'Mills on Blackstone River', 1872. Industrial buildings in Rhode Island, USA. The first successful water-powered cotton mill in America was opened at Pawtucket Falls in 1790. It was powered by the waters of the Blackstone River. Cotton milling along the Blackstone made it an important part of American industry. From "Picturesque America; or, The Land We Live In, A Delineation by Pen and Pencil of the Mountains, Rivers, Lakes...with Illustrations on Steel and Wood by Eminent American Artists" Vol. I, edited by William Cullen Bryant. [D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1872]