor and capitalism from the vantage points of two very different historical sites.
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Become a GearHead Junior Ranger |
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"Explore, Discover, Protect, and GO!"
The Junior Ranger motto is recited by children around the country, each taking an oath of their own to protect parks, continue to learn about parks, and share their own ranger story with friends and family. Here in the Blackstone River Valley, Junior Rangers are called GearHeads. What's a GearHead, you might ask?
GearHead (n.): a kid, powered by the gears in their brain, who explores nature, discovers history, protects the environment, and goes on adventures throughout the Blackstone River Valley.
Click through the GearHeads website and claim your Junior Ranger status today! Submit a completed activity, and we'll send you a Junior Ranger badge!
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Calling All Scouts - Earn a Scout Ranger Certificate or Badge! |
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Click here to learn about the Boy Scout Ranger program. |
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Click here to learn about the Girl Scout Ranger program. |
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Be a Scout Ranger in the Blackstone River Valley!
Scouts and Park Rangers have a lot in common! We are all inspired to act as good stewards of public lands and to learn more about our communities.
Participants in the Scout Ranger program can earn a certificate or a patch.
As a Scout Ranger you will:
- Learn about the mission of the National Park Service.
- Help protect the nation’s natural, cultural, and historic resources.
- Explore and learn about your national parks.
- Achieve unique recognition from the National Park Service.
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Navigate & Explore the Blackstone River Valley
with our Interactive Map!
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670 Linwood Avenue, Whitinsville, MA 01588
(508) 234-4242
Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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