Uxbridge, Massachusetts

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Uxbridge
Cornet John Farnum House, circa 1710, In 1727 was the site of the First Uxbridge Town Meeting
Location in Worcester County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°04′38″N 71°37′48″W / 42.07722°N 71.63°W / 42.07722; -71.63
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Worcester
Settled	1662
Incorporated	1727
Government
- Type	Representative town meeting
- Chairman, Board of Selectmen	Kevin Kuros
- Vice Chairman, Board of Selectmen	Michael Potaski
- Clerk, Board of Selectmen	Carrie Kay Robertson
- Selectmen	Beth A. Pitman, Peter Baghdasarian
- Town Manager	Michael A Szlosek
Area
- Total	30.4 sq mi (78.7 km2)
- Land	29.5 sq mi (76.5 km2)
- Water	0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2)
Elevation	270 ft (82 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	11,156
- Density	377.6/sq mi (145.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01569, 01538, 01525
Area code(s)	508 / 774
FIPS code	25-71620
GNIS feature ID	0618387
Website	http://www.uxbridge-ma.gov/

Uxbridge is a town in southeastern Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The town is a suburb of Worcester, New England's second largest city and center of higher education. Uxbridge was first "officially" settled by Europeans in 1662 and incorporated as a town in 1727 at Suffolk County, then Worcester County, Massachusetts Colony. The town was formed from the larger town of Mendon and located at a former Praying Indian "Nipmuck" village called Wacentug, pronounced "walk-in-tuck". It is within the Greater Boston and Worcester metropolitan statistical areas, located 16 miles (26 km) SSE of Worcester, and 20.4 miles (32.8 km) NNW of Providence, Rhode Island along Massachusetts Route 146, the Worcester-Providence Turnpike. Uxbridge is 34.9 miles (56.2 km) SW of Boston, 10 miles (16 km) WSW of the outer beltway, Interstate 495. The estimated population in 2007 was 12,634. The census of 2000 reported 11,156 people.

Uxbridge has a mini-tapestry of early American history, Nipmuc lands, colonial beginnings, the Great Awakening, Quakers, the American Revolution, and the industrial revolution. Today, Uxbridge is the geographic center of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the oldest industrialized region in the United States. The town is best known for its role in America's earliest industrial development, as an early textile center of the Blackstone Valley. There are over 375 state or nationally listed historic sites here, with an excellent variety of architectural styles. Military uniforms were manufactured locally for over 100 years in several large mills. The first U.S. Air Force dress uniform, dubbed "Uxbridge Blue", was made here. The town's early industrial growth was driven by a crossroads location, technology innovations, water power, and the Blackstone Canal. Local entrepreneurs left their mark on America's textile industry.

The town was named after the Earl of Uxbridge, in Uxbridge, England. The Taft family, of England, settled in Mendon (originally called "Mendham"), in a section that later became Uxbridge. The Tafts were founders of the town of Uxbridge and Robert Taft, II was on the first Board of Selectmen (town council). The Tafts were said 'locally' to be relatives of the Earl of Uxbridge (though this is not referenced in the appendix of Alfonso Taft's biography). Uxbridge, England, derived its name from a 7th century Anglo-Saxon tribe known as the "Wuxen", (Wuxen Bridge). Early settlers included the Aldriches, the Wheelocks, the Farnums, the Reeds, the Willards, and the Caprons. The Taft and Aldrich families, began from local immigrant ancestors, and went on to become influential in their new nation. Seth Reed was instrumental in adding "E Pluribus Unum", from many, one, to all U.S. coins. President William Howard Taft's grandfather was an Uxbridge native.

This town played roles in public education, human rights, women's suffrage, and public health. In the eighteenth century, the town led in public education, by establishing 13 district schools. Early Congregational and Quaker traditions emphasized human rights, including the abolition movement. Carlyle wrote that "a nation's history is found in the biography of its great men".^[1] Uxbridge helped add to the biographies of six great women including: 1) Lydia Chapin Taft, America's first legal colonial woman voter,^[2] 2) Deborah Sampson, America's first woman soldier, 3) Abby Kelley Foster, a 19th century radical social reformer, 4) Alice Bridges, a 1936 Olympic medalist, 5) Jeannine Oppewall, Hollywood Producer, and 6) Jacqueline Liebergott, the first female President of Emerson College in Boston. In 1922, two years after women's suffrage, the Board of Selectmen defied the Massachusetts's Secretary of State, by appointing the first women jurors in this state. A 1775 contrary vote against smallpox vaccination, was followed by 19th, 20th and 21st century, progress in public health.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Pre-colonial era 1.2 Colonial era 1.2.1 Quakers 1.3 Revolutionary war era 1.4 Colonial to modern era 1.4.1 Transportation and the Blackstone canal 1.4.2 Public health 1.5 Industrial era: 19th century to mid-20th century 1.6 Mid-20th century to present 2 Notable families and people 3 Government 4 Geography 5 Climate 6 Demographics 7 Economy 8 Education 9 Healthcare 10 Transportation 10.1 Canal 10.2 Rail 10.3 Highways 10.4 Commercial airports 10.5 General aviation 11 Points of interest 12 See also 13 Notes 14 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Pre-colonial era

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A first nation, indigenous people, the Nipmuc, pronounced "Nip-Muck", and translated as " small pond people”,^[3] settled at Wacentug ("tribe that fished rich waters") and Shock-a-log ("burned place or dry fox place)".^[4] The village of Wacentug was located in the plain between the Nipmuc, or "Kuttacuck river",("at the large (or principal) tidal river"), today known as the Blackstone River, and the West River at "Miscoe, ("the great hill)". The "Kittacuck" river was said to have been plentiful with Salmon and Lamprey in the pre-colonial and colonial time. Wacentug had about 50+ inhabitants by the mid-1600s. The Nipmuc were an Algonquian tribe who had a highly developed agriculture. Nipmuck is also translated as "people of the fresh waters". In this region of small lakes and rivers, they grew corn (maize), beans and squash, (the "three sisters"), had a graphite mine (at Sturbridge), and developed a written language. The tribe moved with the seasons, fishing and farming in the gently rolling hills, woodlands, and streams of what would become the heart of southern New England. Nipmuc villages were typical of their Algonquian heritage. The Nipmuck nation people still live in the southern Worcester County area, especially near Grafton and Webster.

[edit] Colonial era

Missionary John Eliot helped start Praying Indian villages such as Wacentug. The Praying Indians were also visited by Rev. Gookin. The Massachusetts General Court granted early pioneers the rights to purchase land in the Nipmuck territory in 1659. In 1662, settlers from Braintree and Weymouth signed a deed with the Nipmuc chief "Great John" and bought Native land, "8 miles²(13km)² 15 miles (24 km) W. of Medfield"^[5] "for 24 pound Ster".^[6] Squinshepauke plantation became Mendon in 1667.^[5] The settlement burned in King Philip's War in 1675,^[5] and the first Massachusetts colonists were killed.

When the war ended, resettlement followed in 1680, and more families moved westward and settled near Wacentug. Farmers cultivated fertile land in the intervals between its three rivers. The ancestor of the Taft family, Robert Taft I, and the Aldriches settled here circa 1680. Settlers became increasingly anxious to have their own separate town, but the process took years.

The town of Uxbridge was finally incorporated in June 1727, and Farnum House held the first town meeting.^[7] One of the first official acts at the next annual Town Meeting, was to appropriate fifteen gallons of 'ye good rum for ye raising of ye meeting house'. The colonial town was an agrarian center, with a smattering of grist mills, distilleries, and iron works. The town was named for the Earl of Uxbridge, who was then a member of the "Privy Council" in England.

The first listing of officers of the town is as follows: the town moderator was Solomon Wood, the first listed selectman was Robert Taft, 2nd, followed by Ebeneazer Read, Wooland Thompson, Lieutenant Joseph White and Edmund Rawson. Surveyors of Highways were Solomon Wood, James Keith, and John Emerson. The Constables were Thomas White and William Brown, Jr. "Tything men" were Joshua Whitney and Joseph Taft. Solomon Wood was the Treasurer. Fence viewers were John Cook and William Holbrook while "hog-reaves" were Gershom Keith and Simeon Peck. The incorporated colonial township also included the jurisdiction of what is today the town of Northbridge

Reverend Nathan Webb's church, the first church in Uxbridge, was the Colony's first new Congregational church in the Great Awakening period.^[8] Webb and his church played a prominent role in the colonial history of Uxbridge. Members of Nathan Webb's church would help to make history, including among others, Josiah and Lydia Taft, Captain Bezaleel Taft, Sr., Seth Reed, and Samuel Spring. Uxbridge settlers, like Lieutenant John Read, and Captain Josiah Taft, fought in the French and Indian Wars. Captain Josiah Taft's widow, Lydia Chapin Taft, voted to fund this war in 1756, a first step for women's suffrage, legislated by the Uxbridge Town Meeting.^[2] Her estate paid the largest taxes in the town of Uxbridge. The town meeting minutes record her voting again in 1758, and 1765. She lived to see her son, Captain Bezaleel Taft, Sr., fight to defend the new United States in the War for independence. Lydia Chapin Taft died in 1778. Judge Henry Chapin later wrote, in 1864, that by allowing the "widow Taft" to vote, the town followed the principal of "no taxation without representation" and "Uxbridge may one day become famous in the history of women's suffrage^[2] Lyida's historic vote was 164 years before the XIXth Amendment in 1920 which allowed women in America to vote.

The little town's future as an industrial center was secure, with good quality bog iron ore, three or more iron forges, and renewable energy from the Mumford, West, and Blackstone rivers.

[edit] Quakers

Shortly before the Revolution, circa 1769, Smithfield, Rhode Island Quaker abolitionists, with ties to Moses Brown, who founded Brown University, settled here. Local families, such as Moses Farnum, also settled at the Quaker colony in the southern outskirts of Uxbridge, along what is today Massachusetts Route 146A. The "Quaker City" settlement changed the character of the town. The Quakers built mills, railroads, houses, tools and Conestoga wagon wheels.^[9][10][11] Southwick's store housed Uxbridge's "Social and Instructive Library", established in 1775.

Friends Meetinghouse, built on Moses Farnum's farm, with bricks made from a local brickyard,^[12] claimed "fiery abolitionist" Abby Kelley Foster.^[13] Kelley Foster became a national figure in the radical wing of the abolitionist movement, leading Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony into the cause. The Second Great Awakening touched Quakers, women's suffrage, human rights, and changed local mortuary practices for the poor.^[14] The "Uxbridge monthly meeting" later disowned Kelley because of her "radical views".^[15] Historic Quaker homes were Underground Railroad sites at least from the time period of Abby Kelley Foster. Abby Kelley, at Dutchess County New York, would later write to a friend, "our cause is steady onward".

The influential American Aldrich family got its start here, and the village of Aldrich was next to the Friends Meetinghouse. The family's cemetery, near the corner of Glendale Road and Aldrich Street is where the immigrant ancestor, George Aldrich, is said to have been re-buried, circa 1682. Quaker families, including Elisha Southwick, built Conestoga wagon wheels and made Kentucky Blue Jeans in the 1800s.

Agriculture was prominent in Quaker City and south Uxbridge, with fertile land, scenic rivers, country roads and cranberry bogs. Benedict Arnold's widow, Peggy Shippen, a Philadelphia heiress and a Quaker, settled in Uxbridge before she died in 1836.^[16]

[edit] Revolutionary war era

Debt from the French and Indian war led to heavy British taxes on the colonies which led to the American Revolution. Two adventurous brothers, Seth and Joseph Read joined local Committees of Correspondence by July of 1774.^[17] Colonel John Spring led a Massachusetts Militia training company of Uxbridge men who prepared for the battle. Dozens of local men fought at the Lexington alarm and at Bunker Hill. General George Washington stopped at a tavern owned by Colonel Seth Read in June 1775 before assuming command of the Continental Army in Boston.^[18] Colonels Seth Read, J. Read, Spring, Tyler, Chapin, Captains Green, Bezaleel Taft, Hall, Rawson, and Lieutenants Wheelock, J. Taft, Farnum, and White served with several companies of local heroes.^[16] Baxter Hall, a Battle of Lexington drummer, served at Bunker Hill and at West Point when General Benedict Arnold escaped.^[19] Samuel Spring, a native of Uxbridge, trained under Rev. Nathan Webb, and at Princeton College, and became a Revolutionary War chaplain commissioned in the militia at the Siege of Boston. Rev. Spring then served under Colonel Benedict Arnold, in the invasion of Canada, while Lt. Colonel Seth Read served in a separate regiment, under Colonel John Paterson.^[20] Samuel carried Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr, his Princeton classmate, off of separate battlefields. Samuel, "a fundamentalist Congregationalist", went on to be a renowned clergyman in Newburyport, with published works, and a founder of the Massachusetts Missionary Society.

Deborah Sampson, America's first woman soldier, enlisted in the Continental Army at Bellingham as "Robert Shurtlieff of Uxbridge" by convincing the Uxbridge sergeant that she was a teenage boy.^[21] She was assigned to the unit under Noah Taft and wounded in battle at Tarrytown, New York. George Washington gave her an honorable discharge, some money and some advice. Deborah went on to become a women's rights hero.

Shays' Rebellion, an uprising of farmers related to currency disarray, had its opening salvos in Uxbridge, and^[22] Gov. John Hancock suppressed local riots.^[22] Lieutenant Simeon Wheelock, whose family became local textile pioneers, died at Springfield near the Armory when he was killed by a horse.^[9] Shays' Rebellion so alarmed George Washington that he emerged from retirement in 1786 and 1787 to advocate a stronger national government.^[23] Dr. Samuel Willard, (who reportedly held slaves prior to 1783), fought in Shays' Rebellion and represented Uxbridge in Massachusetts's ratification of the U.S. Constitution.^[24] Massachusetts was the first state to outlaw slavery in 1783, (with Seth Reed representing the town, and Governor John Hancock signing the legislation).

As the Revolutionary war came to a close, Seth Read, whose father John had been an officer in the French and Indian War, served in the Massachusetts legislature. This was the time of great turmoil of currency following the Revolution. In March of 1786, Reed petitioned both houses of the legislature, to mint Massachusetts coins, both copper and silver. The legislature concurred. Seth Reed somehow became instrumental in adding E pluribus unum ("Out of Many, One,") to U.S. coins.^[17][25][26] Massachusetts "coppers" were among the first coins ever minted in the United States. E Pluribus Unum is now considered the "traditional motto" of the United States.

In 1789, President Washington, on his inaugural tour of New England, from Boston to the capitol at New York City, made his first overnight stop in Uxbridge. The President had just been refused lodging at what he believed was an Inn in Uxbridge, Mass. but the Amidon Inn, was in fact at Mendon.^[27] He traveled further to North Uxbridge, to stay at the home of former Revolutionary War soldier Samuel Taft, and later wrote his hosts to thank them, and sent them gifts,^[28] and it's part of our history.

[edit] Colonial to modern era

[edit] Transportation and the Blackstone canal

Transportation evolved at this crossroads village as Nipmuck trails gave way to pioneer roads. Robert Taft I and his sons built the first bridge across the Blackstone River in 1709. The Middle Post Road, set down by Ben Franklin as the 9^th Massachusetts turnpike,^[29] began locally around "Colonel Crown's land" and meandered past rocky Yankee farms and woods, as it carried French and Indian War troops, Revolutionary war regiments, and their Commander in Chief, 1812 War supplies, and passed a Civil War camp near "Stage Coach Hill".^[9] Taverns along the middle post road here included the Wood Tavern, at Rice City, the Spring Tavern and the Taft Tavern at North Uxbridge, and the Thayer Tavern, near East Douglas. Today the old east-west Middle Post Road is known locally as Hartford Avenue.

When production from the mills began, "teamsters" drove huge wagons, pulled by "teams" of horses, on the "Great Road" south to Woonsocket and Providence, and north along Main St. to Worcester. The Great Road was the main stage route from Worcester to Providence.

John Brown, a Providence, Rhode Island merchant, first attempted to build a canal along the Blackstone River in 1796. However, it was General Edward Carrington, a prominent Providence merchant, who later succeeded and built the Blackstone canal. The new canal on the Blackstone would become the second U.S. barge canal, following the Erie Canal in upstate New York. The commercial ties between Uxbridge and Providence were historically strong. Beginning in 1824, Irish laborers who had just completed the Erie Canal, arrived here, and built the 46-mile (74 km) Blackstone Canal. The barge canal had parallel tow paths for horses, and carried thousands of tons of goods yearly from Worcester to Providence, beginning in 1828.^[5][30][31] The canal boat trip from Worcester to Providence, took two days, and Uxbridge was the overnight stopping point. The first of the canal's many barges was named for General Carrignton's wife, "The Lady Carrington".

The Providence and Worcester Railroad was completed in 1847 and the canal ceased operations in 1848. The New York and New England Railroad, Willimantic division, ran through Ironstone with connections to Hartford, Boston, and New York City.

An early 20th century electric Trolley ran through Uxbridge to Whitinsville and Woonsocket, and the old trolley bridge remains today.

A World War II US Army Air Corps B-24 Liberator crashed on an Uxbridge hillside on May 18 of 1944, known as the "May Day, May Day" crash site. The crash site is less than 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Uxbridge mill, which 3 years later, developed the first US Air Force dress Uniform, aka "Uxbridge Blue".

[edit] Public health

Public health history was made from the time of the town's colonial beginnings. Smallpox, introduced to North America by explorers near what became Saco, Maine, killed the Nipmuc, early settlers,^[2][16] and men in physician and Colonel Seth Reed's regiment.^[17] Uxbridge however voted against smallpox vaccine in a town meeting in 1775.^[2] Colonel Seth Read, who was not "variolated", became very ill in the invasion of Canada when his unit suffered from smallpox and starvation. Illness forced him to leave the Continental Army in 1776.^[17] Soon afterward, and with the advice of Benjamin Rush, General George Washington ordered that the Continental Army receive the crude vaccination method of that time known as "variolation", believed later to have provided a tactical advantage over the British soldiers.^[32] Dr. Samuel Willard treated local smallpox victims.^[33] Local vital records are a source of public health history.^[16] Local selectman Joseph Richardson died of smallpox in 1825, 27 years after Edward Jenner's pioneering smallpox vaccine was developed.^[9]

Tuberculosis, then known as "consumption", was also no respecter of persons. State Senator Bezaleel Taft, Jr., who had married Reverend Samuel Spring's daughter, and woolen mill pioneer Daniel Day, a kin of the Wheelock family, both died of tuberculosis during the 1840s.^[16] A late-19th century Uxbridge physician, Leonard White, published some of the earliest reports of possible childhood vaccine-related deaths in December 1885.^[34] State pathologist Theobald Smith, warned the local health officer, Dr. White, about possible links between mosquitoes to an outbreak of malaria at Uxbridge, asking White to have citizens add screens and drain collections of water, while urging White's son to collect mosquito specimens for further analysis. (1896)^[35] This preceded confirmation of mosquito-malaria links by Ronald Ross, MD, in India in 1898. The State Board of Health advised the town on a clean water supply in 1905, citing contamination of wells near the Mumford River.^[36]

Sen. Richard T. Moore of Uxbridge was a chief architect of the landmark Massachusetts health care reform legislation in 2006.^[37] In 2008, an Uxbridge native, became the President of the American Association of Public Health Physicians.^[38] On May 7, 2009, the Uxbridge Board of Health, by rule making authority, made this town, the second community in Massachusetts to ban the sale of tobacco in health care, pharmacies, and educational insitutions.^[39]

[edit] Industrial era: 19th century to mid-20th century

The Blackstone Valley is the "birthplace" of the American Industrial Revolution. Richard Mowry, an Uxbridge farmer, built and marketed equipment to manufacture woolen, linen or cotton cloth, around the time of the Revolution.^[40] Uxbridge, an early mill town, had industries, gristmills, forges, distilleries, and more than 20 local textile mills.^[9][41] In 1855, 560 local workers made 2.5 million yards of cloth.^[9][41][42] Entrepreneurs here innovated the first power looms for woolens, satinets, wool-nylon serge, and other wool synthetic blends, 'wash and wear' fabrics, and latch hook yarn kits. Local factories further refined manufacturing processes and efficiencies which kept textiles alive and thriving, well beyond the great depression period.

Nearly every section of town had its own mill village, complete with mills, shops, housing, farms, and baseball leagues. Hecla was home to the Polish immigrants, Linwood to the French Canadians, and North Uxbridge to the Italian immigrants. Uxbridge Center was the main village nestled between Independence, Prospect and Liberty hills. The Uxbridge Academy and "the Town common" were centerpieces of this central village. The village of Uxbridge attracted Irish immigrants who had worked on the canal. Water power from the Mumford River became the lifeblood of the Center's early industrialization. In 1832, 50 years after Nathan Webb's death, Lowell Mason came here and wrote the classical hymn tune "Uxbridge".^[43]

Seth Reed's 1777 gristmill at Uxbridge Center served in the 1880s as a gun factory known as "Bay State Arms". John Capron's first ever power looms for woolens made the first cashmere satinets in America beginning in 1820.^{[5][41][42][44]} Ironstone village, in south Uxbridge, had Benjamin Taft's 1734 forge which let Caleb Handy make tools, scythes and guns.^[9] William Arnold's 1815 mill Ironstone mill housing remains there today.^[9] The village of Hecla had American Woolen,^[9] Daniel Day's 1810 woolen mill,^[2][5] and Hilena Lowell's shoe factory. At Wheelockville, the Waucantuck Mill manufactured the first "wash and wear" fabrics.^[9] Calumet's (Central Woolen) ran 24/7 making Civil War cloth.^[9]

North Uxbridge was home to Richard Sayle's Rivulet Mill.^[9] and to Clapp's 1810 Cotton Mill. Blanchard's granite quarry, rebuilt Boston after the Great Fire of 1872 and provided New York City with curbs, as well as stones at the base of the Statue of Liberty.^[9][41][45] Nearby Linwood has a beautiful 1866 Victorian style cotton mill, built by James Whitin. Rogerson's village historic district boasts Robert Rogerson's Crown and Eagle Cotton Mill, considered a masterpiece of early industrial architecture. Today the Crown and Eagle serves as senior housing. Dutch immigrants revitalized large old farms for dairy and corn production in the early 20th century.

John Capron's original mill, downstream in Uxbridge, grew under the leadership of Charles Arthur Root of Uxbridge, and Edward Bachman of New York City, into a large textile complex, the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, with thirteen plants nationwide in four states with over 6,000 workers. It was locally instrumental in the manufacture of military uniforms and clothing, and also reached the top in the women's fashion industry. A 1953 Time Magazine article^[46] said the mill, now under the leadership of Charles Root's son-in-law, Harold Walter, the Bachman-Uxbridge Worsted Company, led New England's textile industry by research into blended fabrics and wool-nylon "serge". Civil War, World War I, World War II Army and nurse corps uniforms, the first Air Force uniform, "Uxbridge 1683 Blue",^[9][47] and "latch hook kits" were made here. President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally wrote to thank management and workers for extraordinary efforts in the war effort. Uxbridge mills were allowed to fly special Army and Navy "E" flags for excellence in wartime production. It was later known as America's third largest yarn mill, the Bernat Mill.

[edit] Mid-20th century to present

The late 20th century was marked by state and national parks developed around historic mills. Large mill fires signaled the end of local textiles which had declined since the Great Depression. Production from local mills ended, rivers were restored,^[48] and community renewal followed. The Great Gatsby (1974) and Oliver's Story (1978) were filmed locally including Stanley Woolen Mill.

The National Heritage Corridor^[49] contains the 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) Blackstone Canal Heritage State Park,^[50] 9 miles (14 km) of the Blackstone River Bikeway,^[51] the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, and West Hill Dam Army Corps wildlife refuge.^[52] 60 Federalist homes^[9] add to 54 National, and 375 state-listed historic sites, including Georgian Elmshade, and other historic architectural styles.^[9]

A 2007 fire of epic proportions destroyed the 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m²) Bernat Mill, 500 jobs, and 65 businesses.^[53]. The local fire department, located one block away, responded immediately at 4:30 a.m. on July 21, 2007. The ten-alarm fire quickly overwhelmed local resources, requiring a fire-fighting response from two states and 66 local fire departments. The fire burned for days. The original historic wooden mill of John and Effingham Capron was preserved by extraordinary fire fighting, incident command and execution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎ monitored local air quality and declining local water supplies. Public works director Larry Bombara led the US public works association in 2007-2008. The fire was the first test of disaster management for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. The local economy was severely affected. Senator John Kerry led efforts from the Small Business Administration committee to provide loans for the business losses. The Fire Marshal traced the fire to a welding company and failed sprinklers. Added steps to protect historic structures are now being examined. Mill owners plan to rebuild. Stanley Woolen Mill is currently being restored for commercial uses. Waucantuck Mill, a national historic site, was razed for condominium and retail construction. It had irreparable damage and toxic contaminants on the site.

[edit] Notable families and people

Immigrants, like Robert Taft I, who settled here in 1680, had descendants who became national leaders. Taft's grandson's widow, Lydia Chapin Taft, was "America's first woman voter", in October of 1756.^[2] Samuel Taft hosted George Washington's inaugural tour in 1789 in his home, which later hosted a second Presidential visit in 1910.^[2] Ezra Taft Benson was a Mormon Apostle, from 1846-1867, and Utah legislator. His great grandson, also named Ezra Taft Benson, was the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Mormon Church President. Peter Rawson Taft I's son, Secretary of War Alphonso Taft (1874) delivered an impassioned speech in Uxbridge on his family's history at a famous 1874 family reunion at Elmshade.^[1] Young William Howard Taft, Alfonso's son, and William's brother Charles Phelps Taft (who founded the Chicago Cubs) both likely heard it. Peter's grandson, U.S. President William Howard Taft, visited Samuel Taft House in 1910 on an official state visit with Governor Eben Draper.^[54]

Benedict Arnold's widow, Peggy Shippen, who was a Quaker, died here February 14, 1836 as Sarah Arnold, at age 83.^[16]p.356

A local immigrant boy, Arthur MacArthur, Sr. became Governor, Lt. Governor and Supreme Court Justice in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. Arthur's grandson, Douglas MacArthur, was a famous American general.

Lt. Col. Seth Read^[55] fought at Bunker Hill, added E pluribus unum to U.S. coins and founded Erie, Pennsylvania.^[17][25][26] Seth's son was a Great Lakes ship captain, and Seth's grandson Charles Manning Reed was a Whig congressman.

Paul C. Whitin was born in Uxbridge in 1767. He later started the Whitin Machine Works which grew to be the world's largest manufacturer of textile machines in the village of Whitinsville (once part of Uxbridge township). Whitinsville was named after him.

Phineas Bruce and Benjamin Adams were early U.S. Congressmen from Mendon and Uxbridge. The American Aldrich family started in Mendon and Uxbridge. "Great Uncle", Nelson W. Aldrich (born in nearby Foster, RI who served as a US Senator from Rhode Island, and Majority Leader of the US Senate), started the Federal Reserve and the U.S. income tax. Nelson's grandson was Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller.

Joshua Macomber and William Augustus Mowry were educators. Edward Sullivan (US Marine), won a Medal of Honor in the Spanish-American War. Alice Bridges won an Olympic bronze medal for the backstroke at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The town honored her at age 92, in 2008, by naming the downtown Mumford River bridge in her honor.^[31]

Tim Fortugno pitched for the California Angels, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds in the 1990s. Richard T. Moore was a Federal Emergency Management Agency executive (1994-1996), and is now in line to lead the National Conference of State Legislatures in 2010-11.^[37][56] Brian Skerry is a photojournalist with National Geographic and a passionate advocate "sounding the alarm" for the preservation of global fisheries. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. is the curator for Northern Baroque Art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..^[57]

Jacqueline Liebergott, current president of renowned arts and communication school Emerson College, was born in Uxbridge and spent her childhood there until moving to Maryland.

Jeannine Oppewall is a film art director and producer who has worked on more than 30 films and has 4 Academy Awards nominations. Jeanine was born in 1946 and raised in Uxbridge.

[edit] Government

County government: Worcester County
Clerk of Courts:	Dennis P. McManus (D)
District Attorney:	Joseph D. Early, Jr. (D)
Register of Deeds:	Anthony J. Vigliotti (D)
Register of Probate:	Stephen Abraham (D)
County Sheriff:	Guy W. Glodis (D)
State government
State Representative(s):	Jennifer M. Callahan (D) Paul Kujawski (D)
State Senator(s):	Richard T. Moore (D)
Governor's Councilor(s):	Thomas J. Foley (D)
Federal government
U.S. Representative(s):	Richard E. Neal (D-2nd Dist.)
U.S. Senators:	Ted Kennedy (D), John Kerry (D)

Local government followed an independent streak and made history. The Representative town meeting government has a Board of Selectmen (analogous to a city council):^[58] Kevin J. Kuros, Chairman, Michael Potaski, Vice Chairman, Carrie Kay Robertson, Clerk, Peter Baghdasarian and Beth A. Pitman and a Town Manager, Michael A. Szlosek. Local government made history by: 1) granting the first woman in America the right to vote in 1756,^[2] 2) ruling against smallpox "variolation" for citizens in 1775,^[2] and 3) defying the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office by approving the right of women to serve on juries in 1922.^[59] That same year, 1922, the town led Massachusetts in robberies during the first quarter. There were no police at night, and the town was forced to hire its first full time patrolman. The Uxbridge Board of Health, made this town, one of the first communities to ban tobacco sales in local pharmacies, in 2009.

[edit] Geography

The township's total area is 30.4 square miles (78.7 km²) {with 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) (2.73%) of water}, located 34.9 miles (56.2 km) southwest of Boston, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Worcester, 175 miles (282 km) northeast of New York City, and 20.4 miles (32.8 km) northwest of Providence. Uxbridge lies in the Greater Boston-Worcester-Manchester Metropolitan area^[60] Elevations range from 200 feet (61 m) to 577 feet (176 m) above sea level. Uxbridge borders the towns of Douglas, Mendon, Millville, Northbridge, and Sutton in Massachusetts, plus Burrillville and North Smithfield in Rhode Island.

[edit] Climate

Uxbridge has a continental climate that is typical of the New England upland region. The weather changes rapidly due to mixing of warm, humid air from the southwest cool, dry air from the north; and the moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Narragansett Bay to the south. Summers are typically warm and humid, while winters are cold, windy and snowy. New Englanders expect snow as early as October (rarely), and as late as May The U.S. Department of Agriculture classifies the Worcester area as within hardiness zone 5. Uxbridge typically gets less snow than Worcester, but more than Providence, owing to its midway location.

The highest recorded temperature was 104 F, in July 1975, and the lowest recorded temperature was -25 F in January 1957.^[61] The average monthly temperatures in Uxbridge are shown in the table below, with highs in the low to mid 80's in the months of July and August and lows in the teens in January and February. January is typically the coldest month and July is typically the warmest month.^[61]

The southern New England area is very prone to Nor'easter weather systems that can dump more than 20 inches (51 cm) of snow on the region in one storm event. Uxbridge made national news in 1978 when 10 year old Peter Gosselin was lost in the NE Blizzard of 1978, only to be found next to his own front door when the snow melted over a month later. Severe weather occasionally affects the southern Worcester County area where Uxbridge is located. Hurricane Diane caused devastating floods in 1955, which led to the local West Hill Dam flood control project. Hurricane Donna affected the Uxbridge area in 1960 as its eye wall passed over this town. The New England Hurricane of 1938, which devastated Providence, also affected the Uxbridge area.

Weather averages for Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °F (°C)	37 (3)	40 (4)	49 (11)	59 (15)	70 (21)	79 (27)	84 (29)	82 (28)	75 (23)	64 (18)	53 (13)	42 (5)	60 (15)
Average low °F (°C)	13 (-9)	16 (-8)	27 (-2)	37 (3)	47 (8)	55 (13)	60 (16)	59 (15)	49 (9)	37 (4)	30 (-1)	20 (-6)	40 (4)
Precipitation inches (cm)	3.6 (9)	3.3 (8)	4.1 (10)	3.9 (9)	4.3 (10)	3.6 (9)	3.7 (9)	4.1 (10)	4.1 (10)	4.1 (10)	4.5 (11)	4.0 (10)	47.3 (120)
Source: Weather.com[61] March 2009

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	1,308		—
1900	3,599		—
1910	4,671		29.8%
1920	5,384		15.3%
1930	6,285		16.7%
1940	6,417		2.1%
1950	7,007		9.2%
1960	7,789		11.2%
1970	8,253		6.0%
1980	8,374		1.5%
1990	10,415		24.4%
2000	11,156		7.1%
Est. 2007	12,634		13.2%

The 2000 United States Census^[62] showed 11,156 people, 3,988 households, and 3,034 families. 98.04% were White, 0.95% Hispanic, 0.15% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.61% Asian, and 0.07% Pacific Islander. Population density was 377.6 people/ mile² (145.8/km²). 9.5% of households had a 65 + person living alone, 29.2% were under 18, 5.8%, 40.9% from 18 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64. Median income was $61,855 and per capita income was $24,540. 4.7% of the population fell below the poverty line. While the 2000 Census showed the town's population at 11,156, the local estimate of population in 2007 was 12,634, a 7-year growth rate of 13.3%.

[edit] Economy

Uxbridge was an agrarian community in the 17th and 18th century. In the 19th century the town led in America's industrialization. The textile and shoe manufacturing mills that characterized New England mill town economies gave way to a high tech revolution in the late 20th century, dubbed "The Massachusetts Miracle". Towns like Uxbridge were the beneficiaries with new growth and entrepreneurship. Today's economy includes: high tech corporations, services, hospitality, and a textile corporate base (Berrocco). The lone remaining textile corporate headquarters traces roots to the Wheelock family and descendants of the first settler, the Rev. Ralph Wheelock. Local government and its school district are the largest employers. An industrial park houses light industries in south Uxbridge. Warehouses and distribution are located midway between Worcester and Providence. National and state parks, add tourism to the Blackstone Valley. An electric power utility plant is being planned for the industrial park. Residents commute to high tech corridors near Boston, Worcester or Providence, within 30-65 minutes. Uxbridge lost 65 small businesses in the Bernat Mill fire and is recovering slowly. Many businesses have already restarted in nearby locations. Stanley woolen mill is redeveloping for commercial uses. With expanding population, construction, education and healthcare are growth sectors.

[edit] Education

The town of Uxbridge and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts both led the United States in establishing public education. The Town of Dedham, Massachusetts had the first American taxpayer funded school in 1643, and the Wheelock family's ancestor, Rev. Ralph Wheelock was its first teacher. Uxbridge's first library was established in 1775, and its first grammar school was opened in 1788. In 1797, the town of Uxbridge appropriated $2,000 and opened 13 district schools, one for each village and section of town.^[63] The Ironstone School, now home to the South Uxbridge Community Association, located on Ironstone Street; the Elmdale School, now the Oddfellows Hall; and the Happy Hollow School, now located on Carney Street, are each examples of the former one-room district schools. The Uxbridge Academy was a sought after New England prep school between 1818 and 1851 with an outstanding educator, Joshua Mason Macomber. The Virginia Blanchard Center in the former North Uxbridge Elementary School is a fine example of 19th century school architecture and has been restored as an early childhood learning center for the community.

The town of Uxbridge in the modern era has helped to lead recent education reforms. The Uxbridge School District today has Earl D. Taft Elementary School, Whitin Middle School and Uxbridge High School. In 1996, the New York Times called the local school district's reforms, "a little revolution... started in this tiny town".^[64] 1996 Uxbridge superintendent, Michael B. Ronan, was credited with nurturing another kind of revolution... that could lead to fundamental changes in public education...one which changes the role of schools: rather than asking families to fit into the school system, he is shaping school programs to meet families' needs.(quoted from the referenced NYT article) Today's school population is around 2500 students, placing Uxbridge in the small-medium category among Commonwealth school districts. The school district is currently planning a new high school in south Uxbridge. The most recent district superintendent, Dan Stefanilo, did not live to see its completion, dying prematurely, at age 54, in February 2009.

The town also has parochial schools such as Our Lady of the Valley Regional School. Uxbridge is part of the Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School District along with other valley communities. The VoTech High School is located in nearby Upton. Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester is the local community college for the Blackstone Valley. Four-year colleges and universities are located in abundance in Worcester and other nearby communities.

In 1797, Uxbridge appropriated two thousand dollars to erecting or creating the following 13 District schools:

District 1 - Willard Ellerson

District 2- S W Scott

District 3 - Holbrook's

District 4 - Rivulet

District 5 - Center

District 6 - Martin Brown

District 7 - Ironstone

District 8 - Jacob Aldrich

District 9 - Ben Buffum's

District 10 - Williams

District 11- Charles E. Whitin

District 12 - Caleb Richardson

District 13 - Wheelock

[edit] Healthcare

Uxbridge has one of the region's first Federally Qualified Title 330 Community Health Centers, at Tri-River Family Health Center. The Federally Qualified Health Center was opened in 1978 as a partnership between the Uxbridge Board of Health, the University of Massachusetts Medical Center at Worcester, and the (formerly) Milford-Whitinsville Regional Hospital. This center provides a full range of primary care at its location adjacent to the Canal State Park. There is a local medical center in Whitinsville and full service community hospitals within 10 miles at Milford and Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket. The U-Mass Medical Center is less than 30 minutes from Uxbridge. Uxbridge also has one skilled nursing facility named after Lydia Taft, America's first woman voter. Nearby North Smithfield, Rhode Island has a long term care hospital and rehabilitation center, Landmark Medical Center-Fogarty. Whitinsvile is also home to a long term care facility, which has provided hospice care, St. Camillus Hospital. Since 2006, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had a statewide connector authority to assure access to healthcare for all Massachusetts citizens. Local legislator, Sen. Richard Moore heads the Massachusetts Senate healthcare finance committee which oversees the health insurance connector authority.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Canal

The historic Blackstone Canal still has local remmants including locks. The canal has hiking, biking, cross country skiing, and canoeing portages for recreation.

[edit] Rail

The nearest Boston commuter rail stations are the Franklin Line, at Forge Park and I-495 in Franklin, 12.77 miles (20.55 km) east of Uxbridge and the Framingham/Worcester Line at North Grafton, 14.04 miles (22.60 km), north of town. Uxbridge is on the Providence and Worcester Railroad line which handles freight.

[edit] Highways

Route 146^[65] provides freeway access to Worcester, I-290, I-190, the Massachusetts Turnpike, I-95 in Providence and I-295 in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Future plans for upgrading the entire road to freeway status may allow 146 designation as an I-190 extension. Route 16 connects west of Uxbridge through Douglas to Connecticut via I-395 at Webster, and east through Mendon to Boston, and Cape Cod by I-495 at Milford. Route 122 connects north of Uxbridge to Northbridge and Grafton,, and south to Millville, Blackstone and Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Massachusetts Route 146A, the Great Road, is now the Lydia Taft Highway which connects south to North Smithfield, Rhode Island. Massachusetts Route 98 is today known as Aldrich Street, and connects from 146A south to Burrillville, Rhode Island through Aldrich village.

[edit] Commercial airports

The closest full service commercial airport is T. F. Green Airport at Warwick, Rhode Island, a 45 minute commute, 32 miles (51 km) south of Uxbridge. Logan International Airport in Boston, is located 60 miles (97 km) miles northeast, a one hour and 15 minute commute, and serves communities in eastern Massachusetts. The Worcester Regional Airport, a 46 minute commute, is 23 miles (37 km) north, and has one 7,000-foot runway and two 5,000-foot runways, and commercial service on Direct Air. Bradley International Airport in East Granby, CT is 85 miles (137 km) WSW, or one hour and thirty three minutes from Uxbridge.

[edit] General aviation

A general aviation airport is located about 10 miles (16 km) to the east in Hopedale.

[edit] Points of interest

• National historic sites
• John C. Farnum House, Uxbridge Historical Society Museum, circa 1710
• Lt. Simeon Wheelock House, Uxbridge common district, 1768
• Friends meetinghouse, circa 1770
• Taft House, 1789 Inaugural tour visit of George Washington and 1910 visit of Uxbridge grandson, William Howard Taft
• Crown and Eagle Cotton Mill, circa 1830
• Elmshade, Site of historic Taft family reunion of 1874
• Bernat Mill, formerly Capron Mill, circa 1820, and Uxbridge Worsted Company
• Stanley Woolen Mill, also once known as Central Woolen, Calumet, and Moses Taft Mill
• Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
• National Park Service, valley sites: Millville & Uxbridge
• Blackstone Canal at River Bend Farm
• Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation park website
• River Bend Farm and Canal, National Park Service brochure
• West Hill Dam and recreation area
• Walking tour of Uxbridge, National Park Service brochure

[edit] See also

• List of notable Uxbridge people by century
• The Tafts of Mendon and Uxbridge
• John Capron
• Wrona, B., Uxbridge-Images of America (2000), Arcadia, ISBN 0738504610

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Uxbridge website, Town Description,School history, Preserve America Community
• Dedication of Post Viet Nam War Memorial
• Bernat mill fire
• Bernat mill fire video, mfontaine phtography.com
• Lt. Col. Seth Read Home c. 1769-1790, Seth & Hannah Reed
• Uxbridge on "New England Byways", 1998 WBZ TV plus Christmas eve video of Uxbridge on youtube.com
• Grafton Nipmuck re-created Nipmuc village, CT
• Abby Kelley Foster, Worcester women's history project

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