Saturday, December 3, 2016

Who was Wawaloam?



 ....and why isn't there a grave at this cemetery?

Read on!


The Wawaloam Monument 

Saturday, August 6, 2016

The Horn Heap


Golf is sometimes referred to as "a good walk, spoiled". At the Exeter Country Club, it also may be a missed history lesson! 

What was "Horn Heap"?

This sign, was erected by the State in 1932 and is located between the 7th and 8th fairways. Standing alongside a carved rock, it is all that remains of the land deal between English settlers and Narragansett sachems called the Pettaquamscutt Purchase.


Gary Boden takes us back in history to tell the tale of Horn Heap and the
Pettaquamscutt Purchase.

 The Horn Heap





Saturday, February 6, 2016

Exeter's Smallpox Farm

Ebola and zika virus are in the news these days, but it was the smallpox virus which struck fear in the hearts of New England settlers during the 18th century. 


 Exeter, of course, was not immune from the reach of smallpox. Like other towns in Rhode Island, people who contracted the disease were sent away to remote farms, where it was hoped that quarantine would stop the spread.

Read the story below about Exeter's long-lost smallpox farm and cemetery, now part of the Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve off of Sunderland Road.

We are once again indebted to Exeter Historical Association Vice-President Gary Boden for his fascinating research.



Thursday, December 24, 2015

What are those granite markers on Exeter Hill?

When you drive northbound on  Rte 102 (Ten Rod Rd) in eastern Exeter, did you ever wonder about the three oblong granite slabs on the right, in front of Delmyra Kennels, near the intersection with South Rd?

Why are they there? 

Find out! Read the latest installment about the history of our town from EHA Vice President Gary Boden.



Tuesday, August 18, 2015

A racetrack in Exeter (almost)

The argument about gambling establishments in Rhode Island is not new, is not confined to Aquidneck Island, and is not always about table games.  EHA Vice President Gary Boden has done it again, gone and dug up another long-lost story that would have had a major impact on Exeter residents: a proposed horse racing track to be built on land straddling the border of Exeter and North Kingstown, at the Route 2 / Route 102 intersection known as "Robber's Corners"

The story  from 1952 about Exeter Raceways is rife with everything we know and love:  overflowing Town Council meetings, panic about declining property values, Town-wide referendums, ProJo editorials, empty promises of increased tax revenue, and a proposal "shrouded in mystery and uncertainty". Sound familiar?

Read the whole story by clicking the link below:

A Racetrack in Exeter



...could this have been Exeter?