Ironstone, Massachusetts facts for kids

The Ironstone Mill Housing and Cellar Hole Historic Site in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, is a special place that shows us what life was like during America's early Industrial Revolution. This site includes the remains of an old mill and some of the homes where mill workers lived. It's a great example of the many mill villages found in the Blackstone Valley. The site is located at 136 Ironstone Street.

The first mill here was built in 1814 by William Arnold. It was rebuilt in the 1850s by David and Seth Southwick after a fire. Sadly, it burned down again, and now only the cellar hole remains. This mill was an important part of the Industrial Revolution, which started nearby in the Blackstone Valley in 1793 with Samuel Slater and his mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Pawtucket is about 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Ironstone. The community of Slatersville, Rhode Island, which is south of Ironstone, was started by Samuel Slater and his brother John Slater (industrialist) in 1806. It became a model for other mill villages in the Blackstone Valley, known as the The Rhode Island System.

Life at Ironstone Mill Village

The Ironstone mill housing at 135 Ironstone Street was built by the Ironstone Cotton Manufacturing Company. This company made cotton yarns. William Arnold built the mill in 1814 to produce yarn from raw cotton. At first, local families would take this yarn home and weave it into fabric themselves.

Around 1820, Arnold built the mill housing because he wanted to make more products. He did this by using more water power and adding new machines called power looms. Some of the very first power looms in America were used right here in Uxbridge.

Because of the need to transport goods, Ironstone became an important stop for stagecoaches and trains. A post office and a store were quickly set up at the mill. In the 1850s, under the management of Seth and Daniel Southwick, the mill started making denim fabric for Kentucky Blue Jeans. Later, in the 1870s, David Southwick made Conestoga wagon wheels in his blacksmith shop nearby. These wheels were used by pioneers traveling west. The mill was finally destroyed by fire in 1875, after two earlier fires had led to it being rebuilt.

History of Ironstone Village

The village of Ironstone was one of the first places settled in Uxbridge, starting in the early 1730s. In 1734, Benjamin Taft began an early iron forge and a bog iron mine here. Later, Caleb Handy added a special hammer operation to make tools, guns, and scythes.

The Ironstone School is a historic building that was used as a traditional one-room schoolhouse until 1948. The original school building was from 1797 and had eight grades with just one teacher. Ironstone played a big part in Uxbridge changing from a farming area to a manufacturing one. The Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad served the Ironstone area in the 1860s, helping to ship goods to markets both west and east.

Captain James Buxton (1745–1817), who fought in the American Revolution at Valley Forge and Saratoga, lived nearby. Buxton Street in South Uxbridge and a local fife and drum corps are named after him. His commission as Captain was signed by John Hancock, and he received 300 acres (120 ha) of land in Uxbridge for his service. He is buried in his family's cemetery near Route 146A.

Richard Mowry, a Quaker from Quaker City, which is next to Ironstone, developed some of the first machines for making textiles in America around the time of the American Revolution. There is also a small lake nearby called Ironstone Pond, which extends into Burrillville, Rhode Island.

Other Historic Places Nearby

The one-room schoolhouse, known as the Ironstone School, is now a historic building. Today, it is used by the South Uxbridge Community Association. Ironstone and South Uxbridge are part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, which is managed by the National Park Service. The Blackstone Valley is known as the oldest industrialized region in the United States.

Nearby is a historic Friends Meetinghouse. Abby Kelley Foster, a famous American leader against slavery, belonged to this Meetinghouse. She and another local Quaker, Effingham Capron, worked with the Underground Railroad in Ironstone and the Blackstone Valley, helping many enslaved people find freedom.

The Second Great Awakening was a time of big social changes in America. It led to movements like the one to end slavery and reforms for prisons. Abby Kelley Foster, the Quakers, and Rev. Willard Preston, D.D. were important figures in this period, with connections to Ironstone, Providence, Worcester, and Uxbridge. Abby Kelley Foster even inspired Susan B. Anthony to join the fight against slavery.

Images for kids

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  Ironstone, a mill village from 1814

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  Mill worker housing, Ironstone Cotton Manufacturing Company, built 1814

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  Former one room Ironstone school, now maintained by South Uxbridge Community Association

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  Friends Meeting House (1770), Quaker Highway at Route 98

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  Abby Kelley Foster, who helped lead the fight against slavery

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  South Uxbridge Station No. 3 of the Uxbridge Fire Department

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  Jacob Aldrich House, a national historic site

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  Daniel Aldrich Cottage and sawmill

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  Uxbridge High School, built 2012