Farnum's Gate Historic District

Farnum's Gate is a compact residential district at the busiest intersection in Blackstone Village, Massachusetts, next to the Blackstone River. It takes its name from the crossing used by mill owner Welcome Farnum to reach his home from his mills. Twenty-seven buildings and one stone arch bridge contribute to the district, most built between the 1830s and 1890s as homes for prosperous industrialists and later for merchants and professionals. Greek Revival is the dominant style, with examples featuring monumental columns and temple-front gables, alongside Federal, Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne elements. Two twentieth-century institutions, the 1920 Blackstone High School and the 1928 Federated Church, anchor the streetscape. The district also records the arrival of Irish mill workers in the 1850s, whose descendants later became local business owners and professionals. The period of significance runs from the 1829 bridge to 1945.