Plummer's Landing
In 1836 Israel Plummer built a store beside a boat basin and dock here—the mid-point of the canal journey between Worcester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. Retail products sold at Plummer's store included stove parts, tools and hardware, foods, plaster, fuels, and dry goods.
Plummer's Landing became an important commercial center that received manufactured goods from the cities and mill villages, and raw materials and agricultural products from the rural countryside. Goods shipped from this basin included textiles, lumber, wood shingles, cut stone, and machinery. After the Blackstone Canal closed in 1848, the enterprising Plummer opened a depot and shipped goods on the Providence and Worcester Railroad.
At the Plummer's Landing holding basin, canal boats loaded and unloaded goods; and waited a turn to pass through nearly Lock No. 26. The fieldstone walls and foundations of the landing are visible ahead, and the canal lock, constructed of granite cut from local quarries, still exists, serving as the abutment where Church Street crosses over the Canal.
[Illustration captions, from top to bottom, read]
• Blackstone Canal
• Plummer's Landing
Erected by John H. Chaffee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.
Topics. This historical marker
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Location. 42° 7.709′ N, 71° 38.346′ W. Marker is in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, in Worcester County. Marker is on Church Street Extension, half a mile east of Providence Road (Massachusetts Route 122), on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Whitinsville MA 01588, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Blackstone Canal (within shouting distance of this marker); Welcome to Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Thomas J. Melia, Jr. (approx. 1.7 miles away); Whitinsville Social Library (approx. 1.7 miles away); David P. Casey (approx. 1.8 miles away); Civil War Memorial (approx. 1.8 miles away); Veterans Memorial (approx. 1.8 miles away); Vietnam War Memorial (approx. 1.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Whitinsville.
More about this marker. The fiberglass marker is heavily deteriorated.
Also see . . .
1. Blackstone Canal. (Submitted on May 19, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
2. Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
3. Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. (Submitted on May 19, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 2, 2020. It was originally submitted on May 19, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 386 times since then and 74 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on May 19, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
