Whitinsville, Massachusetts | |
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Census-designated place | |
Whitinsville, "The Shop"
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Location in Worcester County and the state of Massachusetts. |
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Area map |
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Coordinates: 42°6′44″N 71°40′22″W / 42.11222°N 71.67278°WCoordinates: 42°6′44″N 71°40′22″W / 42.11222°N 71.67278°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Massachusetts |
County | Worcester |
Government | |
• Type | (None) Part of Northbridge, Massachusetts |
Area | |
• Total | 3.64 sq mi (9.4 km2) |
Elevation | 322 ft (98 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 6,704 |
• Density | 1,840.2/sq mi (710.5/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 01588 |
Area code(s) | 508 |
FIPS code | 79495 |
GNIS feature ID | 0611078 |
Whitinsville is an unincorporated village within the town of Northbridge in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Whitinsville is a census-designated place (CDP) and its population was 6,704 at the 2010 census. Whitinsville is pronounced as if it were spelled "White-ins-ville". It was founded by the Whitin family, after whom it is also named. It is a post office jurisdiction, with a ZIP code of 01588. It is located on the Mumford River, a tributary of the Blackstone River.
Whitinsville has been designated as a mill village of national historic significance to America's earliest industrialization, and is one of only four villages selected by the John H. Chaffee Blackstone River Valley National Historic Corridor Commission to receive this designation. Hopedale is the only other Massachusetts mill village to achieve this designation by the corridor commission.
This village was originally Nipmuc Indian lands, and was first settled as part of Mendon in 1662. From 1662 to 1727 it was part of Mendon, then later it became part of Uxbridge from 1727 to 1772. In 1772 Northbridge finally became a separate town. The village's early name was "South Northbridge", before the Whitin family's rise to prominence. Col. John Spring led a militia training company from Uxbridge which fought in the American Revolution. Col. Spring was from the section that became South Northbridge.
Today a visitor can see much of the original village, including the housing for workers and their families, churches, and the Whitin Community Center. The textile machine company and industrial village were written up as one of the Harvard studies of history in business.