Blackstone Canal

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. 20 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.

From the record

One of 686 National Register listings published here for Worcester County · listed in 1973 · category: Structure.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. E of MA 122 between Northbridge and Uxbridge, Northbridge and vicinity
When was it listed? February 1973
Category. structure
National Register reference number. 73000328 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

89 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 89 fires within 5 miles of Blackstone Canal between 2002 and 2020, burning about 71 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	28
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	19
Smoking	15
Recreation and ceremony	13
Railroad operations and maintenance	5
Arson/incendiarism	4
Equipment and vehicle use	3
Other causes	1
Misuse of fire by a minor	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
8 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
3 September 2018	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
29 September 2002	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Massachussetts State Fire Marshal's Office	not named
27 September 2002	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Massachussetts State Fire Marshal's Office	not named
19 September 2020	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
8 August 2015	Recreation and ceremony	1.0 acres	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named
6 August 2015	Recreation and ceremony	1.0 acres	Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control	not named

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 23 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Blackstone Canal: 17 past producers, 4 producers, 1 unknown, 1 prospect. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead, Zinc. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Uxbridge Prospect	Lead, Zinc	Prospect
Barnett Road Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Direnzo Brothers Sand and Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Douglas Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gilbon Mountain Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Guiou Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Helca Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Hutnak Construction Co	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary
Johnson Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Mable Johnson	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer	Sedimentary

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Maps showing this location

20 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1886 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500
1889 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500
1893 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500 - 2 printings
1900 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500 - 7 printings
1908 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000 - 3 printings
1919 USGS Blackstone quadrangle1:62500 - 2 printings
1943 USGS Quinsigamond quadrangle1:125000
1944 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:31680 - 5 printings
1948 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1953 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:31680
1953 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1956 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 6 printings
1958 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1961 USGS Boston quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1969 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:24000 - 3 printings
1969 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:25000
1975 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:25000
1982 USGS Uxbridge quadrangle1:25000
1985 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000
1989 USGS Boston quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Rogerson's Village Historic District	0.5 miles	1971
North Uxbridge School	0.6 miles	1983
William Hayward House	0.7 miles	1983
Benjamin Adams House	0.7 miles	1983
R. Farnum House	0.7 miles	1983
Hall, S.A., House	0.7 miles	1983

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 73000328 in Record Group 79.
Worcester County	All 686 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.