LINCOLN -- The man in hiking boots, long green trousers, tan
shirt and a ranger's broad-brimmed hat, leading a procession of
twenty-somethings, middle-aged couples and tourists along the Lonsdale
Avenue section of Route 122 puzzles evening commuters waiting at the red
light.
Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
A group tours the village of Lonsdale in Lincoln, on the banks of the Blackstone River. National Park Service rangers Daniel Wegner, left, and Kevin Klyberg, background, tell visitors about the lives of mill workers from 1840 to 1920.
Suburban Lincoln might seem a peculiar spot to find National Park
Service Ranger Kevin Klyberg, the man in the hat.
But the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage
Corridor, stretching from Worcester to Providence, is not your usual
national park.
These Thursday Night Walkabouts give the rangers the chance to introduce
visitors to what Klyberg calls "often overlooked jewels" of the
Blackstone Valley.
This Thursday evening in late June, Klyberg and his group are exploring
Lonsdale's "Old Village," stepping back for a time into the almost
feudal world of a 19th-century New England mill town.
Klyberg makes clear throughout the tour that Lonsdale, like many of the
villages throughout the Blackstone River Valley, is where the industrial
revolution in America began. The Lonsdale Company was one of Rhode
Island's biggest textile empires.
"Lonsdale Village is a very good example of a complete mill village,"
Klyberg says. "What we have here is the houses, the factories, the
warehouses, and the water as sources of power all right next to each
other and fairly well preserved."
The commuters stare in wonder at Klyberg as he hurries the group down
the street, his arms pumping briskly, his hands darting one way, then
turning and pointing out something else.
The tour pauses next to 1640 Lonsdale Ave., a wooden house with fading
yellow paint. Across the street is a large red brick building, currently
the home of Knock on Wood Furniture.
Pointing to the shop on the other side of the road, Klyberg explains,
"This long brick structure was built in 1869 by the Lonsdale Company and
was known as Lonsdale Hall. It really was the social and commercial
center of the village . . . In 1888, tenants here included a barber, a
dry goods store, drug store, and J.J Arnold's bakery. The upstairs space
was used as a meeting room for events such as dances and quilting bees."
The 16 folks along for this tour nod their heads attentively as Klyberg
explains how the economy of this village of 1,200 essentially operated
out of what was basically a company-owned department store.
Lonsdale Village grew out of the Lonsdale Mills, which opened in 1834
and used water power provided by the Blackstone River.
Before 1830, there wasn't much but farmers' fields in the area, and to
staff its operation the company constructed the village, which consisted
not only of workers' houses, but also churches, schools, stores and
community buildings.
A large dairy farm and company gardens met the needs of the families of
hundreds of workers. The majority of the mill properties, where workers
lived, toiled, worshiped, attended school and played can be found in the
areas around Main Street, School Street, Grant Street and Lonsdale
Avenue.
"A lot of my family worked in the mills in this area," says Jane
Jackson, who lives in Lincoln. The tour, particularly the description of
housing, she says, "really puts it all into context."
Klyberg's tour continues down Lonsdale Avenue to Cook Street.
Number 9 Cook St., across the lane from Zippy Lube, is a smaller red
brick building, part of a group laid out geometrically for some way down
the road. These are the old mill houses, where the company assigned six
to eight families per house to live.
"These eight-bay, long brick blocks are the remains of an immense
tenement complex dating from the 1850s," Klyberg says. "They were the
first brick houses built in Lonsdale and represent increasing prosperity
for the company and its employees."
Klyberg explains that most of those people working for the Lonsdale
Mills were from the British Isles. He said generations of families lived
in these houses, grew up, were educated at the village school, and then
spent their lives working for the company.
As the tour continues down Cook, toward the giant old mill buildings
themselves, the size of the mill's production operations became clear.
"If these buildings were still in operation, the noise would be
terrible," Klyberg notes. "Many workers went deaf while working here.
People learned to read lips and hand signals."
The Lonsdale Mills were cotton mills. Their products were shipped all
over the world. Cotton grown down south was shipped to Providence and
then was transported by canal up to the mill villages. Once it went to a
factory such as the Lonsdale Mills, it was cleaned, the fibers were
combed, spun into thread and eventually woven into cloth.
After more than 100 years, the mills in the area began to shut down or
change products by the 1930s.
Nancy and Jo-Anne Koczera, sisters who grew up in Cumberland and now
live in Pawtucket, say this is the first time they've really learned
about the mill village heritage of the Blackstone Valley.
"Even though we went to school around here," Nancy says, "we never
really discussed the history."
Winding down, the tour makes its way onto Lonsdale Main Street, which is
lined with wooden houses. These are some of the oldest examples of mill
housing, dating to the 1840s.
Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
Park ranger Kevin Klyberg explains the development of the village of Lonsdale along the Blackstone River, particularly during the period from 1840 to 1920.
Robert Martineau and his family live in one of the houses along this
street, and they watch curiously as Klyberg leads his band through one
of the last legs of the tour.
Asked what he thinks about having historic walking tours strolling
through his neighborhood, even stepping on his front lawn, Martineau
shrugs and says he doesn't mind.
"Because of the mills," Martineau says, "this is a very old part of
town. I think it's good people are taking some interest and remembering
it all."
That's just what Klyberg, who has been leading these free public tours
for six summers now, hopes they do.
"What we're doing is highlighting a different part of the valley each
week," Klyberg explains. "We want people to be able to find out a little
bit about all the different parts of the Blackstone Valley."
About 15 to 20 people turn out at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday to check out
different areas in the valley, says Klyberg. "It's really a good chance
for area residents to find out more about the area they live in."
Carl Desimone, who recently moved to Rhode Island from the Hartford,
Conn., area, says he really enjoyed learning about his new home. "I
think it's great that a transplanted person like myself can find out
about the history of where we go to wash our cars or shop."
The week along the river
Highlights of events throughout the week along the Blackstone:
THURSDAY
Noon to 12:50 p.m. Thursday Bag Lunch Riverboat Tour. Cruise on the
Blackstone Valley Explorer. Minimum 15 passengers. Reservations
required. Call (401) 724-2200. All seats $7. Central Falls Landing,
corner Broad Street and Madeira Avenue, Central Falls.
FRIDAY
Noon to 1:15 p.m. Millbury Lawn Concert Series, Main and Elm Streets,
Millbury, Mass.
SATURDAY
Noon to 8 p.m. Annual Colombian Independence Day Festival. On the
grounds of the Slater Mill Historic Site, Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket.
Features a colorful parade, festive entertainment and dancing, ethnic
foods and family activities. Contact Colombian American Cultural
Society, (401) 725-0023.
7 p.m. Free summer movie series featuring Jaws. Stadium Theatre
Performing Arts Centre, Monument Square, Woonsocket. (401) 762-4545
SUNDAY
1 to 3 p.m. Free Sunday concert series. City of Central Falls, Jenks
Park, Broad Street, Central Falls. (401) 727-7425.
1 to 4 p.m. Blackstone Valley Explorer Wilderness Tour. Cruise the river
aboard 49-passenger tour boat. Public tours leaving from Central Falls
Landing, Broad Street at Madeira Avenue, at 1, 2, 3, 4 p.m. $7/adults,
$6/seniors and children. Call (401) 724-2200.
3:30 p.m. Sunday Concerts on the Canal. River Bend Farm Visitor Center,
Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, Oak Street, Uxbridge,
Mass. (508) 278-7604.
5 to 6 p.m. Sunday Concerts on the Common. Slatersville Town Common,
Route 102, North Smithfield. (401) 767-2200.
6:30 p.m. Pendragon in concert. Veterans Memorial, Exchange Street,
Pawtucket.
SOURCE: Blackstone Valley Tourism Council Web site
www.tourblackstone.com
Thursday tours
The Thursday Night Walkabouts, offered by the National Park Service
Rangers and volunteers of the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley
National Heritage Corridor, are free and open to the public. The tours,
which visit a different locale each week, run through August. The tours
start at 6:30 p.m.
July 14: Blackstone River Bikeway, Lincoln. Bicycle tour that features
history of the Blackstone Canal. Helmets required. Start at the bikeway
entrance at the old Lonsdale Drive-in on John Street, Route 123, Lincoln.
July 21: Hearthside, 677 Great Rd., Lincoln. Visit this 1820 stone
mansion with a storied past and learn more about the Great Road Historic
District.
July 28: The Underground Railroad, Uxbridge, Mass. Learn about the
active underground network in the valley. Starts at the Uxbridge Quaker
Meetinghouse, Route 146A, Uxbridge, Mass.
Aug. 4: Whitinsville, Northbridge, Mass. While most of the valley was
home to textile mills, Whitinsville produced the textile machines that
kept those mills running. Begins at the Whitin Social Library, Church
Street, Whitinsville.
Aug. 11: Goat Hill Lock, Uxbridge, Mass. This hike highlights the
construction, use and reuse of the Blackstone Canal, ending at the
remnants of the Goat Hill Lock, one of the last remaining 48 lift locks
used on the canal. Sturdy walking shoes advised. Starts at the trailhead
to Goat Hill Lock, Hartford Avenue, Uxbridge, Mass., across from the
Tri-River Health Center.
Aug. 18: Blackstone Gorge, Blackstone, Mass. This is a walk through the
last remaining wild section of the river. Sturdy walking shoes advised.
Starts at the Blackstone Gorge parking lot on County Road, Blackstone,
Mass.
Aug. 25: Woonsocket. The Walkabouts wrap up with a tour of Woonsocket,
featuring the 30-foot Woonsocket Falls that powered mills in the city
and a visit to Bernon, one of six mill villages that make up Woonsocket.
Starts at the Woonsocket Falls, River Street, Woonsocket.
For more information, contact the Heritage Corridor at (401) 762-0440.
****
Keep up with the series, Summer on the Blackstone, at:
http://projo.com/blackstonesummer
ARTICLE TOOLS: 
