Author and ethnographic consultant Julie A. Fisher led students at Roger Williams University in an exercise in deciphering the 17th century writing of Roger Williams before giving a presentation on her book, Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narragansetts. RWU History Professor Dr. Charlotte Carrington-Farmer also invited Roger Williams Memorial Park Ranger John McNiff to […]
East Providence Historical Society President Nancy Moore met with Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dave Weed to talk over upcoming plans. Ms. Moore laid out upcoming plans for the Historical Society over the coming summer so that Dr. Weed could coordinate plans for a public launch of the Sowams Heritage Area later in the summer. […]
Ernie Germani, webmaster for the Trails and Walks RI web site and Vice Chair of the East Providence Conservation Commission, led a guided hike around the grounds at Hunts Mills along with the Ten Mile River Watershed Council on April 8, 2018. The event coincided with the Hunts Mills open house that takes place on the […]
Sowams Heritage Area Team Member David Weed recently met with Joetta Kirk, owner of Chace Farm in Warren, RI. The farm dates back to 1697 when King George granted a charter and has only had three family owners. The farm’s 178 acres includes the site of Wigwam Hill (pictured behind Dave and Joetta), an historic […]
The Swansea Historical Society Board heard a presentation by Sowams Team Member David Weed about the Heritage Area project at one of their regular monthly meetings. President Carl Becker and board members Maureen O’Brian, Joanne Johnson and Carol Gafford learned how the project started and heard about eight locations in Swansea that have been described […]
Sowams Heritage Area team members Helen Hersh Tjader and Dave Weed held a two-hour meeting at the Barrington Preservation Society Museum with Barbara Hail, former Director of Brown University’s Haffenreffer Museum at Mount Hope in Bristol, Burton Van Edwards, history faculty member at Bryant University and Bridgewater State College, and Bonnie Warren, who initiated the […]
Retired landscape architect and urban planner Al Lima met with Sowams Heritage Area team members Dave Weed and Greg Spiess to discuss the possibility of creating a graphic illustration of a proposed Sowams Heritage Area from Bristol to Providence. Al’s illustrations of a possible Quequechan River Rail Trail a decade ago led to the eventual […]
Carpenter Museum volunteer Mark Canuel (left) met with Sowams Heritage Area team member Dave Weed for a conversation about early Rehoboth. Mark, who traces some of his family history to First People in Canada and grew up in Rehoboth, recently retired and is helping to catalogue museum holdings. He spoke with Dave about 17th century […]
Five members of the Pokanoket tribe met with Sowams Heritage Area project team members David Weed and Helen Tjader at the Barrington Public Library. Tribal members were invited by Po Wauipi Neimpaug, Sagamore, or Chief, of the Pokanoket Nation, William Guy who was unable to attend due to family illness. David and Helen began the meeting […]
While the New Palmer River Iron Forge was established in Rehoboth by 1722, though there’s no documentation, it’s quite likely that earlier forges were operating prior to 1700. Forges used bog ore found in local swamps to manufacture needed metal tools and implements.for the growing population in the Sowans Heritage Area. Dave Weed interviews retired engineer and […]