THE RIVER    

    Before the age of industrialization, the  Saugatucket River was the lifeblood of those who lived near it. The Narragansett tribe used the river for food and water.  

    Early settlers farmed its landscape.  Grist mills and small settlements developed where a significant change in elevation could be harnessed for water power.  Ponds, reservoirs, and canals were built to power mills and provide drinking water.  Workers at Peace Dale's woolen mill produced the serge for New York City's policemen's uniforms and Abraham Lincoln's paisley shawl.  Near the mill on High Street in Wakefield, the color of the Saugatucket changed with the dye lot.

    Where once the lower river was an industrial working river, today, water quality is improved, allowing fish and wildlife to return. Osprey and otter can be seen fishing in the mill ponds.  Significant areas of open space line the river's banks.  Historic buildings clustered along its shores preserve the past and welcome the future. Stores in the Wakefield Main Street District are beautifying the backs of their stores on the river.  Construction is beginning on a pedestrian walkway looping the mill pond. 

    Canoes are appearing on the river and anglers are plying the water.  A bike path being built on the old Narragansett Pier Rail Line crosses the river and Main Street.   Main Street and River festivals include riverbank cleanups and garden-planting events and 'Saugatucket River Lights,' cauldrons of fire in the mill pond created by the 1810 dam.