Pawtucket Falls (Rhode Island)
Encyclopedia
Pawtucket Falls is a waterfall
on the Blackstone River
in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
. Below the falls, the river becomes tidal and changes its name to the Seekonk River
. The falls provided power for Samuel Slater
’s cotton spinning mill, which was built in 1793 and is said to have been responsible for starting the Industrial Revolution
in America.
word meaning "at the falls in the river (tidal stream)".
Waterfall
A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
on the Blackstone River
Blackstone River
The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi...
in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.-History:...
. Below the falls, the river becomes tidal and changes its name to the Seekonk River
Seekonk River
The Seekonk River is a tidal extension of the Providence River in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 km . Most historical scholars agree that the name is derived from two Native American words, sucki and honc...
. The falls provided power for Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...
’s cotton spinning mill, which was built in 1793 and is said to have been responsible for starting the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
in America.
Etymology
Pawtucket is an AlgonkianAlgonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
word meaning "at the falls in the river (tidal stream)".