Introduced By: Senators McBurney, J. Montalbano, T. Coderre and Oster
Date Introduced : May 19, 1998
WHEREAS, The Blackstone Canal was opened in 1828 to ship goods between Providence, Rhode Island and Worcester, Massachusetts, a distance of 45 miles; and
WHEREAS, The Blackstone River did not have consistantly high water levels required for barge navigation requiring trenches be dug and 49 locks constructed allowing barges measuring 70 feet long and 9 feet wide to navigate the River; and
WHEREAS, The water of the Blackstone River worked hard for centuries cutting through granite and flowing through fertile meadows giving sustenance to the inhabitants of the valley, powering water wheels for industrial enterprises, and providing transportation for the region's products; and
WHEREAS, The nineteenth-century landscape of the Blackstone River Valley was shaped by pockets of industrial settlement that developed in an agricultural region; and
WHEREAS, The sitting and craftsmanship of the villages' structures, in combination with the quiet woods and fields along the river banks, created a unique landscape; and
WHEREAS, In parts of the valley more recent developments have obliterated such scenery, other areas offer only ghostly traces of the past; and
WHEREAS, Relatively unchanged places still exist where one can easily imagine life as it was one hundred or more years ago; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby memorializes the Congress to nominate the Blackstone River as a National American Heritage River; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to President William J. Clinton and all of the members of the Rhode Island delegation to the United States Congress.
