Uxbridge, Massachusetts

Colonial era, Revolution, Quakers, and abolition

John Eliot started Nipmuc Praying Indian villages. "Wacentug" natives sold land to settlers in 1662, "for 24 pound Ster". Mendon began in 1667, and burned in King Phillips War. Western Mendon became Uxbridge in 1727, and Farnum House held the first town meeting. Nathan Webb's church, was the Colony's first new Congregational church in the Great Awakening. Lydia Chapin Taft, voted in the 1756 Town meeting, a first for women.

Seth and Joseph Read. and Simeon Wheelock joined Committees of Correspondence. Baxter Hall, was a Minuteman drummer. Seth Read fought at Bunker Hill. Washington stopped at Reed's tavern, en route to command the Continental Army. Samuel Spring, was one of the first chaplains of the American Revolution. Deborah Sampson, enlisted as "Robert Shurtlieff of Uxbridge". Shays' Rebellion also began here and Governor John Hancock quelled Uxbridge riots. Simeon Wheelock, died protecting the Springfield Armory. Seth Reed was instrumental in adding E pluribus unum to U.S. coins. Washington slept here on his Inaugural tour.

Quakers, including Richard Mowry migrated here from Smithfield, Rhode Island, and built mills, railroads, houses, tools and Conestoga wagon wheels. Southwick's store housed the "Social and Instructive Library". Friends Meetinghouse, next to Moses Farnum's farm, had prominent abolitionists Abby Kelley Foster, and Effingham Capron as members. Capron led the 450 member local anti-slavery society. Brister Pierce, formerly a slave in Uxbridge, was a signer of an 1835 petition to Congress demanding abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia.

Early transportation, education, public health and safety

The Tafts built the Middle Post Road's Blackstone River bridge in 1709. "Teamsters" drove horse "team" freight wagons, on the Worcester-Providence stage route. The Blackstone Canal brought horsedrawn barges to Providence through Uxbridge for overnight stops. The "crossroads village" was a junction on the Underground Railroad. The P&W Railroad ended canal traffic in 1848.

A 1732 vote "set up a school for ye town of Uxbridge". A grammar school was followed by 13 one room district school houses, built for $2000 in 1797. Uxbridge Academy (1818), became a prestigious New England Prep School.

Uxbridge voted against smallpox vaccine . Samuel Willard (physician) treated smallpox victims, was a forerunner of modern psychiatry, and ran the first hospital for mental illness in America. Vital records recorded many infant deaths, the smallpox death of Selectman Joseph Richardson, "Quincy", "dysentary", and tuberculosis deaths. Leonard White recorded a Malaria outbreak here in 1896 that led to firsts in control of malaria as a mosquito-borne infection. Uxbridge led Massachusetts in robberies for a quarter of the year in 1922, and the town voted to hire its first night time police patrolman.

Industrial era: 19th century to late-20th century

Bog iron and three iron forges marked the colonial era, with the inception of large-scale industries beginning around 1775—examples of this development can be seen in the work of Richard Mowry, who built and marketed equipment to manufacture woolen, linen, or cotton cloth, and gristmills, sawmills, distilleries, and large industries. Uxbridge reached a peak of twenty different industrial mills. Daniel Day built the first woolen mill in 1809. By 1855, 560 local workers made 2,500,000 yards (2,300,000 m) of cloth (14,204 miles (22,859 km)). A small silver vein at Scadden, in SW Uxbridge, led to unsuccessful commercial mining in the 1830s.

Innovations included power looms, vertical integration of wool to clothing, cashmere wool-synthetic blends, "wash and wear", yarn spinning techniques, and latch hook kits. Villages included mills, shops, worker housing, and farms. Wm. Arnold's Ironstone cotton mill, later made "Kentucky Blue Jeans", and Seth Read's gristmill, later housed Bay State Arms. Hecla and Wheelockville housed American Woolen, Waucantuck Mill, Hilena Lowell's shoe factory, and Draper Corporation. Daniel Day, Jerry Wheelock, and Luke Taft used water powered mills. Moses Taft's (Central Woolen) operated continuously making Civil War cloth,

North Uxbridge housed Clapp's 1810 Cotton Mill, Chandler Taft's and Richard Sayles Rivulet Mill, the granite quarry, and Rogerson's village. Crown and Eagle Mill was "a masterpiece of early industrial architecture". Blanchard's granite quarry provided curb stones to New York City and regional public works projects. Peter Rawson Taft's grandson, William Howard Taft, visited Samuel Taft House.

John Sr., Effingham and John W. Capron's mill pioneered US satinets and woolen power looms Charles A. Root, Edward Bachman, and Harold Walter expanded Bachman-Uxbridge., and leadership in women's fashion. The company manufactured US Army uniforms for the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the nurse corps, and the first Air Force "dress uniforms", dubbed "Uxbridge Blue". Time magazine covered Uxbridge Worsted's proposed a buyout to be the top US woolen company. One of the largest US yarn companies, Bernat Yarn's largest plant was located here from the 1960s to the 1980s. A historic company called 'Information Services', operated from Uxbridge, and managed subscription services for 'The New Republic', among other publications, in the later 20th century.

Late-20th century to present

State and national parks developed around mills and rivers were restored. The Great Gatsby (1974) and Oliver's Story (1978) were filmed locally including Stanley Woolen Mill. The Blackstone Valley National Historic Park contains the 1,000-acre (4.0 km²)Blackstone Canal Heritage State Park, 9 miles (14 km) of the Blackstone River Greenway, the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, West Hill Dam, a 567-acre wildlife refuge, parcels of the Metacomet Land Trust, and Cormier Woods. 60 Federalist homes add to 54 National, and 375 state-listed historic sites, including Georgian Elmshade, (where War Secretary Alphonso Taft had recounted local family history at a famous reunion). Capron's wooden mill survived a 2007 fire at the Bernat Mill. Stanley mill is being restored while Waucantuck mill, was (mostly) razed. In 2013 multiple fires again affected this town and included a historic bank building and a Quaker home from the early 1800s. See National historic sites.

Notable people

Robert Taft I, was patriarch to the Taft family political dynasty. Robert Taft, 2nd was a Selectman, and Benjamin Taft built a second iron forge. Josiah Taft's widow, Lydia (Chapin) Taft, was "America's first woman voter" Bezaleel Taft, Sr., served as an American Revolution Captain, state representative and state senator, as did, Bezaleel Taft, Jr.. Samuel Taft hosted George Washington on his post inaugural tour. Ezra ("T".) Taft Benson was an LDS Church Apostle, Hawaii missionary, and Utah legislator. Chandler Taft built the 1814 Rivulet Mill. Daniel Day, a Taft, started the third US woolen mill. Luke Taft built 2 water powered textile mills, and Moses Taft built Stanley Woolen Mill. Hon. Peter Rawson Taft I was the grandfather of William Howard Taft.

Willard Preston, the 4th University of Vermont President, published famous sermons while later serving the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah. Arthur MacArthur, Sr. was a Lt. Governor, Chief Justice and Douglas MacArthur's grandfather. Seth Reed fought at Bunker Hill, was "instrumental" in adding E Pluribus Unum, to U.S. Coins. and was a founder of Erie, Pennsylvania and Geneva, New York. Paul C. Whitin, founded the Whitin Machine Works. Phineas Bruce and Benjamin Adams were Congressmen. Joshua Macomber and William Augustus Mowry were educators. Effingham Capron, led Uxbridge as a center for pre-civil war anti-slavery activities, was a state a national anti-slavery leader, and an industrialist. Edward Sullivan, won a Congressional Medal in the Spanish–American War. Willard Bartlett was a NY Chief Justice and Franklin Bartlett, a Congressman. Edward P. Bullard started Bullard Machine tools whose designs enabled auto manufacturing and industry.

Charles Aurthur Root, Edward Bachman, and Harold Walter built Uxbridge Worsted into a manufacturing giant which led women's fashions. Alice Bridges won an Olympic bronze in Berlin. Tim Fortugno played for the California Angels and Chicago White Sox. Richard Moore, recent Senate President Pro Tem (MA), was a FEMA executive, a Past President of the Conference of State Legislatures, and a principal architect of Massachusetts's landmark health care law. Brian Skerry is a National Geographic photojournalist, protecting global sea life. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. is curator of Baroque Art at the National Gallery. Jacqueline Liebergott,was president of Emerson College. Jeannine Oppewall, has four Academy Award nominations for best art direction. Skip Shea, produced 10 films, and won a top award at the Rome Film Festival for Ave Maria, a film about victims of clergy abuse.

Government

Uxbridge has a Board of Selectmen and town meeting government, with officials listed in the top infobox: Local government 1) granted the first woman in America the right to vote, 2) nixed smallpox vaccine in 1775, and 3) defied the Massachusetts Secretary of State, by approving women jurors. The 2009 Board of Health made Uxbridge the 3rd community in the US to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies, but later reversed this. State agencies control county elected offices (see info box). In fact, Uxbridge has a District Courthouse.

Geography

The town is 30.4 square miles (79 km²), of which 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), or 2.73%, is water. It is situated 39.77 miles (64.00 km) southwest of Boston, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Worcester, and 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Providence. Elevations range from 200 feet (61 m) to 577 feet (176 m) above sea level. It borders Douglas, Mendon, Millville, Northbridge, and Sutton, Massachusetts, plus the Rhode Island towns of Burrillville and North Smithfield.

Climate

A USDA hardiness zone 5 continental climate prevails with snowfall extremes from October (rare), to May. The highest recorded temperature was 104 F, in July 1975, and the lowest, -25 F in January 1957.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census population was 13,457, representing a growth rate of 20.6%, with 5,056 households, a density rate of 166.31 units per square mile. 95.7% were White, 1.7% Asian, 0.90% Hispanic, 0.3% African American, and 1.4% other. Population density was 442.66 people/ mile² (170.77/km²). Per capita income was $24,540, and 4.7% fell below the poverty line. The number of registered voters was 9,959 for 2010

Economy

High tech, services, distribution, life sciences, hospitality, local government, education and tourism offer local jobs. A 618,000 square feet (57,400 m2) distribution center serves Fortune 500 BJ's Wholesale Club's, northern division. The July 2013 unemployment was 6.9%

Education

Local schools include: Taft pre k-2, Whitin Elementary, McCloskey Middle School, Uxbridge High (built 2012) and Our Lady of the Valley Regional. Valley Tech (Upton) houses Quinsigamond Community College The New York Times called Uxbridge education reforms, a "little revolution" to meet family needs.

Healthcare

Tri-River Family Health Center, (UMass Medical) offers primary care. Milford Regional, Landmark M/C, hospices and long term care are nearby, or local.

Rail

The nearest MBTA Commuter Rail stops are Forge Park/495 on the Franklin Line and Grafton (MBTA station) and Worcester on the Framingham/Worcester Line, 15 miles away. The Northeast Corridor Providence (Amtrak station), has trains with top speeds of 150 MPH. The Providence and Worcester Railroad freight line passes two former local stations.

Highways

Route 146 links Worcester, I-290, and I-90, to Providence at I-95 and I-295. Route 16 links to Connecticut via I-395, and Boston, by I-495. Route 122 connects Northbridge, and Woonsocket. Route 146A, goes into North Smithfield. Route 98 leads to Burrillville.

Airports

TF Green State Airport Warwick-Providence, RI, Worcester airport, and Boston Logan International Airport, have commercial flights. Hopedale airport, 7.2 miles (11.6 km), and Worcester airport, have general aviation. A private air strip, Sky Glen Airport on Quaker highway is still listed on FAA sites, though the map location shows it within a dense Industrial Park, and at its peak of operations, it saw very low traffic.

Points of interest