1894 Map of Burrillville

About this map

The Providence and Springfield RR winds through the hills of northwestern Rhode Island, anchoring a landscape of industrial mill towns and steep, wooded ridges. This late nineteenth-century view highlights the dense cluster of settlements in the Burrillville region, where the Branch River and Chepachet River powered numerous local economies. Towns like Pascoag, Harrisville, and Oakland are depicted before the height of twentieth-century modernization, showing the original rail-linked footprints of these manufacturing centers. The terrain is defined by prominent family-named landmarks like Tourtellotte Hill, Steere Hill, and Absalona Hill, illustrating a rural social geography still closely tied to the land. Larger water bodies such as Wilson Reservoir and the Waterman Reservoir reflect the region's managed water power, essential for the textile and tool works that once flourished along these banks. In the northeast corner, the growing urban boundary of Woonsocket begins to press against the more pastoral village of Forestdale.