West River (Massachusetts)

The West River in Massachusetts, a tributary of the Blackstone River, originates in the town of Upton, Massachusetts, near the Upton State Forest, crosses into the eastern portion of Northbridge, passes through the eastern portion of Uxbridge where the West Hill Dam provides flood control, and enters into the Blackstone River south of Uxbridge and Wheelockville before the Blackstone enters the state of Rhode Island.

The West River provided water power for the earliest American Industrial Revolution. It provided water power to an early American textile mill started by Luke Taft, in 1825,cite book|last=Crane|first= Ellery Bicknell|title="Historic Homes and Genealogies; Worcester, Massachusetts" |publisher=|date=|location=|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=rqvWQWtFKl0C&pg=RA9-PA324&lpg=RA9-PA324&dq=luke+taft&source=web&ots=zL5HJPHKpK&sig=7DmxqqBSsJ9bP29zTCKno-AAIUY|accessdate=2007-10-29] which later became the site of the Waucantuck Mill where "wash and wear" fabrics orginated. About 1810 Luke Taft's father-in-law, Daniel Day, started an early wool-carding mill where the West River joins the Blackstone River.cite book |last= Marvin |first= AP |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its earliest beginnings to the present time; Vol. lI |publisher= CF Jewitt and Company |date= 1879 |location= Boston, MA |pages= 146 |url= |doi= |id= |isbn= ] cite book |last= Chapin |first= Judge Henry |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Address Delivered at the Unitarian Church in Uxbridge; 1864 |publisher= Charles Hamilton Press (Harvard Library; from Google Books) |date= 1881 |location= Worcester, Mass. |pages= |url= |doi= |id= |isbn= ] The Daniel Day woolen mill was one of the oldest woolen mills in the United States.cite book |last= Marvin |first= AP |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from its earliest beginnings to the present time; Vol. lI |publisher= CF Jewitt and Company |date= 1879 |location= Boston, MA |pages= 146 |url= |doi= |id= |isbn= ] cite book |last= Chapin |first= Judge Henry |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Address Delivered at the Unitarian Church in Uxbridge; 1864 |publisher= Charles Hamilton Press (Harvard Library; from Google Books) |date= 1881 |location= Worcester, Mass. |pages= |url= |doi= |id= |isbn= ] The Blackstone River Valley is a National Heritage Corridor, and the birthplace of America's Industrial Revolution.

The course of the West River in Massachusetts is over ten miles. A Wildlife preserve with fishing, hiking and Recreation trails are found at a federal recreation area created at the West Hill Dam. The West River Reservoir is well known for fishing. [http://www.fishingworks.com/lakes/massachusetts/worcester/grafton/west-river-reservoir/]

ee also

*West Hill Dam
*Blackstone River

Notes

* [http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/whd/whdhome.htm US Army Corps of Engineers, West Hill Dam, Uxbridge, Massachusetts]