Quick History Stops: Uxbridge, MA

I am revisiting small towns in the Blackstone River Valley as I wait for museum season to begin. Today’s stop is Uxbridge, MA. These quick history stops is based on a class that I taught through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Tufts University.

In South Uxbridge is the mill village of Ironstone. First settled by European colonists in the early 1730s, the village got its name from an iron forge and bog iron mine started by Benjamin Taft in 1734. The village was formally established in 1814 and borders Slatersville. A tiny one-room schoolhouse built in 1797 and used until 1948 is currently maintained by the South Uxbridge Community Association. Across town, the Alice Bridges Bridge honors Alice Bridges Roche, a twenty-year-old Uxbridge resident who qualified for the qualified as an alternate for the women’s team during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and later won bronze in the 100m backstroke. (She was last mentioned on this blog during my post about Rocky Point State Park.)

Downtown Uxbridge was once a bustling mill town with a grist mill and worsted mill for many years. First came the grist mill, constructed next to the Mumford River in 1777 and now a liquor store. The Capron family built the red brick Capron Mill in 1820 and did not sell until 1910, when the mill became Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company. The mill ran twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and closed only for Christmas and Easter. In 1949, the United States Air Force chose the site to produce uniforms in their signature “Uxbridge Blue” color. The mill employees dumped extra dye into the river. An article in Time magazine from August 24, 1953 called the mill “The Pride of Uxbridge”. Emile Bernat and Sons, Inc. bought and ran the company as Bernat Mill from 1962 to 1964 until moving production to Jamaica Plain during the 1970s. The mill burned in a 10-alarm fire on July 21, 2007. Since then, little has been done to restore or demolish the building. On a more positive note, Bernat brand yarns can still be purchased today.

Uxbridge Town Hall on South Main Street was constructed as town offices and police headquarters in 1879. A “Town Lockup” was added to the building in 1881, only to be condemned and remodeled in 1914. The building was damaged in a hurricane in 1938 and underwent further remodeling throughout the 1950s to bring the building closer to its current design. The town hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Providence and Worcester Railroad train tracks cutting through town were laid at ground level in 1847 so the train could more easily bring raw materials to the nearby factories and take away finished products. In 1895, the depot was built in a classic 19th century design and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Today, the building is Blackstone Valley Music, a school and instrument repair shop, while the tracks are on a bridge over the road, which I rode over the bridge during the Historic Blackstone Valley Train Excursion!

The Uxbridge Historical Society (UHS) has long sought to preserve the red-painted Georgian style Farnum House, named for politician Colonel John Farnum, Jr. The house was built in 1715 and held the first town meeting of Uxbridge in 1727. UHS has owned the building since 1968, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The town common and surrounding buildings are considered a historic district added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Deacon William Capron House, built between 1821 and 1827, was named for a leader in the Uxbridge Friends Meeting, the gather place of local Quakers. The building now holds an insurance company and offices of Uxbridge public schools. Next door, the Uxbridge Free Public Library is in the Thayer Memorial Building dedicated in 1894. The building cost $33,500 to construct (about $1,209,000 today) and was paid for by Edward Carrington Thayer, whose mother was from the wealthy Taft family.

Also near the town common are the Community House managed by First Congregational Church in Uxbridge, the Masonic Lodge, and Deborah Wheelock House. Solomon’s Temple Lodge was founded in 1818, while the building was constructed in 1819 though 1820 with the Masons on the second floor and Uxbridge Academy on the first floor. By 1855, the school became public and was owned by the town. The school moved to a larger building in 1867, and the Masons purchased the town’s share in 1941. Across the street, the Wheelock House was built by Simon Wheelock in 1768 and was the birthplace of Jerry Wheelock, who worked with his father-in-law Daniel Day to establish the first woolen mill in Uxbridge. The house takes its name from Simon’s wife and Jerry’s mother, Deborah Thayer Wheelock, as the Daughters of the American Revolution in Uxbridge named their chapter after her. The chapter was founded in 1899 by a collection of her descendents and their friends.

Meanwhile, Uxbridge has not one, not two, but three classic whitewashed New England churches. Two churches stand across from each other on the common. The First Church of Christ of Uxbridge was a congregational church during the 1830s that underwent a schism. First (Evangelical) Congregational Church was built in 1833, while First Congregational Society Unitarian Church was built in 1834 and was recently restored to host history-focused events. The third church, which stands beside Town Hall, now holds Congregacion Maranatha, among the few Spanish-language churches in the area.

Uxbridge is highly walkable with sidewalks for most of the trip. Park in the lot across from Congregacion Maranatha and Town Hall. A walking tour of Uxbridge was created by Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and is available online. I hope you can visit once the weather becomes warm and sunny!