The Blackstone River was instrumental in the settlement of Pawtucket. It was the reason people lived there. It helped power at least 100 textile mills that are largely responsible for putting the city on the map. What role does the river have today and in Pawtucket’s future? Around the country, cities have found investing in their waterfronts to be a key component of urban revitalization. Providence, for example, transformed its downtown back in the 90s. Is there a grand plan for Pawtucket’s river? Should there be?
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: Birding On The Blackstone River
Pawtucket was founded on the Blackstone River, where the water was the lifeblood of the early industrial town. Today the river has more of an understated presence, even though it wends its way right through downtown Pawtucket.
But there’s a lot going on, as three members of the Ocean State Bird Club found out one recent morning.
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: The Future Of Economic Development In Pawtucket
As part of our One Square Mile series on Pawtucket, The Public’s Radio is asking how the city will respond to recent blows, including the loss of the PawSox and Memorial Hospital. And we’re taking a look at opportunities for future development in the city. We’re joined by Jeanne Boyle, commerce director for Pawtucket, and […]
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: For One Generation, A Clear Career Path, For The Next, Uncertainty
For generations, a robust manufacturing economy in Pawtucket offered newly arrived immigrants a gateway to the American dream. But with the steady decline of factory jobs in small industrial towns across America, the story in Pawtucket is quite different today. Even a twenty years ago, there was a pattern that a new immigrant could follow […]
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This I Believe New England – The Ring
All of us have talismen, those special objects that serve as an emotional ballast in our lives. Maybe it’s that special necklace that grandma bequeathed, the one-of-a-kind painting that used to hang in your parents’ bedroom and is now in yours, or perhaps that priceless photo of your precious children when they were toddlers. For so many […]
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: Inside A Working Textile Mill
In our One Square Mile series this week, we bring you a collection of audio postcards, snapshots of life in Pawtucket, our featured city. Today, we take you to inside one of the city’s remaining textile mills. Pawtucket’s claim to fame is Slater Mill, the first industrial mill in the US. The textile industry boomed […]
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: After-School At The Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket
In our One Square Mile series, we bring you a collection of audio postcards, snapshots of life in Pawtucket, our featured city. Today, we take you to the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket. When the school day ends for Pawtucket students, more than two hundred and fifty of them will get on a bus […]
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: Mayor Grebien Wrestles With A Series Of Challenges
Our series One Square Mile Pawtucket continues with a look at the city’s mayor, Don Grebien. He’s led Pawtucket as it confronts a series of challenges, including the closing of Memorial Hospital and the impending departure of the PawSox. The question now is, how much difference can a mayor make in sparking a brighter future […]
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: A Town In Transition
Every year, The Public’s Radio produces a series called One Square Mile exploring a community. This year, we look at Pawtucket, Rhode Island’s 4th largest city and one of its oldest. Pawtucket, like many American industrial towns, has both hopes and challenges as it copes with a changing American economy.
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One Square Mile Pawtucket: Breakfast At The Modern Diner
The Modern Diner is a Pawtucket institution, and the first diner in the country to be made a national historic landmark. As part of our One Square Mile series on Pawtucket, Sofia Rudin takes us to the diner for breakfast.
