Editing Northbridge, Massachusetts (section)

==History==

===Early history===

The earliest residents were the [[Nipmuc]], or "Small Pond People". They had a well-developed agriculture, made tools, and had a graphite mine at Sturbridge. Northbridge was first settled  by Europeans in 1704 and was officially incorporated on July 14, 1772. The town was once part of [[Mendon, Massachusetts|Mendon]], from 1667 to 1726, and part of [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts|Uxbridge]], from 1727 to 1772. Colonel John Spring, who had agitated for the new town of Northbridge, and later reversed his position, led a company of men in the [[Massachusetts Militia]] in the Revolution. Dozens of local men fought at the [[Lexington Alarm]], and at [[Battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]]. [[Samuel Spring]], John's son, became a Revolutionary War Chaplain commissioned in the militia at the [[Siege of Boston]], and who also served in the [[Invasion of Canada (1775)]] under Colonel [[Benedict Arnold]].[http://www.blackstonevalleytribune.com/pdf/BLA.2008.12.05.pdf] Samuel carried Benedict Arnold and [[Aaron Burr]], his [[Princeton University|Princeton]] classmate, off of separate battlefields. Colonel [[Seth Read]] and his brother, Colonel [[Joseph Read]] owned more than half of the land in this town at the time of the [[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name="seth">{{cite book|last= Buford|first= Mary Hunter|title= Seth Read, Lieut.-Col.Continental Army; Pioneer at Geneva, New York, 1787, and at Erie, Penn., June, 1795. His Ancestors and Descendants.|year= 1895|location=Boston, Mass.|pages=  167 Pages on CD in PDF Format}}</ref> They both fought in the Massachusetts Militia, and the [[Continental Army]].<ref name="seth"/> The mother of President [[Millard Fillmore]], Phoebe Millard (Fillmore), was born in Northbridge. [[Ezra T. Benson|Ezra Taft Benson, Sr.]], a famous [[Mormon pioneer]], lived here from 1830 to 1832 on his sister's farm.<ref name="Ezra">{{cite web|title=Ezra T. Benson|publisher=gapages.com|url=http://gapages.com/bensoet1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070913121246/http://www.gapages.com/bensoet1.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 13, 2007|access-date=November 20, 2007}}</ref>
He married Pamela Andrus, of Northbridge, and also apparently her sister, Adeline Brooks Andrus.<ref name="Ezra"/> He then married six more times and served as a missionary to the [[Hawaii|Sandwich Islands]], and in the [[Utah Territory|Utah Territorial Legislature]].<ref name="Ezra"/>

===Manufacturing and Mill Villages===

[[File:Whithin Machine Shop, 1897.jpg|thumb|left|Whitin Machine Shop, 1897.]]
[[File:Whitinsville Shop.jpg|thumb|left|The former Whitin Machine Works, now known as the Whitinsville shop, located in the village of Whitinsville in the town of Northbridge.<ref>[[Horace Lucian Arnold|Roland, Henry]]. "[https://archive.org/stream/factoryindustria12newy#page/68/mode/2up Six examples of successful shop management]." ''[[Engineering Magazine]]'' 12. 1897</ref>]]
This suburban community near [[Worcester, Massachusetts|Worcester]] has a rich manufacturing heritage. The [[Blackstone River|Blackstone]] and [[Mumford River]]s run through the Town and in the early 19th century numerous industrial developments were erected along the riverbanks, most notably the Whitin Machine Shop in Whitinsville, at its peak the largest manufacturer of textile machines in the world.<ref name="whitin"/> The textile machine company and industrial village was written up as one of the Harvard studies of history in business.<ref name="whitin">{{cite book|last= Navin|first = Thomas R|title =The Whitin Machine Works since 1831: A textile machinery company in an industrial village; Harvard studies in business history| publisher=Russel and Russel|year=1969}}</ref> Northbridge stands as a testament to the success of mill villages throughout the 19th and 20th centuries when production was expanding so greatly that immigrant labor from [[Canada]], the [[Netherlands]] and [[Armenia]] was imported.<ref name="Nortbhridge">{{cite web|title=Northbridge|publisher= Blackstonedaily.com|url= http://www.blackstonedaily.com/communities/northbridge.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061016165303/http://www.blackstonedaily.com/communities/northbridge.htm|url-status= usurped|archive-date= October 16, 2006|access-date=December 11, 2007}}</ref> Now, these mills stand, mostly renovated into housing and various businesses along the [[Blackstone River]].  Home of Lookout Rock, through which the bike trails pass and which overlooks the river below, the outskirts of the valley's community have a number of horse farms.<ref name="Nortbhridge"/> Today most of the mill buildings are no longer used to full capacity, however, they do offer incubator space to small businesses. Further, most of the town's architecture developed during the 19th century has been preserved.

===National Heritage Corridor===

Northbridge is part of the [[Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor]] Commission and is working with its neighboring communities to "promote the region's special character and sense of history".{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} The [[Blackstone River Valley]] was the first industrialized region in the United States. Northbridge has a number of valley sites designated by the National Park service.<ref name="nps">{{cite web|title=Plan your visit/valley sites/Douglas, Northbridge, Sutton|publisher= National Park Service|url=http://www.nps.gov/blac/planyourvisit/valley-sites-douglas-sutton-northbridge.htm|access-date=December 26, 2007}}</ref>
The reservoir of the [[West Hill Dam]] flood control project and recreation area also lies within the town limits of Northbridge.