Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. 21 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.
One of 686 National Register listings published here for Worcester County · listed in 1995 · category: District.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
The chapter on Blackstone Town in History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names Blackstone. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
To the whole of the purchase then made the name of Mendon was soon afterwards given. The town of Blackstone, the last of several towns carved, in whole or in part, out of that territory, was really marked out by the estaldishment of the so-called South Precinct in 1766, but it was nearly eighty years later before the town was incorporated.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
The town has no natural lakes or large ponds, and the area occupied by its streams is stated by Mr. Walling to be ninety acres. The highest land is found in the extreme northwest, in the hills collectively known as Chestnut Hill. More isolated are the Daniels Hill, north of the centre of the town, and Waterbug Hill, a little southwest of the centre. East of Mill River, Candlewood Hill stretches north and south a distance of about two miles. Pond's Hill overlooks the village of Waterford, and presents abrupt sides, both towards Fox Brook on the west and Blackstone River on the south.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Blackstone Town - 18,023 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 125 fires within 5 miles of Farnum's Gate Historic District between 2002 and 2020, burning about 87 acres in total. None started naturally. 25 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 25 |
| Debris and open burning | 22 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 17 |
| Smoking | 10 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Rhode Island Division of Forest Environment | not named |
| 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 |
| 8 September 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 September 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Rhode Island Division of Forest Environment | 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 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Rhode Island Division of Forest Environment | not named |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 264 specimens collected within 10 miles of Farnum's Gate Historic District between 1844 and 1974: 130 Plantae, 97 Animalia, 23 Fungi, 9 Protozoa, 3 Unrecorded, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. R. Hodgdon; F. L. Steele, A. R. Hodgdon; F. L. Steele and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.
| Image | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh. | 1896 | Henderson | |
 | Coryneum pulvinatum Kunze | 1897 | D. Murray | |
 | Trichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla | 1844 | Collector unspecified | Uxbridge |
 | Carex vesicaria L. | 1848 | J. W. Robbins | |
 | Potamogeton epihydrus Raf. | 1848 | J. W. Robbins | Uxbridge |
 | Potamogeton bicupulatus Fernald | 1854 | W. J. Robbins | Uxbridge |
 | Carex brevior (Dewey) Mack. | 1855 | J. W. Robbins | |
 | Carex normalis Mack. | 1855 | J. W. Robbins | |
 | Carex siccata Dewey | 1855 | J. W. Robbins | |
 | Carex straminea Willd. ex Schkuhr | 1855 | J. W. Robbins | |
 | Hyla versicolor LeConte, 1825 | 1857 | Weinland, David Friedrich | |
| Sterna hirundo hirundo Linnaeus, 1758 | 1892 | Babbitt, J P | Massachusetts |
All 264 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 22 workings within 5 miles of Farnum's Gate Historic District: 12 past producers, 4 producers, 3 unknowns, 2 occurrences. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Titanium, Metal, Vanadium, Molybdenum. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper Hill | Molybdenum | Occurrence | Chalcopyrite, Molybdenite, Scheelite | |
| Copper Mine Hill | Tungsten, Copper, Garnet, Molybdenum, Iron | Occurrence | Magnetite, Scheelite | |
| Iron Mine Hill | Iron, Titanium | Prospect | ||
| Iron Mine Hill Deposit | Iron, Titanium, Metal, Vanadium | Past Producer | ||
| Iron Mine Hill Deposit | Iron, Copper | Past Producer | Magnetite | |
| Manville Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Unknown | ||
| C Pezza and Son Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Candlewood Recreation Area | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Fortes Brothers Co Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Greenville Road Mine | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Blackstone, the town this property stands in, in 11 storm reports between 1999 and 2020: 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 2 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2004 | Lightning | Blackstone | 1 hurt | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Blackstone | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Flood | East Blackstone | $5,000 | At 5:23 PM EST, Main Street in Blackstone was flooded and impassable. A car was trapped in the floodwaters and towed out. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Blackstone | $5,000 | A tree was downed onto wires at the intersection of Milk and Chestnut Streets in Blackstone. |
| June 2020 | Flash Flood | Blackstone | $4,000 | In Blackstone, two cars were stuck in flood waters on Rathbun Street. Roadway was impassable. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | East Blackstone | $1,000 | In Blackstone, a tree was down on Federal Street near the Hartnett Middle School. Trees and wires were down on Farm Street. |
| August 2019 | Flood | Blackstone | $500 | In Blackstone, a car was stuck in flood waters on Rathbun Street. |
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Blackstone | - | At 4:22 pm EST heavy rain in Blackstone made Rathbun Street at Champlain Avenue flooded and impassable. |
| November 2018 | Flood | East Blackstone | - | In Blackstone, Main Street was closed due to flooding. A car was stuck in flood waters on Main Street near CVS Pharmacy. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Blackstone | - | no account filed |
| September 1999 | Heavy Rain | Blackstone | - | no account filed |
United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
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.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Blackstone Viaduct | 0.3 miles | 2002 |
 | Blackstone Manufacturing Company Historic District | 0.5 miles | 1995 |
 | Benjamin Thayer House | 1.7 miles | 2009 |
 | East Blackstone Village Historic District | 2.0 miles | 1995 |
 | East Blackstone Friends Meetinghouse | 2.4 miles | 1995 |
 | Main Street Historic District | 2.5 miles | 2006 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 95001039 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Worcester County | All 686 listed properties in this county. |
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