On April 18, 1775, a Boston silversmith, saddled up for what would become known in folklore as the midnight ride of Paul Revere, setting off the beginning of the American Revolution. West of the famous historic trek, Uxbridge, by 1824 embodied a crucial shipping highway completed between Worcester and Rhode Island; it was an overnight stopping point on the Blackstone Canal. Today Uxbridge remains silhouetted with chimney stacks from the 19th century. In celebration of 250 years of freedom, I looked at various pathways and visitation opportunities in the area.

Sites to venture in the Uxbridge area include Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park that preserves 1,000 acres of riverbank and canal front and woodland trails. The trails follow paths the Nipmuc Native American people once journeyed. Lookout Rock is the most scenic spot in the park, offering views of the winding Blackstone River, snaking its way through Uxbridge and Northbridge and through Rice City Pond, a natural pond which is surrounded by a parkland which was once a 15.6-acre junkyard. The park was purposely left underdeveloped to serve as part of the Blackstone Valley Greenway.

The Blackstone Valley Greenway (Blackstone Valley Bikeway) currently entails over 24 miles with a vision extending to 48 miles beginning in downtown Worcester to end in Point Park in Providence, Rhode Island. The bikeway when completed will offer an alternate mode of transportation to commuters as well as offer the region’s foremost recreational resource connecting New England’s second and third largest cities. In Massachusetts completed off-road sections include a 3.5-mile section beginning in South Worcester and ending in Millbury; a 3.6-mile canal way in Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park; and a 3.5-mile trail from Uxbridge to the Mass state line which crosses the Blackstone River in several locations. 

River Bend Farm Visitor Center boasts a dairy farm that was worked from around the Revolution to the 1970s. West Hill Dam, on the West River, is one of the branches of the Blackstone River allowing seven miles of trails with fantastic views of the river. A quiet back road in Uxbridge brings you to Bernat Mill, also known as Capron Mill, built in 1820, which comprises a three-story antique store loaded with furniture, handmade gifts, art, prints and much more. Cormier Woods, a 186-acre reserve is on an old farmstead close to Southwick Zoo in Mendon.

If you’re a rock-climbing enthusiast you may want to venture ten minutes from Uxbridge Common to Sutton to explore Purgatory Chasm State Reservation, which encompasses an extraordinary natural fissure in the landscape descending 70 feet and extending for a quarter mile, thought to be carved by glacial meltwaters at the end of the last ice age. Pout Pond on West River Rd. in Uxbridge houses walking trails on three sides and is linked with two miles of trails in the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park.

A fun fact, in nearby Northbridge actor Paul Newman was an occasional guest at The Victorian Inn along with his wife Joanne Woodward, and enjoyed Summer League basketball games at the outdoor courts of the now Northbridge Middle School on Linwood Ave. The mansion was tragically destroyed on April 29, 2022, in a multi-alarm fire, a great loss to the community as it was one of the area’s few remaining mansions. This locality was once steeped in historic Whitin mansions which characterize area mill owners’ rise to power and status. The Whitin Lasell Manor at 120 Hill Street in Whitinsville was built in 1890 for Chester Whitin Lasell, grandson of the village’s founder, Paul Whitin. Guests including Booker T. Washington and reportedly, President Taft, were entertained there. Sadly, that great house also burned on March 1, 2024.

These are but a few of Blackstone Valley’s points of interest. Why not commemorate our freedom by exploring the area’s possibilities for adventure?