Thibodeau Farm, on River Road. Lonsdale is in the southeastern corner of Lincoln, bordering Cumberland and Central Falls, and the main roads include Routes 122 and 123. The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

Lonsdale village, one of Lincoln’s oldest neighborhoods, was built around the Lonsdale Mills, which opened in 1834 and, using power from the Blackstone River, was once a large producer of cotton fabrics.

The village is in the southeastern corner of Lincoln, bordering Cumberland and Central Falls, and the main roads include Routes 122 and 123.

Many of the original red-brick mill buildings, and housing built for mill workers, are still standing, and are in use today. In the industrial heart of the village, houses and buildings are close together on small lots, but the greater neighborhood also includes a number of outlying subdivisions with houses on larger lots.

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There are efforts under way to redevelop some of the blighted and underused parts of Lonsdale, according to Lincoln Town Planner Albert V. Ranaldi Jr.

Although the landmark sign is still there, the Lonsdale Drive-In property off John Street has been reclaimed as a wetlands area and wildlife habitat. The state Department of Environmental Management bought the property in 1998 and removed 13 acres of asphalt, two movie screens, a 75-foot antenna and several small buildings. The drive-in closed in the early 1980s.

The Blackstone River Bikeway, which extends from Lincoln north to Woonsocket, now includes a stop at John Street, at the site of the former Lonsdale Drive-In. Long-term, there are plans to extend the bikeway south to downtown Pawtucket, then to Providence, where it will eventually be connected with the East Bay Bike Path, and north toward Worcester, Mass.

Ranaldi said the Town Council recently created a redevelopment agency for a part of the mill complex called the Lonsdale Bleachery; the middle building in this section, which has about 165,000 square feet of space, is vacant, and the town would like to see a mixed-use redevelopment there. Street access is an issue in the mill village, because all the roads are private, he said. “It doesn’t really make a good investment from a commercial standpoint,” Ranaldi said. “How do we get people from a public road to a private business without trespassing?”

It’s not unusual for house prices in new developments in some of Lincoln’s more rural neighborhoods to approach or surpass $1 million. But housing in Lonsdale is more moderately priced. Last week, there were five listings for single-family houses in Lonsdale under $300,000. All were built in the 1950s. Prices ranged from $229,900 for a two-bedroom, one-bath ranch to $299,900 for a ranch with three bedrooms and two full baths on almost one acre of land on a cul-de-sac.

There were just two Lonsdale listings above $300,000: one was $319,900, for a 1959 ranch with four bedrooms and two full baths, and $350,000 for a 1958 Colonial with three bedrooms, one full bath and one half-bath. The listing information said the house was priced below market value for a short sale, and offers are subject to third-party approval.

On Arnold Street, a three-bedroom townhouse condominium, part of an updated 1890 duplex, is on the market for $219,900.

Lonsdale is also home to Lincoln Manor, which includes 252 units of housing for elderly and disabled residents, operated by the Lincoln Housing Authority.

POPULATION: (Lincoln, 2000) 20,898

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE:

(Lincoln, 2006) $330,000

PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

Lonsdale Elementary School

Lincoln Middle School

Lincoln High School

William M. Davies Jr. Career & Technical High School

NTERESTING FACT:

The Lonsdale Historic District, which includes the Lonsdale Mill Village, and areas of Cumberland near the Ann & Hope mill, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

cdunn@projo.com