Hall School is getting a much needed facelift!!!

Thanks to a grant from Preserve RI,  which we applied for and received last summer, the EHA has been able to undertake some long-needed repairs to the Hall School (located on Ten Rod Rd, next to the Exeter Town Hall). The building is nearly 250 years old!!

Work is being done in stages, with the most critical maintenance underway first. Brian Patch of Plan B Construction Co., who so expertly repaired Woody Hill School last year, is doing the work.

As the grant we received (from Preserve RI's "1772 Foundation") is a matching grant, the Town of Exeter will fund the remainder of the work in the Spring.

Wood deterioration at gable end

More rotted wood!

Plan B Construction Co repairing and replacing exterior wall.

Sill and threshold repair.

Ready to be repainted!

The Tillinghast Nightmare

UPDATE!!! Due to last week's snow/rain/wind storm, the screening of this film will now take place on WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14, at 7:00 PM, at the Exeter Public Library!!

It's October in Exeter, and try as we might, we can't escape the legend of vampires! Helping us embrace our haunted history is a film production company called Firesite Films. They're in the midst of producing a documentary called "The Tillinghast Nightmare", which will both entertain and educate people as it gives insight into the practice of vampire exorcism in eighteenth and nineteenth century New England.

A free screening of this film will take place on Wednesday, November 7  November 14 at the Exeter Public Library (773 Ten Rod Road, Exeter)!

Take a few minutes to check out the website below - read about the legend of the Tillinghast family of Exeter!

http://www.tillinghastnightmare.com/LEGEND.html

Vampires, Exeter and Smithsonian Magazine

This image of Mercy Brown's headstone, along with an 

article featuring Exeter, RI, appears in the 

October 2012 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

You may remember that back in December of last year, we featured a post about a visit to our humble  litte town by Smithsonian Magazine author Abby Tucker. Abby was here to do research on an article she was writing about vampires in New England, and wanted to get the REAL story about our own "vampire", Mercy Brown, directly from EHA President Sheila Reynolds-Boothroyd.


All this was no ghost story! The Great New England Vampire Panic appears in the October 2012 issue. Not only does the article contain quotes from Sheila, as well as RI paranormal historian Michael Bell, but Exeter, RI is mentioned numerous times. 

It's well worth the read - and you may find yourself marveling over the similarities of the vampire hunters of yesteryear, and those that come to Exeter looking for Mercy's grave to this very day!

OK! This time for sure! Note the new date!

The next Exeter Historical Association meeting will feature something not quite so historic: Pizza!  So come out and have some, and plan to attend the meeting afterward this Thursday, August 9th at 6:30 PM! -- at the Woody Hill School on Woody Hill Rd.

New hiking trail in Exeter from the Nature Conservancy

"Smallpox farm" foundation - part of
the new Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve.

****** DUE TO PREDICTED RAIN, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY JUNE 3, 10 AM !!!**********
The Exeter Historical Association is very excited about a brand-new trail right here in town which will have its grand opening on National Trails Day, which is Saturday June 2.  The trail is located on Sunderland Rd, and includes the fascinating remains of a property known as the "smallpox farm". Shelia will share her knowledge of the area during the inaugural hike!

Here's the press release from the Nature Conservancy:

National Trails Day Hike

Saturday, June 2, 10:00 a.m. - noon

Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve

Sunderland Road, Exeter

A new trail has opened up at the 800 + acre Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve. Come out and celebrate when The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island will reach 60 miles of hiking trails in our state!  As we hike, we'll explore some interesting features along the way including Cuttyhunk Brook, a historic homestead, and an impressive boulder field.  Joining us on the hike will be the Exeter Historical Association who will share some history of the area.

Trail distance: 2 miles

Difficulty: moderate

Bring insect repellent, water,  sturdy shoes recommended.

Program is free.  To register contact: Cheryl Wiitala 401-331-7110 x 25 or cwiitala@tnc.org

The Lost Graves of Exeter Cemetery #19

This past weekend, a few diehard Exeter Historical Association members, along with Dory Wagner from the R.I. Advisory Commission on Historic Cemeteries,  set out to reclaim the overgrown cemetery located on the same property as the Exeter Public Library. According to the John Sterling's 1994 "Exeter Historical Cemeteries" book, the Exeter #19 Historical Cemetery only had 39 graves. But Dory, Sheila Reynolds Boothroyd, and Gary Boden  ended up finding and marking headstones and footstones of more than 30 more!

Dory and other EHA volunteers will be back out at the cemetery this Saturday, March 17th, to continue the clearing process.  Once we find all the graves, we'll notify the Historic Cemetery Commission and have them added to the official record! Come join us behind the Library building at 773 Ten Rod Rd, beginning at 10AM, and help us rewrite Exeter history!

Number 19, located just behind the Exeter Public Library on Ten Rod Rd.

Placing stakes to mark some of the  "lost" gravestones.

Sheila Reynolds-Boothroyd clearing brush.

Finding one of the buried headstones.

A close up shot of this stone shows an inscription of 1771 -
this may be amongst the oldest stones in Exeter!

Food for thought from a sign-eating tree

If your travels take you to the intersection of Purgatory and William Reynolds roads,  you'll come upon this tree. At our last meeting, several of us were discussing how fascinating it is to watch how nature tries to slowly erase our footprints - and the "sign-eating tree" is the very embodiment of this. We are reminded that all of our historical treasures here in Exeter - roads, farms, schools, cemeteries - will be hidden by nature without our deliberate efforts!

And that's what the Exeter Historical Association is all about.

Many thanks to EHA board member Gary Boden for both the picture and the thoughts!