Uxbridge, Massachusetts

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located Template:Convert southwest of Boston<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Template:Convert south-southeast of Worcester, at the midpoint of the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park. The historical society notes that Uxbridge is the "Heart of The Blackstone Valley" and is also known as "the Cradle of the Industrial Revolution".<ref>"Uxbridge Historical Society Newsletter, Volume 1. Issue 1. June 2022"</ref> Uxbridge was a prominent Textile center in the American Industrial Revolution. Two Quakers served as national leaders in the American anti-slavery movement. Uxbridge "weaves a tapestry of early America".<ref name="NPS">Template:Cite web</ref>

Indigenous Nipmuc people near "Wacentug" or “Waentug” (river bend), deeded land to 17th-century settlers. Uxbridge reportedly granted rights to America's first colonial woman voter, Lydia Taft, and approved Massachusetts first women jurors. The first hospital for mental illness in America was reportedly established here.<ref name="worcester">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="cwmars1">Template:Cite web Digital Treasures, Samuel Willard ran a "hospital for the insane", and trained young physicians, east side of Uxbridge Common (no longer standing)</ref> Deborah Sampson posed as an Uxbridge soldier, and fought in the American Revolution. A 140-year legacy of manufacturing military uniforms and clothing began with 1820 power looms. Uxbridge became famous for woolen cashmeres. "Uxbridge Blue", was the first US Air Force Dress Uniform.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> BJ's Wholesale Club distribution warehouse is a major employer today.

Uxbridge had a population of 14,162 at the 2020 United States census.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Colonial era, Revolution, Quakers, and abolition

John Eliot started Nipmuc Praying Indian villages.<ref name="MHC"/><ref name="nipmuc">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="names">Template:Cite web</ref> Several praying Indian towns included Waentug (or Wacentug) and “Rice City” (later settled as Mendon.) “Great John”, sold Squimshepauk plantation to settlers in September of 1663,<ref name="hist">Template:Cite book</ref> "for 24 pound Ster".<ref name="hist" /><ref name="mendon">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mendon began in 1667, and burned in King Phillips War. Nipmuck joined the native uprising, and many died. Western Mendon became Uxbridge in 1727, and Farnum House held the first town meeting.<ref name="farnum">Template:Cite web</ref> John Adams’ uncle, Nathan Webb, was the first called minister of the colony's first new Congregational church in the Great Awakening.<ref name="church">Template:Cite book</ref> The American Taft family origins are intertwined with Uxbridge and Mendon. Lydia Taft reportedly voted in the 1756 town meeting, considered as a first for colonial women.<ref name="Washington" />

Seth and Joseph Read and Simeon Wheelock joined Committees of Correspondence.<ref name="Seth">Template:Cite book</ref> Baxter Hall was a Minuteman drummer.<ref name="music">Template:Cite web</ref> Seth Read fought at Bunker Hill. Washington stopped at Reed's tavern, en route to command the Continental Army.<ref name="vitals">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="collections">Template:Cite book</ref> Samuel Spring was one of the first chaplains of the American Revolution.<ref name="Spring">Template:Cite web</ref> Deborah Sampson enlisted as "Robert Shurtlieff of Uxbridge".<ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> Shays' Rebellion also began here, and Governor John Hancock quelled Uxbridge riots.<ref name="revolution">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="hancock">Template:Cite book</ref> Simeon Wheelock died protecting the Springfield Armory.<ref name="walking">Template:Cite web</ref> Seth Reed was instrumental in adding "E pluribus unum" to U.S. coins.<ref name="e pluribus" /><ref name=autogenerated1>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Origin">Template:Cite book</ref> Washington slept here on his Inaugural tour while traveling the Middle Post Road.<ref name="halifax">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="navigator">Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Jacob Aldrich House, National Historic Site, Uxbridge, MA.jpg

Jacob Aldrich House; Quaker style house

Quakers including Richard Mowry migrated here from Smithfield, Rhode Island, and built mills, railroads, houses, tools and Conestoga wagon wheels.<ref name="walking" /><ref name="dhcd">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cones">Template:Cite web</ref> Southwick's store housed the Social and Instructive Library. Friends Meetinghouse, next to Moses Farnum's farm, had prominent abolitionists Abby Kelley Foster and Effingham Capron as members.<ref name="quaker2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Archeology">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Buffum">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="meeting">Template:Cite web</ref> Capron led the 450 member local anti-slavery society. Brister Pierce, formerly a slave in Uxbridge, was a signer of an 1835 petition to Congress demanding abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Local influences from the First and Second Great Awakenings can be seen with the early Congregational and Quaker traditions.

Early transportation, education, public health and safety

The Tafts built the Middle Post Road's Blackstone River bridge in 1709.<ref name="Post Road">Template:Cite book</ref> "Teamsters" drove horse "team" freight wagons on the Worcester-Providence stage route. The Blackstone Canal brought horse-drawn barges to Providence through Uxbridge for overnight stops.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="canal">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bridge">Template:Cite web</ref> The "crossroads village" was a junction on the Underground Railroad.<ref name="Effingham" /> The P&W Railroad ended canal traffic in 1848.

A 1732 vote "set up a school for ye town of Uxbridge".<ref name="hist" /> A grammar school was followed by 13 one-room district school houses, built for $2000 in 1797. Uxbridge Academy (1818) became a prestigious New England prep school.

Uxbridge voted against the smallpox vaccine.<ref name="Washington" /> Samuel Willard treated smallpox victims,<ref name="elias">Template:Cite book</ref> was a forerunner of modern psychiatry, and ran the first hospital for mental illness in America.<ref name="worcester" /><ref name="cwmars1" /> Vital records recorded many infant deaths,<ref name="vitals" /> the smallpox death of Selectman Joseph Richardson, "Quincy", "dysentary", and tuberculosis deaths.<ref name="vitals" /><ref name="walking" /> Leonard White recorded a malaria outbreak here in 1896 that led to<ref name="malaria" /> firsts in the control of malaria as a mosquito-borne infection.<ref name="malaria">Template:Cite web</ref> Uxbridge led Massachusetts in robberies for a quarter of the year in 1922, and the town voted to hire its first nighttime police patrolman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Peter Emerick summarized the history of policing in Uxbridge.<ref>url= https://www.uxbridge-ma.gov/police-department/pages/our-history</ref>

Industrial era: 19th century to late 20th century

Bog iron and three iron forges marked the colonial era, with the inception of large-scale industries beginning around 1775.<ref name="info" /> Examples of this development can be seen in the work of Richard Mowry, who built and marketed equipment to manufacture woolen, linen, or cotton cloth,<ref name="NPS" /><ref name="national">Template:Cite web</ref> and gristmills, sawmills, distilleries, and large industries.<ref name="MHC" /> Daniel Day built the first woolen mill in 1809.<ref name="hist" /><ref name="Washington" /> By 1855, 560 local workers made Template:Convert of cloth (Template:Convert).<ref name="info">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="MHC" /> Uxbridge reached a peak of over twenty different industrial mills.<ref name="MHC" /><ref name="walking" /> A small silver vein at Scadden, in southwest Uxbridge, led to unsuccessful commercial mining in the 1830s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:2 Capron Street, Uxbridge.JPG

Charles Capron House. The Capron family was prominent in the Industrial era at Uxbridge Center where Capron Mill is located.

Innovations included power looms, vertical integration of wool to clothing, cashmere wool-synthetic blends, "wash and wear", yarn spinning techniques, and latch hook kits. Villages included mills, shops, worker housing, and farms. Wm. Arnold's Ironstone cotton mill, later made Kentucky Blue Jeans,<ref name="walking" /> and Seth Read's gristmill, later housed Bay State Arms. Hecla and Wheelockville housed American Woolen, Waucantuck Mill, Hilena Lowell's shoe factory, and Draper Corporation. Daniel Day, Jerry Wheelock, and Luke Taft used water-powered mills. Moses Taft's (Central Woolen) operated continuously making Civil War cloth.<ref name="walking" /><ref name="stanley">Template:Cite web</ref>

North Uxbridge housed Clapp's 1810 cotton mill, Chandler Taft's and Richard Sayles' Rivulet Mill, the granite quarry, and Rogerson's village. Crown and Eagle Mill was "a masterpiece of early industrial architecture".<ref name="Crown">Template:Cite book</ref> Blanchard's granite quarry provided curb stones to New York City, the Statue of Liberty and regional public works projects.<ref name="MHC">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="walking" /><ref name="Blanchard">Template:Cite book</ref> Peter Rawson Taft's grandson, William Howard Taft, visited Samuel Taft House.<ref name="visits">Template:Cite news</ref>

John Sr., Effingham and John W. Capron's mill pioneered US satinets and woolen power looms.<ref name="MHC" /><ref name="hist" /><ref name="info" /><ref name="water">Template:Cite web</ref> Charles A. Root, Edward Bachman, and Harold Walter expanded Bachman-Uxbridge, and exhibited leadership in women's fashion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company manufactured US Army uniforms for the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the nurse corps, and the first Air Force dress uniforms, dubbed "Uxbridge Blue".<ref name="walking" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Time magazine covered Uxbridge Worsted's proposed buyout to be the top US woolen company.<ref name="auto"/> The largest plant of one of the largest US yarn companies, Bernat Yarn, was located here from the 1960s to the 1980s. A historic company called Information Services operated from Uxbridge, and managed subscription services for The New Republic, among other publications, in the later 20th century.

Late 20th century to present

File:RiverBendFarm 091.jpg

Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park

File:Uxbridge, Massachusetts fire station.jpg

Uxbridge fire station

State and national parks developed around mills and rivers were restored.<ref name="cleaning">Template:Cite web</ref> The Great Gatsby (1974) and Oliver's Story (1978) were filmed locally including at Stanley Woolen Mill. The Blackstone Valley National Historic Park<ref name="nps">Template:Cite web</ref> contains the Template:ConvertBlackstone Canal Heritage State Park,<ref name="park">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Convert of the Blackstone River Greenway,<ref name="bikeway">Template:Cite web</ref> the Southern New England Trunkline Trail (which has the interesting SNETT stone chamber south of Lee pond),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> West Hill Dam, a 567-acre wildlife refuge,<ref name="dam">Template:Cite web</ref> parcels of the Metacomet Land Trust,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Cormier Woods. 60 Federalist homes<ref name="walking" /> were added to 54 national and 375 state-listed historic sites, including Georgian Elmshade (where War Secretary Alphonso Taft had recounted local family history at a famous reunion).<ref name=autogenerated2>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Alphonso">Template:Cite bookTemplate:Cite bookTemplate:Cite book</ref> Capron's wooden mill survived a 2007 fire at the Bernat Mill.<ref name="fire">Template:Cite news</ref> Stanley mill is being restored while Waucantuck Mill was mostly razed. In 2013 multiple fires again affected the town, including a historic bank building and a Quaker home from the early 1800s. See National historic sites.

Five bands of the original indigenous Nipmuck people live in the Worcester County region today.

In 2017, a new $9.25 million fire station was completed on Main Street next to Town Hall.<ref name="FireStation">Template:Cite news</ref> Voters approved the 14,365 square-foot station in 2015.<ref name="Fitzerald2017">Template:Cite news</ref> The station has five bays to accommodate modern fire trucks, a radio and server room for computer and phone servers.<ref name="Fitzerald2017" /> The second floor includes a fitness room, kitchen, and showers for staff.<ref name="FireStation" /> The station is located in the historic district, and was built in consultation with the Uxbridge Historic District Commission.<ref name="FireStation" /> The old post office and fire station were demolished to make room for the new station.<ref name="Fitzerald2017" /> Context Architecture was the designer.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

The McCluskey School parking lot and former Bernat Mill site were used for Netflix film crews setup in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Uxbridge High Spartans won the 2023 Division 7 Superbowl at Gillette Stadium with an undefeated record <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 2024 Spartans won their second Division 7 Super Bowl championship against Mashpee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Uxbridge High Spartans Field Hockey Team clinched its fourth consecutive state championship in the 2024 Season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2025 the Arthur R. Taft Memorial Trust generously provided funding for historical preservation of the Farnum House. <ref>Uxbridge Historical Commission April 16, 2025</ref>

Geography

The town is Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert, or 2.74%, is water. It is situated Template:Convert southwest of Boston, Template:Convert southeast of Worcester, and Template:Convert northwest of Providence. Elevations range from Template:Convert to Template:Convert above sea level. It borders Douglas, Mendon, Millville, Northbridge, and Sutton, Massachusetts, plus the Rhode Island towns of Burrillville and North Smithfield.

Climate

A USDA hardiness zone 5 continental climate prevails with snowfall extremes from November to April. The highest recorded temperature was 104 F, in July 1975, and the lowest, −25 F in January 1957.<ref name="Weather.com">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Weather box

Demographics

Template:Historical populations The 2010 United States Census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> population was 13,457, representing a growth rate of 20.6%, with 5,056 households, a density rate of 166.31 units per square mile. 95.7% were White, 1.7% Asian, 0.90% Hispanic, 0.3% African American, and 1.4% other. Population density was 442.66 people/ mile² (170.77/kmTemplate:Sup). Per capita income was $24,540, and 4.7% fell below the poverty line. There were 9,959 registered voters in 2010.

Economy

High tech, services, distribution, life sciences, hospitality, local government, education and tourism offer local jobs. A 618,000 square feet (57,400 m2) distribution center serves Fortune 500 BJ's Wholesale Club's, northern division. Unemployment was 3.9%, lower than the state average .<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Arts and culture

Points of interest

• "Uxbridge", A film by Chris Bilodeau Photography<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (2017)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• National historic sites
• Lt. Simeon Wheelock House, Uxbridge common district, 1768<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Friends meetinghouse, Template:Circa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Taft House, 1789 inaugural tour visit of George Washington and 1910 visit of Uxbridge grandson, William Howard Taft<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Crown and Eagle Cotton Mill, Template:Circa<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Elmshade, site of historic Taft family reunion of 1874
• Bernat Mill, formerly Capron Mill, Template:Circa, and Uxbridge Worsted Company
• Stanley Woolen Mill, also once known as Central Woolen, Calumet, and Moses Taft Mill<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Stanley Woolen Mill
• Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
• National Park Service, valley sites: Millville & Uxbridge<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Blackstone Canal at River Bend Farm<ref>Blackstone Canal at River Bend Farm</ref>
• Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• River Bend Farm and Canal<ref name="auto1"/>
• West Hill Dam and recreation area<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Blissful Meadows Golf Club<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government

Uxbridge has a Board of Selectmen and town meeting government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Local government granted the first woman in America the right to vote,<ref name="Washington">Template:Cite book</ref> nixed a smallpox vaccine in 1775,<ref name="Washington" /> and defied the Massachusetts Secretary of State by approving women jurors.<ref name="juries">Template:Cite news</ref> The 2009 Board of Health made Uxbridge the third community in the US to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies, but later reversed this.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

State agencies control county elected offices, and Uxbridge has a District Courthouse but no jail.

State and federal elected officials

• Lewis Evangelidis Sheriff of Worcester County
• Massachusetts House of Representatives - Michael Soter
• Massachusetts Senate - Ryan Fattman
• Massachusetts Governor's Council - Paul M. DePalo
• United States House of Representatives - Jim McGovern
• United States Senate - Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey

Education

Local schools include the Earl D. Taft Early Learning Center (Pre-K–3), Whitin Intermediate School (4–7), Uxbridge High School (8–12), and Our Lady of the Valley Regional.

Uxbridge is also a member of one of the thirteen towns of the Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational School District. Uxbridge students in eighth grade have the opportunity to apply to Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School, serving grades 9–12.

The New York Times called Uxbridge education reforms a "little revolution" to meet family needs.<ref name="times">Template:Cite news</ref>

Infrastructure

Transportation

Rail

The nearest MBTA Commuter Rail stops are Template:Bts on the Franklin/Foxboro Line and Template:Bts and Template:Bts on the Framingham/Worcester Line, 15 miles away. The Providence and Worcester Railroad freight line passes through Uxbridge.

Highways

Highways in Uxbridge include Route 146,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Route 16, Route 122, Route 98 and Route 146A.

Airports

TF Green State Airport Warwick-Providence, RI, Worcester Regional Airport, and Boston Logan International Airport have commercial flights. Hopedale Airport, Template:Convert away, and Worcester Regional Airport have general aviation. A private air strip, Sky Glen Airport on Quaker Highway, is still listed on FAA sites, though the map location shows it within a dense industrial park, and at its peak of operations, it saw very low traffic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Healthcare

Tri-River Family Health Center (University of Massachusetts Medical School) offers primary care. Milford Regional, Landmark Medical Center, hospices and long term care are nearby or local.

Notable people

• Benjamin Adams, Congressman
• Willard Bartlett, New York Chief Justice
• Franklin Bartlett, Congressman
• Nicholas Baylies was born and raised in Uxbridge, and served as a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Ezra ("T".) Taft Benson, was an LDS Church Apostle, Hawaii missionary, and Utah legislator. Chandler Taft built the 1814 Rivulet Mill
• Alice Bridges, won an Olympic bronze in Berlin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Phineas Bruce, Congressman
• Edward P. Bullard, started Bullard Machine tools, whose designs enabled auto manufacturing and industry
• Tyler Burton was an NBA second round draft pick candidate in 2022 but withdraw to play for Villanova University. He was born in Uxbridge in 2000.
• Effingham Capron,<ref name="Effingham">Template:Cite web</ref> led Uxbridge as a center for pre-Civil War anti-slavery activities, and was a state and national anti-slavery leader, and an industrialist<ref name="Effingham" />
• Julius Angelo Carpenter. Born in Uxbridge, Angelo founded Carpentersville, Illinois and served in the Illinois House of Representatives
• Daniel Day, a Taft, started the third US woolen mill
• Tim Fortugno, played for the California Angels and Chicago White Sox
• Albert Harkness, Uxbridge High; academic latin scholar; published multiple works
• Kevin Kuros. Former State legislator, from Uxbridge.
• Jacqueline Liebergott, was president of Emerson College
• Arthur MacArthur Sr., was a Lt. Governor, Chief Justice and Douglas MacArthur's grandfather
• Mike Mahoney (American football). Former Head coach of Murray State University. Played for Southern Connecticut.
• Joshua Macomber, Educator
• Richard Moore, recent Senate President Pro Tem (MA), was a FEMA executive, a past President of the Conference of State Legislatures, and a principal architect of Massachusetts's landmark health care law<ref name="rock">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Richard">Template:Cite web</ref>
• William Augustus Mowry, Educator
• Jeannine Oppewall, has four Academy Award nominations for best art direction
• Willard Preston, the 4th University of Vermont President, published famous sermons while later serving the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, Georgia<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Seth Reed, fought at Bunker Hill, was instrumental in adding "E pluribus unum" to U.S. coins,<ref name="e pluribus">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref name="rootsweb">Template:Cite web</ref> and was a founder of Erie, Pennsylvania and Geneva, New York<ref name="Seth" /><ref name="e pluribus" />
• Joseph Read was a Colonel in the American Revolutionary War.
• Brian Skerry, is a National Geographic photojournalist, protecting global sea life<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Edward Sullivan, won a Congressional Medal of Honor in the Spanish–American War
• Robert Taft I, was patriarch to the Taft family political dynasty
• Robert Taft, 2nd, was a Selectman<ref name="Washington" />
• Josiah Taft, wealthy landowner, husband of Lydia Taft
• Lydia (Chapin) Taft, first woman to vote in America<ref name="Washington" />
• Bezaleel Taft Sr., served as an American Revolution Captain, state representative and state senator
• Bezaleel Taft Jr., state representative and state Senator. Owned historic Elmshade Taft Family homestead
• Samuel Taft, hosted George Washington https://www.evdtechnology.com/ on his post-inaugural tour<ref name="Washington" />
• Luke Taft, built two water powered textile mills
• Moses Taft, built Stanley Woolen Mill and implicated in the Boston Molasses Disaster
• Peter Rawson Taft I, was the grandfather of William Howard Taft
• Nathan Webb, First called minister at new Congregational Church, first mentioned in Great Awakening period, was John Adams‘ uncle
• Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., was curator of Northern Baroque Art at the National Gallery of Art from 1975 to his retirement in 2018<ref name="curator">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Leonard White (physician) Early Uxbridge physician and health officer who was involved in the study of mosquitoes and malaria.
• Paul C. Whitin, founded the Whitin Machine Works; transformed cotton machine manufacturing
• Samuel Willard (physician). Early Uxbridge physician who was a pioneer in mental health treatment.
• Charles Vacanti, Anasthesiologist; Tissue engineering; Stem Cells; Known for the Vacanti Mouse

See also

• List of notable Uxbridge people by century
• Linwood, Massachusetts
• List of mill towns in Massachusetts

External links

• Template:Official website