The Lost Villages Of Scituate

In 1915, the general assembly appointed the Providence Water Supply Board to condemn 14,800 acres of land in rural Scituate. The hardworking people of the five villages were devastated. By December 1916, notices were delivered to the villagers stating that the homes and land they had owned for generations were to be taken and destroyed. Construction was well under way by 1921, and water was being stored by November 10, 1925. On September 30, 1926, the treatment plant began operation. It now serves more than 60 percent of Rhode Islanders. The $21 million project was the largest ever undertaken in the state at the time. The dam that annihilated the villages is 3,200 feet long and 100 feet high and holds back more than 40 billion gallons of water. Today these quiet villages lie up to 87 feet beneath the cold, dark waters of the Scituate Reservoir.

In 1915, the general assembly appointed the Providence Water Supply Board to condemn 14,800 acres of land in rural Scituate. The hardworking people of the five villages were devastated. By December 1916, notices were delivered to the villagers stating that the homes and land they had owned for generations were to be taken and destroyed. Construction was well under way by 1921, and water was being stored by November 10, 1925. On September 30, 1926, the treatment plant began operation. It now serves more than 60 percent of Rhode Islanders. The $21 million project was the largest ever undertaken in the state at the time. The dam that annihilated the villages is 3,200 feet long and 100 feet high and holds back more than 40 billion gallons of water. Today these quiet villages lie up to 87 feet beneath the cold, dark waters of the Scituate Reservoir.

"The Lost Village of Rockland is a book of photographs and documents with captions, featuring poems and tales by Helen O. Larson. She was born October 24, 1910 and lived in the village of Rockland with her family until the City of Providence Water Supply condemned the land in 1916, by eminent domain, to build the Scituate Reservoir. Known to friends and family as Gramma Larson, she tells her story of growing up in the small New England village of Rockland, in the Town of Scituate, Rhode Island in the early 1900s. She writes about having to suffer the agony of seeing her village vanish, one building at a time. Through her poetry, she tells stories of her childhood and the heartache she endured as "Friends and family moved far apart, another family moved, another broken heart". She recall her school house sold for only twelve dollars. She wrote her first poem "The Old School House" on the blackboard as the workers were tearing it down. She was only twelve years old at the time. However, it was the beginning of a lifetime of writing poetry. Her son and author Raymond A. Wolf has brought her story to life in "The Lost Village of Rockland"." -- back cover

People are inexplicably drawn to abandoned places. Believe it or not, New England is home to numerous ghost towns long abandoned, but filled with mystery, unexpected beauty, and a sense that these locations are simply biding their time, waiting for people to return. Taryn Plumb explores dozens of locations in the region, revealing the surprising histories of the towns and the reasons they were abandoned. In Maine, sites include Flagstaff, whose citizens were forced out to make way for a dam and which now sits at the bottom of Flagstaff Lake; Riceville, wiped out by cholera; and Perkins Township, which was abandoned so suddenly the remaining houses are still filled with furnishings. Locations in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut are also covered in this unique and fascinating tour.

In 1772, portions of Providence received water through a system of hollowed out logs. By 1869, seventeen years after Zachariah Allen campaigned for a public water supply, the public voted in favor of introducing water into the city from the Pawtuxet River in Cranston. By 1900, it was clear that more, purer water was needed. A public law was approved on April 21, 1915, creating the Providence Water Supply Board and granting the power to condemn 14,800 acres to create the Situate Reservoir. Today the reservoir is the largest inland body of water in Rhode Island, supplying over 40 billion gallons of water to residents.

Between 1806 and 1821, a dozen mills were built on the Pawtuxet River, shaping the economy of surrounding villages. The mills provided a livelihood for the villagers who settled in the valley and drew immigrants looking for a better life from Canada, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, and other faraway countries. For over 100 years, the mills were a thriving industry until it became more economical to move them to the South where cotton was grown. Pawtuxet Valley Villages: Hope to Natick to Washington travels down the North Branch of the Pawtuxet River from the village of Hope to Natick, then back up the South Branch to Washington Village. Over 200 previously unpublished images tell the story of 18 villages located in 5 cities and towns.

Scituate, Rhode Island, was first inhabited by the Nipmuc and Narragansett Indians. The first white settler, John Mathewson, came in 1694 and found a land of many ponds and streams. More emigrants came from Massachusetts in the early 1700s, and the town was incorporated in 1731. These hard-working settlers made their living from the land, coaxing apples, corn, and potatoes to grow from the hilly and rocky soil. Scituateas plentiful water resources brought manufacturing to the area in 1806, and 16 villages developed around the many mills that were established here. Scituateas abundant water supply also made it the chosen site for a reservoir to provide water for the growing needs of the city of Providence. By 1915, the City of Providence began to condemn by eminent domain over 25 square miles of Scituateas land area. Upon completion in 1926, the reservoir had flooded the villages and changed the way of life for the townspeople forever. The history of these so-called alost villagesa has not been shown in pictures before. Here, Heritage Room committee members Shirley D. Arnold, Eleanor R. Guy, and Ruth S. Rounds tell the story of the people who lost everything and how Scituate became what it is today.

Scituate, Rhode Island, was first inhabited by the Nipmuc and Narragansett Indians. The first white settler, John Mathewson, came in 1694 and found a land of many ponds and streams. More emigrants came from Massachusetts in the early 1700s, and the town was incorporated in 1731. These hard-working settlers made their living from the land, coaxing apples, corn, and potatoes to grow from the hilly and rocky soil. Scituate's plentiful water resources brought manufacturing to the area in 1806, and 16 villages developed around the many mills that were established here. Scituate's abundant water supply also made it the chosen site for a reservoir to provide water for the growing needs of the city of Providence. By 1915, the City of Providence began to condemn by eminent domain over 25 square miles of Scituate's land area. Upon completion in 1926, the reservoir had flooded the villages and changed the way of life for the townspeople forever. The history of these so-called "lost villages" has not been shown in pictures before. Here, Heritage Room committee members Shirley D. Arnold, Eleanor R. Guy, and Ruth S. Rounds tell the story of the people who lost everything and how Scituate became what it is today.