Early Plymouth colonists called Barrington "The Garden of the Colony" for its beautiful location on Narragansett Bay and the Providence River, its numerous streams and meadows, and its fertile soil.
- from Bicknell, A History . . . — — Map (db m223012) HM
"When workers were building the Barrington Bridge in 1914, my grandmother, Maria Balia, who lived nearby would serve them drinks that she kept cold in her well. The workers used to go to her house every day and sit under the grape . . . — — Map (db m222998) HM
Osamequin Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary is named in honor of the Massasoit (Great Leader) Osamequin (or Ousamequin) of the Pokanoket Tribe. Osamequin, which means Yellow Feather, led his people in helping the settlers of the Plymouth Colony . . . — — Map (db m223753) HM
Erected in memory of the stalwart founders and builders of Bristol those courageous men and women whose dauntless spirit and renowned achievements have become the everlasting heritage of this town — — Map (db m222923) HM
In 1675, after King Philip's War, the lands known as Mount Hope were ceded to Plymouth Colony. Plymouth sold the area that became the Town of Bristol and its deep water harbor to four proprietors, who laid out streets relative to the waterfront. . . . — — Map (db m222772) HM
In the 'Miery Swamp,' 100 feet W.S.W. from this spring, according to tradition, King Philip fell, August 12, 1676, O.S. This stone placed by the R.I. Historical Society. December, 1877. — — Map (db m86296) HM
Mount Hope (originally Montaup in the Pokanoket language) is a wooded promontory on the eastern shore of Bristol, Rhode Island overlooking the part of Narragansett Bay known as Mount Hope Bay. Before the European settlers arrived in New England, . . . — — Map (db m186121) HM
Connecting Providence plantations settled by Roger Williams 1636 with the island of Rhode Island settled by John Clarke 1638 (purchased from the Indians and originally called Aquidneck)
On the nearby shores of Mount Hope lived the Wampanoag . . . — — Map (db m198190) HM
The town of Warren was first settled by people from the Pokanoket Tribe, later known as the Wampanoag. The Pokanoket controlled the land from Plymouth to the eastern shores of Narragansett Bay. In 1620, “Osamequin”, which translates as “Yellow . . . — — Map (db m223848) HM
In memory of Hugh Cole. Born London, England, 1627. Died Swansea, Mass, 1699. An honorable and useful citizen of Plymouth Colony. Many years a representative of Swansea, Mass. A sergeant in King Philip's War, 1675. An esteemed friend of King . . . — — Map (db m223850) HM
In October of 2000 the Massasoit Park Revitalization Committee rehabilitated and re-dedicated this park for the community of Warren as a recreational space for the Historic Waterfront District.
In the “Sacred Circle,” East, West, North and . . . — — Map (db m188388) HM
Indigenous people known today as the Pokanoket Tribe had made their home in the Town of Warren for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first European settlers.
The town and the surrounding area was called Sowams, and the land . . . — — Map (db m222960) HM
Homestead OverviewIn 1770, this house was built by 27 year-old Quaker and iron-master, Nathanael Greene. The building is a well-preserved 18th Century structure of simple, yet refined design. The iron forge, which was located on the Pawtuxet . . . — — Map (db m83326) HM
The village of Summit was called Perry’s Hollow in the 18th century.
Located on a ridge between the Flat River and the Moosup River Watersheds, the name “Summit” signified a high point along the adjacent railroad line.
Summit developed when the . . . — — Map (db m107453) HM
Built in 1872 by William Northup on the former site of Scalloptown. This chapel was the first fully integrated congregation in East Greenwich. — — Map (db m58389) HM
This Tablet erected by the Rhode Island Society of Colonial Wars in recognition of the exceptional services rendered by Col. Benjamin Church
His fearless leadership and effective command during King Philip's war 1675-1676 — — Map (db m52392) HM
This was the home of Mr. Smith until his death in 1886. As a Real Estate Broker he helped to develop the land along Bellevue Avenue.
This property has been
placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States . . . — — Map (db m223109) HM
In 1639, Helen and Nicholas Easton, John Clarke, William Coddington and others left Portsmouth, the settlement founded in 1638 by Anne Hutchinson and others on the northern end of Aquidneck Island. They came south and founded Newport. Newport’s . . . — — Map (db m48498) HM
Erected to honor the memory and
perpetuate the spirit and ideals of
the founders of the first government
in the world to allow and to insure to
its citizens civil and religious liberty.
Established on this Site in the Year 1638
Portsmouth . . . — — Map (db m29736) HM
Sylvanus Brown lived in this cottage from 1784 to 1824. Brown's proven pattern-making and carpentry skills earned him a place at Samuel Slater's side. Brown had also built water-powered mills and visited European mill sites. Between 1789 and . . . — — Map (db m118327) HM
When Samuel Slater first came here, the village had everything he needed to succeed. Pawtucket Falls provided ample waterpower. That energy was already powering local machine shops. Those shops were run by skilled mechanics who could assist with . . . — — Map (db m151670) HM
David Wilkinson (1771-1852), a blacksmith from Smithfield, Rhode Island, moved to Pawtucket in the early 1780s. Wilkinson invented new machines, including a steamboat, which he demonstrated in Pawtucket in 1792 (15 years before Robert Fulton's . . . — — Map (db m118248) HM
Morris Brown House
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Built 1793 — — Map (db m151679) HM
By the end of the Revolutionary War, the center of town had moved to several blocks south of this point. From 1820 to 1850 the Blackstone Canal and Providence and Worcester Railroad were built along the western edge of this plot, and Canal Street . . . — — Map (db m106872) HM
This intersection was the earliest center of colonial Providence. A grist mill stood just north, at the falls of Moshassuck River, and a tannery and taverns were nearby across the street. In 1676 the natives of many tribes united against the New . . . — — Map (db m56152) HM
Providence’s Downtown was not always located in its present location across the river.
The first town center was located along the Moshassock River and North Main Street near St. John’s Episcopal Church.
The second Downtown was located around . . . — — Map (db m107762) HM
Has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark
Under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935
This site possesses exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States
US . . . — — Map (db m56155) HM
Providence has changed dramatically since its founding in 1636, from the early settlement enriched by farmland, to the town competing with Newport for trade, to the thriving capital it is today. This evolution can be evaluated through a case . . . — — Map (db m151732) HM
Near this spot lived Gabriel Bernon a Huguenot Refugee
Born Larochelle France April 6, 1644
Died Providence February 1, 1736
Merchant Colonizer Churchman — — Map (db m56148) HM
This hilltop has been an important and strategic location throughout the history of Providence. In early days there was a beacon to use for communication between settlements along Narragansett Bay. Later, at the beginning of the Revolutionary . . . — — Map (db m223296) HM
Roger Williams said there was no amount of money that could have purchased Providence.
In 1636, Williams and the Narragansett tribal leaders, or Sachems, Cononicus and Miantonomo, negotiated for the land that became Providence. Together, they . . . — — Map (db m115211) HM
Welcome to the birthplace of religious freedom in the United States. Roger Williams, fleeing religious persecution in England and Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded Providence here in 1636. The original inhabitants, the Narragansett and Wampanoag, . . . — — Map (db m115217) HM
Forced worship stinks in God's nostrils.
Roger Williams, in a letter to Connecticut
Governor Thomas Prence (1670)
The steeple in front of you is the First Baptist Church in America, gathered by Roger Williams in 1638. Williams was . . . — — Map (db m122503) HM
If this building could speak, it would tell the remarkable tale of a city’s transformation.
The Antram-Gray House, the oldest surviving commercial building in Providence, was built around 1730 as a residence and distillery.
It soon found . . . — — Map (db m107736) HM
The rivers in Providence, 14 years after Roger Williams founded the city, were crossed by fording at low tide.
As time passed, some of the long narrow house lots became streets named after the owners of the lots. The stream ending in Mile . . . — — Map (db m222677) HM
The Great Salt Cove, a tidal pond, once filled the area that has become, over the past 160 years, the city's center for transportation, civic life, and commercial activity. Formed between 3800 and 2700 years ago, it was a major Native American . . . — — Map (db m222721) HM
Though uninhabited on the eve of its settlement by Europeans, this area already had a 7000 year history of activity by native Americans. In 1636, this land was the low, marshy shoreline of a large saltwater cove to the west, along the eastern side . . . — — Map (db m56175) HM
…at last to proclaim a true and absolute Soul-Freedom to all the people of the land impartially, so that no person be forced to pray nor pay, otherwise than as his Soul believeth and consenteth.
Roger Williams, from Butler's . . . — — Map (db m115209) HM
In 1636, Roger Williams bought land from the Narragansett chiefs and established a colony here near the site of a fresh water spring. Naming the town for God's providence to him, Williams declared the settlement a shelter for the persecuted of all . . . — — Map (db m56176) HM
In the 18th century the west side of the Providence River, now Downtown Providence and the Financial District, was known as the Weybosset Side after the name of its first street. With the dawn of the 19th century, development surged on the . . . — — Map (db m151701) HM
The junction of five Native American trails once occupied this stretch of North Main Street, between College Street and the Y-intersection at Mill Street. The Narragansett Trail or Pequot Path, as well as the Louquassuck, Pawtucket, Wampanoag, . . . — — Map (db m223303) HM
Look around you. Along the west side of Empire Street, where you can see a small park and office building today, you would have found the center of Providence's Chinese community, who settled in tenements here in the 1890s.
Although Chinese . . . — — Map (db m223032) HM
The area that would become Providence's West Side, including Central Wharf, was former tidal marshlands on the west side of the Providence River. Native Americans used the area as hunting and fishing grounds before Roger Williams' arrival in . . . — — Map (db m222612) HM
Roger Williams died in Providence early in 1683, and was buried with a simple ceremony behind his home, near today's intersection of Benefit St. and Bowen St. Remains at the site were exhumed in 1860 and removed to the Old North Burying Ground. In . . . — — Map (db m56154) HM
The site of an 18th century seaport village where seafaring merchants participated in the African slave trade. In the 20th century this port was used by Cape Verdeans who came to live in America. — — Map (db m233864) HM
These rivers were named by the Narragansett & Wampanoag peoples before Roger Williams came to Rhode Island. Woonasquatucket means "The River Where the Tide Ends". Moshassuck means "The River Where the Moose Water". — — Map (db m223078) HM
The Spring of clear cold water located thirty feet west of this point led Roger Williams to found Providence here in the year 1636 from which center has developed in four directions — — Map (db m122490) HM
Welcome to the birthplace of religious freedom in the United States. Roger Williams, fleeing religious persecution in England and Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded Providence here in 1636. The original inhabitants, the Narragansett and Wampanoag, . . . — — Map (db m222490) HM
Stephanie tells me that she was born in Senegal and spoke only French as a child, but Ashley was born in Providence. They say that their family is originally from Cape Verde, an island chain off the coast of West Africa that was uninhabited until . . . — — Map (db m151648) HM
A Short River Through Time
“Mooshausick,” was the name given by the native Narragansett tribe to the body of water that flows into the Providence River at Confluence Park. It means “river where the moose . . . — — Map (db m107704) HM
Left Plaque The Spring on this lot was the original water supply around which Roger Williams gathered the first settlers was in 1721 by reservation in the deed from the Proprietors of Providence made accessible to the townspeople forever . . . — — Map (db m56174) HM
A freshwater spring attracted Roger Williams to this site and anchored the community.
Williams built his house across the street, and religious and civil meetings took place around its “gushing” waters.
The spring remained in . . . — — Map (db m107747) HM
The Early Years
“Wanasquatucket” was the name given by the native Narragansett tribe to the larger river that flows into the Providence River and Confluence Park. It means “the river where the tide ends.” This panel, along with the panel . . . — — Map (db m107723) HM
These rivers were named by the Narragansett & Wampanoag peoples peoples before Roger Williams came to Rhode Island. Woonasquatucket means "The River Where the Tide Ends". Moshassuck means "The River Where the Moose Water" — — Map (db m222695) HM
In remembrance of the strength, courage and determination of William Gilane—who created opportunity and a lasting legacy of integrity through living his core values—may his spirit never be forgotten.
Born in 1842 in County . . . — — Map (db m151750) HM
Cape Verdean Immigration to Rhode Island
The Cape Verdean community in Fox Point originated from the Cape Verde Islands, a tiny archipelago lying 240 nautical miles off the coast of West Africa. Uninhabited prior to discovery by the Portuguese . . . — — Map (db m75995) HM
"What Cheer, Netop?"
Roger Williams Landing, 1636
If you were standing on this spot at any time prior to the late 1870's, you would have been standing (or more likely, swimming) in the Seekonk River. The original shoreline was several . . . — — Map (db m151691) HM
Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, was born in London in 1603. After graduating from Cambridge University in 1627, Williams took holy orders in the church of England. In 1630 he emigrated to the New World and settled in the Massachusetts . . . — — Map (db m57585) HM
To the memory of
Roger Williams
The Apostle of Soul Liberty
Founder of the
State of Rhode Island
and
Providence Plantations
Below this spot
then at the waters edge
stood the rock
on which
according to tradition . . . — — Map (db m151690) HM
Welcome to India Point Park
In 1962, Mary Elizabeth Sharpe wrote of her vision for a park at the head of Narragansett Bay. Her passion for landscape allowed her to see beyond the abused and neglected waterfront. She shared her thoughts in a . . . — — Map (db m75991) HM
West Bank / East BankFox Point / India Point and Watchemoket Square
The Washington Bridge connects the historic neighborhoods of Fox Point/India Point in Providence and Watchemoket Square in East Providence. Since 1793, . . . — — Map (db m222549) HM
Built in 1773, the one-and-a-half-story, five-room, gambrel-roofed cottage sits on part of the land originally deeded to Rhode Island's founder, Roger Williams, by the Narrangansett sachems Miantonomi and Canonicus.
It was built for James . . . — — Map (db m222437) HM
At least seven ice ages have chilled the earth over the last 1.6 million years. With each cooling, popular ice caps grow, ocean levels fall, and new habitats are created. When the planet warms, the oceans rise again, relocating and isolating . . . — — Map (db m222377) HM
The area of today’s City of East Providence was inhabited by the Pokanoket Tribe, later known as the Wampanoag, for over 10,000 years. In 1621, the Massasoit Ousamequin entered into a mutual protection agreement with the English settlers in . . . — — Map (db m207459) HM
How the City Grew
Why is the City of Woonsocket here? And how did Market Square become its first center? The answers to those questions lie in the forces that shaped Woonsocket's earliest days — water, land and money. From here you can hear . . . — — Map (db m196978) HM
The City's Cultural Tapestry
When the first textile mills were built at Woonsocket Falls in the early 1800s, mill workers were recruited from nearby Yankee farm families. But as the city expanded into six distinct villages, each with several . . . — — Map (db m196979) HM
Here for more than a century was the religious, business and civil center of Westerly. Near by in private homes, the people met in town meetings. Here crossed paths from what is now Hopkinton, Richmond and Westerly. Here were the first mill dam and . . . — — Map (db m29616) HM
Here original settlers lived in caves and shelters. Site of first church 1772 Pastors Oliver Dodge, Trustrum Dodge Nearby site of first school house, windmill, pound, precious spring. Indian burying hill — — Map (db m17231) HM
In 1637 near this spot, Roger Williams set up a trading post where he dwelt for many years, trading and treating with the Narragansett Indians. His dealings so completely won and held the friendliness of the powerful Narragansett sachems that for . . . — — Map (db m78927) HM
This property
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Hortense Rodman Allen House
1865 — — Map (db m222644) HM
For a place to be truly considered a village requires several vital components; buildings that serve the residents and contribute to the sense of community that the word "village" embodies. In Lafayette, virtually all those community-creating . . . — — Map (db m222662) HM
Industry began here on the Shewatuck River, named after a village site of the Narragansett People, Showatucquese, "place between the small streams", in the colonial period with creation of the mill pond and the construction of a sawmill . . . — — Map (db m222647) HM
At this “round rock,” noted Indian landmark, the original purchase of this land was made from Quassaquanch, Kachanaquant, and Quequaquenuet, chief Sachems of the Narragansetts, by Samuel Wilbor, John Hull, John Porter, Samuel Wilson, . . . — — Map (db m48053) HM
On January 13th, 1886, Daniel Billington Griffin purchased a certain tract of land situated in Wakefield Village from Rowland & John N. Hazard for the sum of 2,000 dollars.
This particular parcel of land was located on the corner of Post Road . . . — — Map (db m115166) HM
Three Quarters of a mile to the Southward on an island in the Great Swamp the Narragansett Indians were decisively defeated by the United Forces of the Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and Plymouth Colonies, Sunday, December 19, 1675. — — Map (db m56046) HM
