For St. Patrick's Day: How The Irish Saved The Blackstone Canal

WORCESTER, MA — For better or worse, the Irish have been an integral part of Massachusetts history. But one contribution that may have been overlooked: the Irish rescued the Worcester area from an economic catastrophe.

On St. Patrick's Day eve, the Museum of Newport (RI) Irish History will host a talk featuring Worcester historian and former National Park Service ranger Chuck Arning on how Irish immigrants saved the Blackstone Canal — a short-lived but integral waterway that once linked Worcester and Providence.

In the mid-1820s, the canal company was struggling to complete the Blackstone Canal, and turned to Irish laborers who had helped with another famous waterway, the Eerie Canal.

"We will examine just why the Irish came, as 'navvies' and 'strollers,' to build the early canals of America," the Museum of Newport Irish History said. "We will focus on how the Irish saved the Blackstone Canal, an important economic engine that stretched from the exploding seaport of Providence to the rural landscape of central Massachusetts, terminating in the village of Worcester, and what happened after the canal project was completed."

The Blackstone Canal has been closed for more than 170 years, but its history is still alive via the federal Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. Visitors can walk parts of the canal from near downtown Worcester to Providence and see how it shaped the 19th Century economy.

Register for the free lecture "How the Irish Saved the Blackstone Canal" here. The event will be held via Zoom on March 16 at 6 p.m.