Roosevelt Avenue in Pawtucket and Central Falls

No one mile in New England displays the cultural, historical, artistic and economic richness of a community like Rhode Island’s Cultural Mile. From the pouring of Blackstone River into Narragansett Bay at the Pawtucket Falls, to the Chocolate Mill Overlook in Central Falls, this single street can tell a hundred stories. It’s where our first President crossed the Blackstone River several times, Native Americans fished for hundreds of years and Samuel Slater harnessed the Blackstone to create a revolution in the young United States. His mill is now our nation’s 402 National Park telling the story of America’s birthplace of industry and economic freedom.

The roots of American commerce are planted here. American dreams were built here. Democracy, inventiveness, entrepreneurship and the woman’s labor movement emerged on the banks of the Blackstone River. This riverbank was fought over many times with three cases going to the Supreme Court of the United States.

We celebrate with the Pawtucket Arts Festival, the Colombians, the Irish, the Chinese, the Polish, the Taiwanese and the Cape Verdeans along this route. There are so many more ethnicities involved with Pawtucket and Central Falls. Original theater, innovative designs for buildings, restaurants, jewelry and high-tech textiles are produced here. Hundreds of workers toiled in our textile mills. People from all over the world now live in renovated mill lofts overlooking the Blackstone River. In Spring, over 200 Cherry Trees burst with color along Roosevelt Ave welcoming visitors from afar.

The work to regenerate the Rhode Island Cultural Mile is just beginning. Much is changing, but the authentic feel of the architectural resources from the industrial revolution, are being protected, enhanced and sustained to make a landscape worth visiting. Join us!