Haines Park

Haines Park. One of Rhode Island's First State Parks. , Once known as the Humphrey Farm, Haines Memorial State Park (originally named the Dr. George B. Haines Memorial Park) is a picturesque stretch of fields, woods, and coastline in Barrington and the Riverside section of East Providence. Dr. Haines, a Cumberland physician and believer in the health benefits of outdoor recreation and fresh air, bought the property in 1906 and spent the summer of 1910 living on a farmstead here. Before his death of an asthma attack that fall, he requested that the land be preserved as a park for recreation and relaxation. A year later, his sister, Ida M. Haines, fulfilled his wish by selling 83 acres to the State of Rhode Island for one dollar. The state later increased the park to 101.7 acres., One of Rhode Island's first state parks, the property has long been popular for picnics, barbecues, baseball games, and hiking on nature trails. Early-twentieth-century visitors took the train or trolley to a nearby stop and walked to the park to spend the day enjoying the beauty of the outdoors. During the mid-1930s, under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Work Progress Administration (WPA), craftsmen built stone fireplaces throughout the park, many of which still exist. At that time, a fireplace by a picnic site could be reserved for 15 cents. Today, the park is a community asset; it hosts numerous sporting events, has a busy public boat ramp, and, in 2002, became the site of a seasonal Farmers Market.,

"I remember many summer days as a young girl, back in the mid-1930s. We would walk barefoot across the old wooden bridge over Annawumscutt Brook and follow the cart path through Richmond Farm and into Haines Park. We'd spend hours playing and swimming at Jolly's Beach before retracing our steps back home." , -Marvis Winterbottom Ford, a lifelong Barrington resident (born 1929)

, [Captions:] , View looking west from Haines Park across Bullock's Cove to Crescent Park, where an enormous wooden roller coaster was built circa 1920 and dismantled in 1961., "Petey" card club members and their children gathered for annual picnics in Haines Park. The men and boys played horseshoes, bocce, and baseball, while the girls had relay races and played other games. Photo circa 1935., The Leander R. Peck High School football team practiced at Haines Park until 1941. 1939 photo., The footbridge that connected Haines Park to Crescent park washed away in the 1938 hurricane. This 1¢ postcard was mailed in 1907.