4 Bridgham Farm & Newman Oak 6 Hunt’s Mills on the Ten-Mile River 8 Wannamoisett Marker A park is all that re- The Ten Mile River This granite marker mains of the colonial flows for twenty-two (see photos left and era Bridgham Farm, miles from Plainville, right) sits in the the last sizable tract MA, to East Provi- sidewalk next to the of undeveloped, dence and once pro- Silver Spring Golf pristine farmland, vided water power to Course on the west once part of the an- a series of mills built side of Pawtucket Avenue at the end of Wheel- cient Rehoboth “Ring of the Green”, listed on the along its banks from 1643 to 1893. National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The mills in the 1643 Rehoboth Purchase were first er Avenue in East Providence, RI. The Farm can be accessed at a small parking lot located along the Ten Mile River by Stephen Payne It marks the original boundary between the near the intersection of Pleasant and Miller Street as early as 1645. In 1671 Israel Sabin and Payne were Wannamoisett section of the Pokanoket Indian in East Providence. It is contiguous with a walk- operating four mills on this site along the River. “Sowams” land in 1620 purchased by John Browne ing path which skirts the Turner Reservoir from A recreation area known as Hunt’s Mills Amuse- from the Massasoit Osamequin in 1643, and the Route 152 south to Pleasant Street. ment Park operated around the c, 1750 John Hunt town of Rehoboth. This was the first of a series of This property serves as valuable protection for House from the 1890s until the dance hall burned purchases that occurred over the next 25 years. the adjoining Turner Reservoir, once the source in 1925 and the amusement park closed forever. When heading north, the marker is on the left of drinking water for East Providence. Hunt’s Mills serves as the East Providence Historical side of Pawtucket Ave. at Wheeler Ave. When The champion Newman Oak, at the southern edge Society headquarters at 65 Hunts Mill Road and is open heading south, a marker for the 1642 Rehoboth of the Farm next to the Brigham Farm Road cul-de- to the public from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the second town line on the right side. The marker is north sac entrance, is believed to be at least 400 years old. Sunday every month except in January and February. of the entrance to the Silver Spring Golf Club. 5 Philip Walker House 7 Bold Point 9 Little Neck Cemetery The Phillip Walker Bold Point sits Little Neck Cemetery, House (also known across from located at the south as the Deacon Providence on the end of Read Street Walker House) is Seekonk River in below Allen Avenue an historic Ameri- East Providence in Riverside, contains can Colonial house and has views of the graves of John at 432 Massasoit Upper Narragansett Brown, Jr. who pur- Avenue in East Providence, Rhode Island. Bay and the Seekonk River. chased Wannamoisett from Massasoit in 1643, It is the second oldest house in East Provi- Indiginous people used the shallow water by Elizabeth Tilley who was a passenger on the dence and the oldest known sawn-timber the Point as a ford across the Seekonk River. 1620 Mayflower voyage to Plymouth, and Cap- frame house in Rhode Island. India Point, located on the other side of the tain Thomas Willett who settled in Rehoboth in The house’s paneling was salvaged from River, was Providence’s first port. It remained 1643 and later served as the Mayor of New York an earlier house on the site, documented to active from 1680 until the Great Depression. City in 1665 and 1667. have been constructed in 1679. The right Its success was in part due to the large trading Elizabeth Tilley Howland (c. Aug 1607 – Decem- half of the existing house is the original built businesses of John Brown and his partner, John ber 21, 1687) was a participant in the first Thanks- in 1724; the left hand side was added c. 1780. Francis, with both the East and West Indies. giving in the New World and was present at the Owned by Preserve Rhode Island since 1982 Bold Point is now a public park owned by the first meeting between the Pilgrims and Aboriginal and used as a study house for historic preserva- City of East Providence and is the state’s larg- Americans, later known as the First Encounter. tion students and professionals, it is currently est outdoor concert venue, with the capacity for She was one of the few original Pilgrims to live to being rehabilitated and is not open to the public. about 4,000 attendees. see King Philip’s War. She died in Swansea. any people think that the 17th century is gone 4Bricgham Farm & Newman Oak 5 Philip Walker House 6 Hunt’s Mills 2 Newman Church & Burial Ground Min Barrington and Swansea. No buildings from While court records that time survive intact, and much that was here has show that the origi- been transformed or covered over with new buildings. nal Rehoboth area If you know where to look, however, you’ll find was settled as early evidence of that important time when these two as 1625, the New- towns were just starting. Each location tells part man Church congre- of the story that can be put together to show gation was organized in 1643 by the Reverend what initially took place here 400 years ago. Samuel Newman of Weymouth, MA. Locate these eleven places on the map in this The first Newman Meeting House, which also brochure, and then travel to each one on foot, served as a meeting hall for village business, was by bicycle or by car to learn more about how built across from today’s church at 100 Newman Av- this area started and who was here at the time. enue in the center of what was called the “Ring of the Visit the SowamsHeritageArea.org website and Green.” When King Philip burned the first meeting find over fifty locations on-line that are part of house in 1676, a second and later a third were built. the story of what happened in East Bay RI and The burial ground for the community, located nearby Massachusetts in the 17th century. across the street from the Church, has grave- Support for this project was provided by the Rhode Island Council for the Humani- stones dating back to 1658. The oldest one, that ties, an independent state affiliate of the of William Carpenter, is simply marked with his National Endowment for the Humanities. 1 initials and the year of his death. A bronze plaque Roger Williams Spring at Omega Pond sits in front of the cemetery on Newman Ave. Roger Williams first 3 settled here after he Nathaniel Daggett House The Nathaniel Daggett was banished from House at 74 Roger Salem, Massachusetts Williams Avenue is in January, 1636, and the oldest house in spending fourteen East Providence and weeks sheltered at dates to between 1680 Margaret’s Rock in what is now farmland in Swan- and 1690. It has been sea, Massachusetts near the Warren, RI, border. in three municipalities, two states, and two colonial In April, he was notified by the Plymouth authorities jurisdictions without having been moved. that he was on land granted to them by the King and that The privately-owned House was originally a two- he had to remove himself and his band of followers. story, gable-roofed, timber-framed, end-chimney Realizing that all he had to do was to cross the dwelling, probably with only one room on each floor. Seekonk River, he paddled a canoe to the op- A small entry and stair hall with front door opening posite shore and was greeted by the Narragansett to the south was squeezed in front of the chimney. sachem Canonicus who welcomed him with the A single-story lean-to with its own chimney famous words, “What Cheer, Nitop?”, and offered was later added across the rear north side of the him land by the nearby Mashentucket River. house, and the roofline was altered to its pres- A granite tablet sits across the street from the Pond ent saltbox profile. It was listed on the National at the back of a lot at 89 Roger Williams Avenue. 7 8 9 Bold Point Wannamoisett Marker Little Neck Cemetery Register of Historic Places in 1980..