The two brick and stone Commercial Blocks played an important role in the planned mill village of Slatersville. Built by the Slater Company for the use of its workers, these rubble-stone buildings housed stores, a post office, bank, barber shop, and other parts of daily life in the village. Their upper floors served as social halls for wedding receptions, concerts, dances, lectures, meetings, and movies. In historic Slatersville, as in villages throughout the Blackstone Valley, mills, churches, and community structures like these dominated life, and mill owners provided the goods and services workers and their families needed to keep them working there. The Commercial Blocks remained at the heart of village recreational, social, and retail life until well into the 20th century, and today they house modern businesses that continue serving the local community.