Rhode Island boundaries, 1636-1936, Part 1

Author: Rhode Island State Planning Board
Publication date: 1936
Publisher: [Providence] Published by the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission
Number of Pages: 46


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Gc 974.5 Cllr 1953661


M. L.


REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION


L


ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00084 6847


Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019


https://archive.org/details/rhodeislandbound00unse


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES 1636-1936


STATE


HOPE


by JOHN HUTCHINS CADY Consultant to the State Planning Board


State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Published by the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission


1936


F


87 B725 <2


1


COPYRIGHT, 1936, BY RHODE ISLAND STATE PLANNING BOARD


5439


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES was first issued on June 15, 1936, as a special report of the Rhode Island State Planning Board. The maps were designed by the author and drawn by William A. Perry, a staff artist of the planning board, whose services were made available through the courtesy of the Works Progress Administration.


The text and maps are descriptive of the boundaries of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and of her counties and towns, as they have been devel- oped from the first settlement by the English up to her tercentenary year, nineteen thirty-six. The information was gathered from numerous sources, among which are mentioned the following:


Rhode Island Colonial Records Early Records of Providence 1953661


Rhode Island Historical Society Collections


G. W. Greene: Short History of Rhode Island


S. S. Rider: The Lands of Rhode Island


E. R. Potter: Early History of Narragansett


Report of Boundary Commissioners of Massachusetts and Rhode Island


C. W. Bowen: The Boundary Disputes of Connecticut Rhode Island Manual


Map of the Colony of Rhode Island, 1720, by John Mumford


Map of the State of Rhode Island, 1795, by Caleb Harris


Map of the State of Rhode Island, 1819, by M. M. Peabody United States Geological Maps


Acknowledgment is made to Messrs. William Davis Miller and Howard M. Chapin of the Rhode Island His- torical Society for reviewing the brochure, and to the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission for sponsoring its publication.


John Hutchins Cady


October 31, 1936


STATE PLANNING BOARD


JOHN NICHOLAS BROWN, Chairman


WALTER F. FONTAINE


JOHN F. LENNON


HOWARD L. HITCHCOCK


THOMAS J. H. PEIRCE


WALLIS E. HOWE


RICHARD B. WATROUS


JOHN V. KEILY


FREDERICK A. YOUNG


JOHN HUTCHINS CADY, Secretary and Consultant


RHODE ISLAND TERCENTENARY COMMISSION


VERY REV. LORENZO C. MCCARTHY, O.P., Chairman FRANK E. BALLOU, Vice Chairman


JOHN NICHOLAS BROWN


ALFRED G. CHAFFEE


IRA LLOYD LETTS JOSEPH P. DUNN


JAMES H. KIERNAN


HORACE G. BELCHER, Executive Secretary


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


· Introduction ·


EFORE Rhode Island was settled by the English in 1636, there dwelt upon her territories five tribes of Indians, as follows:


The Narragansetts, who occupied all but the southern part of Washington County, parts of Kent and Providence Counties, all of the islands in Narragansett Bay, and Block Island, and who dominated over the remainder of the state's territory.


The Nipmuks, who dwelt in the north-western portion.


The Wampanoags, whose stronghold was in Massachusetts but who also occupied the north-eastern part of Rhode Island.


The Niantics, who lived along the south shore.


The Pequots, a Connecticut tribe who dwelt also in the south- west corner of Rhode Island.


In the reign of Charles I of England there was enacted Feb- ruary 3, 1635, an "Eightfold Partition of Territory under the Great Council for New England," by which the lands of southern New England east of the Connecticut River were allotted to Edward Lord Gorges and the Marquis of Hamilton respectively, the dividing line between the former's territory on the west and the latter's lands on the east established as the Blackstone, Paw- tucket and Seekonk Rivers and Narragansett Bay, the line running west of Prudence Island and between the islands of Conanicut and Rhode Island to the ocean.


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1636-1659


PROVIDE ROVIDENCE was settled in 1636 by Roger Williams on land which he secured by verbal transfer from Canonicus and Miantonomi, chief sachems of the Narragansetts, and which was described as "the lands and meadows upon the two fresh rivers called Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket." In 1637 he obtained a formal deed for this terri- tory by which the bounds were established "from the rivers and fields of Pawtucket, the great hill of Neutaconkanut on the north-west and the town of Mashapaug on the west, reaching to Pawtuxet River, as also the grass and meadows upon Pawtuxet River." This conveyance was confirmed by Miantonomi in 1639, further extending the bounds to include the territory "up the streams of Pawtucket and Pawtuxet without limits."


Miantonomi, about the year 1642, established more specific bounds for the 1637 deed, as follows: Sugar Loaf Hill, Bewit's Brow, Observation Rock, Absolute Swamp, Ox-ford, and Hipses Rock. Those bounds cannot now be accurately determined. Sugar Loaf Hill was doubtless north-west of Pawtucket, and possibly at Lonsdale; Bewit's Brow was somewhere on the west side of Moshassuck River; Observation Rock was probably in the town of Lincoln; Absolute Swamp may have been in Wanskuck; Ox-ford was probably on the Woonasquatucket River; and Hipses Rock was undoubtedly a high rock west of Neutaconkanut Hill. By a further conveyance on the part of Cojonoquant, successor to Miantonomi, in 1659, and by deeds to the town from certain other Indians, the territory of Providence was extended to include all of the present Providence County west of the Blackstone River, with the west bound "twenty miles west of Foxes Hill."


Portsmouth (as it was later named) was settled in 1638 by Anne Hutchinson and William Coddington, who purchased the island of Aquidneck (the name of which was changed in 1644 to Rhode Island) and laid the foundation of the new town at Pocasset, near the north end of the island. In 1639 another settlement was made at Newport, at the south end of the island, by seceders from Pocasset, the division line of which was established in 1640.


In 1642 Warwick was settled by Samuel Gorton who, with eleven companions, purchased Shawomet, the territory bounded on the east by the waters from Sowhomes Bay (Occupasspawtuxet Cove) to Shawhomett Neck (Warwick Neck), and extending westward twenty miles. In the same year John Greene purchased a tract at Occupass- pawtuxet, north of the cove.


Roger Williams in 1643 obtained from the Earl of Warwick a charter to form the "Colony of Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay in New England," which united the settlements of Providence, Portsmouth, Newport, and Shawomet (now War- wick). By the terms of this charter the lands were bounded "northward and north-east by the patent of the Massachusetts, east and south-east on Plymouth patent, south on the ocean, and on the west and north-west by the Indians called Narragansetts; the whole


· 6 .


MASSACHUSETTS


Awumps Pond


A Map of the State of RHODE ISLANI


showing


Wayunkeke Hill


River


TERRITORIAL2 BOUNDS For the Years 1636-1659


Twenty Mile Line 1659


LOQUASQUSSUCK


Prepared by the State Planning Board John H.Cady - Consultant


Pawtucket Falls


1936


Ponagansett AmdPRO VIDE


CK


Bounds as' extended, 1659


Walling's Pond


Or ford


SETTLEMENT


PROVIDENCE 163 6


Horas


šloxes


Hill


REHOBOTH


MIL


INALi


PAWTUKET


Rock


Division Line, 1640


Mashapoug'


Pond


PAWTUXET


MACHANTATOCN


River


Division Line until 1648


Sowhomes


Ball


1ST.


SETTLEMENT


WAR


I


1642


1


1


Shawhomett


Called SHAWOMET until 1648


Potowo


Patience 75


ATHERTONS


PURCHASE


R Hope


R


Cocumcussur # Trading Posts circa 1639


R


DAPES


Namegloss formerly AQUIDNECH


RIVER 1640 Settled 1638 ISLAND OF RHODE ISLAND Line Established


PEQUOT


NARRAGANSETT


COUNTRY


NA


Purchased1657


e


SAKONNET


Dutch


NEWPORT Settled!


Western Boundary of 1849 1 Charter


1679


Great Pond


AQUAMSCUTT


Purchased 1657


20 00


E


River


Poweoluck


MISQUAMICUT


BLOCK JSIAND


MANASSE 8


CONNECTICUT COUNTRY


MIHOPE


MT. HOPE BAY


QUIDNESSET


1659


POCASSEI


PRUDENCE IS


Purchased1637


Kantouoxetin


CoxNicu


Gould


ATHERTONS NAM COOKS


PURCHASE1659


Goat Is


NAKONNEI


"West Line of Purchase Established


Moswansicut


River


Pocosse Ventaconkanut: Will


HIMONXT


COLON


Moswar sicut Wond


Moshassis


Pawtucket


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1636 - 1659 (continued)


tract extending about twenty-five English miles into the Pequot River and country." The territory of the Plymouth patent, granted in 1729, included "one half of the river called Narragansetts;" in 1645 Rehoboth was incorporated as a part of that colony, including within its bounds the lands of the present Massachusetts towns of Rehoboth and Seekonk as well as East Providence and the eastern part of Pawtucket.


The General Assembly of Rhode Island was instituted in 1647, admitting Provi- dence, Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick under equal terms. In 1651 the colony was disrupted, Newport being governed by Coddington, and Providence and Warwick con- tinuing as Providence Plantations. With the revoking of Coddington's Commission in 1654, however, the colony was reunited.


In addition to Aquidneck, other islands in Narragansett Bay were purchased from the Indians as follows: Prudence and Patience in 1637 by Roger Williams and John Winthrop; Hope, probably shortly after by Roger Williams; Gould in 1657 by Thomas Gould; Conanicut in 1657 by William Coddington and Benedict Arnold; Dutch, Goat and Coaster's Harbor in 1658 by Benedict Arnold; and Fox in 1659 by Randall Holden and Samuel Gorton.


The territory south of Warwick to the ocean was known as the Narragansett Country, and was claimed by both Rhode Island and Connecticut. A trading post was established at Cocumcussuc, on Narragansett Bay, in 1639; a tract known as Petta- quamscutt, extending to the ocean, was purchased in 1657, and Potowomut Neck, south of Greenwich Bay, and Nanequoxet, in North Kingstown, were purchased in 1659. To sustain Connecticut's claim, Humphrey Atherton and Governor John Winthrop of that colony purchased in 1659 two large and valuable tracts of land on the western shore of Narragansett Bay, located at Quidnesset (from Potowomut River to Wickford harbor in North Kingstown) and Namkook (Boston Neck, now a part of Narragansett) respectively.


The territory of the Rhode Island colony in 1659 included the towns of Providence, Warwick, Newport and Portsmouth; eight islands in addition to Rhode Island, in Narra- gansett Bay; and the Narragansett Country, the latter claimed also by Connecticut.


· 9 .


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1659-1703


IN 1663 Charles II granted a new charter to "The Governor and Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England in America." The overlapping of the east and west bounds of the colony defined by this charter, upon those established by the Plymouth patent of 1629 and the Connecticut charter of 1662 respectively, caused disputes which continued for many years before adjustments were finally made.


Rhode Island lands were extended by her charter "eastwardly, three English miles to the east and north-east of Narragansett Bay into the mouth of the river which runneth towards the town of Providence, and from thence along the eastwardly side . . . of the said river (higher called by the name of Seekonk River), up to .. . Pawtucket Falls ... and so from the said falls, in a straight line due north, until it meets with the . . . line of the Massachusetts colony." The Plymouth territory, under its patent, extended westerly to include "one-half of the River called Narragansetts," interpreted to mean Narragansett Bay. Included in the overlapping bounds were the present towns of Cumberland, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton and Little Compton.


Rhode Island's charter established her western boundary at the Pawcatuck River "and so along the said river as the greater or middle stream thereof reaches or lies, up the country northward into the head thereof, and from thence by a straight line due north" to the Massachusetts line. Under Connecticut's Royal Charter of 1662, that colony was awarded lands extending easterly to include "forty leagues on the shore of the Narragansett River," by which was meant Narragansett Bay, according to her claim. Rhode Island on the other hand interpreted the "line due north" as starting from the point where the Pawcatuck River turns to the east, about two miles west of the present state boundary. A Board of Arbitrators in London in 1663 agreed that Pawcatuck River, "alias Narragansett River" should be the boundary line between Rhode Island and Connecticut, thereby awarding to Rhode Island the territory between Pawcatuck River and Narragansett Bay. This agreement was repudiated by the colony of Con- necticut, who proceeded to establish a town at Wickford and appoint town officers there. While the controversy was under way the Commissioners of the King in 1665 appointed Conservators of the Peace in the disputed territory, previously known as the Narragansett Country, and named it King's Province. After continued disputes, a Board of Commis- sioners of the two colonies in 1703 upheld the decision made by the Arbitrators in 1663 and established the bounds as follows: "the middle channel of Pawcatuck river, alias Narragansett, as it extendith from the salt water upwards till it come to the mouth of Ashaway river where it falls into the said Pawcatuck river, and from thence to run a straight line till it meet with the south-west bounds or corner of Warwick grand purchase, which extends twenty miles due west from . . . the outmost point of ... Warwick Neck,


·10 .


MASSACHUSETTS


ATTLEBORO GORE ! Disputed territory between Rhode Island and Massachusetts


A Map of the State of RHODE ISLAND


Seven.


showing


TERRITORIALO


Twenty Mile Line 1659


Wayunkeke Hill


Blackstone


Moshassuck


R.


BouNDS For the Years 1659-1703 Prepared by the State Planning Board


John H.Cady - Consultant


1936


E


River


Seekonk


A


Moswansicut Pond


River PROVIDENCE, (#


Zine / __ L-


Pawtuxet Division


1715


pone


Mashapaug Tpona


PAWTUNET


Bullock


Aivet


Paw ture,


Barrington n.


BRISTOL


brech


Mi. HOPE


North Boundary of King's Province


EAST


womut


Patience is.


GREENWICH


Original Bounds


po


Claimed by


E/Greenwich and Warwick


3


Inc. 1677


FRENCHTOWN


IS.


1


R


A


COUNTY


-RIVER --


Connecticut claimed all territory south of Warwick, east to "Narragansett River" under Her Royal Charter 1662


WICKFORD


B


PORTS- MOUTH


KING STOWN Called ROCHESTER 1686,89 Inc. 1674


Incorporated


1 1 LITTLE COMPTON 1


170


EWPORT


Hood Aider


SS PROVINCE Boundaries Established +1666


LITTLE REST


SPORT


Sakonnet 'Pt.


-


River


E


00


Purchased and occupied 1661 Admitted to Colony 1664


Pawel


Pt.Judith


XTIC


BLOCK ISLAND


NEW


SHOREHAM


Incorporar:d 1672


Part of Rhode Island County


Bounds According to R.l. Charter of 1663


State Boundary as defined by the Charter of 1663. ( According to R.1. cleim)


Amway State Boundary ~


CourTY


Incorporated ~ 1703


OF PROVIDENCE P


WARWICK


WARWICK


Bounds Mecording Lo Plymouth Pe


Disputed Territory between


ILO INNO2


Agreed upon by Commissioners of R.J. and Conn. 1703 Finally adjusted 1728


FAST GREENWICH Called DEDFORD 1686-89


PORTSMOUTHIN


PRUDENCE


NAR


JAMESTOWN


RHODEISLAND C


HANNOYVY


WESTERLYA Called HAVERSHAM 1686-89 Ind 1669


Great Pond


Beaver Toil


vcatuck


WESTERLY


---- 1660


River Pocasser


t Rive


SETTS


MILES


Moswansicut OFLVL River


Walling's Pond


johansonbsoucom


PROVI


PAN Mile


4


I


MT .- HOPE BA


achusetts and Rhode Island


1


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1659 -1703 (continued)


to run upon a due north line till it meet with the south line of the Province of Massa- chusetts Bay in New England."


Following the agreement of the Board of Arbitrators in 1663 by which the lands of the Narragansett Country, or King's Province, were awarded to Rhode Island, three towns were established in that territory: Westerly in 1669, Kingstown in 1674, and East Greenwich in 1677. Their bounds were not at first definitely established; Westerly was the name given to the place formerly called Misquamicut adjoining the Pawcatuck River; Kingstown was established on Narragansett Bay "to obstruct the Connecticut colony from using jurisdiction there;" and East Greenwich was a ten-thousand-acre tract of land, five hundred acres of which (divided into fifty house lots) were "near the sea." The Westerly and Kingstown boundaries were established by the General Assem- bly in 1699, their combined areas extending from the East Greenwich line south to the sea, and from Narragansett Bay west to the Connecticut line, and the boundary between the two towns following the west line of the Pettaquamscutt Purchase "to the Great Pond (Worden) or river running out of it, thence by said river to the foot of Usquapaug River, thence northward with said river ... ". Thus Westerly included the present towns of Charlestown, Hopkinton and Richmond, and Kingstown included the present towns of North and South Kingstown, Exeter and Narragansett.


New Shoreham (Block Island), purchased in 1661 and admitted to the colony in 1664, was incorporated in 1672, as was Jamestown (Conanicut Island) in 1678.


Barrington and a part of Warren in 1667, Bristol in 1681, and Little Compton in 1682 were incorporated as towns in the Plymouth Colony; and in 1683 these and other towns became a part of Bristol County of that colony.


A "seven mile line" was established in Providence in 1660 to limit the division of the proprietors' lands westward, and was laid out from a point seven miles west of "Foxes Hill" (Fox Point) on a straight line, south to the Pawtuxet River and north to the Pawtucket (Blackstone) River. In 1697 the General Assembly fixed the south bounds of Providence at the Pawtuxet River.


In 1703 the Colony of Rhode Island was divided into two counties, named respec- tively "Rhode Island" and "Providence Plantations." The former included Rhode Island and the rest of the islands; Newport was the shire town and the other towns were Portsmouth, New Shoreham and Jamestown. The latter county included the mainland, with Providence the shire town and comprising also the towns of Warwick, Westerly, Kingstown and East Greenwich.


· 13 .


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1703-1750


Y AN ACT of the General Assembly in 1723 Kingstown was divided into two towns called North Kingstown and South Kingstown respectively, the bounds extend- ing in a westerly direction from Narragansett Bay, just south of the present Saunders- town, to the town line of Westerly north of the present village of Usquepaug.


The controversy attending the establishment of the west boundary of the state was terminated, after sixty-five years of quarreling, in 1728, when bounds were established by Commissioners as follows: a heap of stones was set at the south-west corner of the Warwick purchase (now Coventry), twenty miles due west from Warwick Neck; from that bound a line was carried north, seven degrees east, twenty-three miles and ten rods to the Massachusetts south line, and another line was carried south, eleven degrees twenty minutes west, fifteen miles and ninety rods into the mouth of Ashaway River where it falls into Pawcatuck River. Stone heaps forming boundary monuments were erected along the line.


The two original counties of the colony, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, were re-named Newport and Providence respectively in 1729. In that same year King's County was established by setting off from Providence County that part of the territory of King's Province extending south from East Greenwich, which included the towns of Westerly, North Kingstown, and South Kingstown, the latter named as the county town.


An act was passed in 1731 for erecting and incorporating the outlands of the town of Providence into three towns, including Glocester, Scituate and Smithfield, approxi- mately equal in area. The north and south bound, separating Glocester and Scituate on the west from Smithfield and Providence on the east, was the "seven mile line," extending from Warwick northward to the Massachusetts colony, established in 1660; and the east and west bound, separating Glocester and Smithfield on the north from Scituate and Providence on the south, extended westward from the Blackstone River from a point one-half mile above the Pawtucket Falls to a monument erected on the seven mile line eight and one-half miles north of the Warwick line, and continued west six degrees thirty minutes north to the Connecticut line.


The state's eastern boundaries were fixed (for the time being) by Royal Com- missioners in 1741 after disputes of seventy-eight years' duration, and were confirmed by the King and Council in 1746 as follows: "From a certain point where a meridian line passing through the Pawtucket Falls cuts the south boundary of the colony of Massa- chusetts Bay, south to Pawtucket Falls; then southerly along the eastward side of Seekonk river, and the river which runneth towards the town of Providence, to the south-west corner of Bullock's Neck; then north-east three miles; then along the aforesaid lines, running at three miles distance from the north-easternmost parts of the said bay, to the said bay, at or near Towoset Neck; then as the said bay runs to the southernmost part of


· 14 .


MASSACHUSETTS


Cort


A Map of the State of RHODE ISLAND


CUMBERLAND Annexed from MASSACHUSETTS. 1747


showing


GLOCESTER Taken from PROVIDENCE 1731


SMITHFIELD Taken from PROVIDENCE 1731


Blackstone


stone


TERRITORIAL2 Ce BouNDS For the Years 1703-1750


Prepared by the


State Planning Board John H.Cady - Consultant


Pawtucket Falls


1936


Vost


Moswansicut Pola


River PROVIDENCE Partuxet Division Line of 1712


MILLS


SCITUATE Taken from PROVIDENCE 1731


Mashapaug Pond


ondaanse.


PAWTUXET


WAR


Bul


Annexed from


COVENTRY Taken from WARWICK11741


MASSACHUSETTS


KENT


Cou


TOWOMUT


Patience IS.


Popasquash


WEST GREENWICH Taken from EAST GREENWICH 1741


EAST


GREENWICH


TIVERTO) Annexed from MASSACHUSETTS 1747


EXETER Taken from NORTH KING STOWN 1743


Queen Bliver


NA


JAMESTOWN


MIDDLE-


TOWN


Taken from


NEWPORT


River


KING'S COUNTY Taken from PROVIDENCE COUNTY 1729


BOSTON NECK


NEWP


Sakonnet "Pr


Beaver Tall


Brentons Reef


atuck


River


CHARLESTOWN Taken from WESTERLY


1723


Watchaug Pond


1738


Ninigret Pond


PŁ. Judith


Quonochontaug Pond


I


Babcock Pond


NEW


SHOREHAM


Part of Newport County


CONNECTICUT


?


1747


Towoset Neck


A


BRISTOL


MT. HOPE BA


Wfinally adjusted 1728


RICHMOND Taken from CHARLESTOWN 1747


NORTH KINGSTOWN Division of @KINGSTOWN 1723


RR 4


PRUDENCE


IS


RIVER


B,


EWPOR


SAKOXN


LITTLE COMPTON Annexed from MASSACHUSETTS 1747


State Boundary


STERLY


Wood


Worden Pond


SOUTH


Par


C


E


BLOCK ISLAND


Watch Hill


ALITA


pocasset R.


WARWICK


BRISTOL COUNTY


Shawomet


Taken from PROVIDENCE COUNTY 1750


POTO


Cour


Name changed 1729 PORTS MOUTH


PORT


1743


KINGSTOWN Division of KINGSTOWN


Sanssousow PROVIDE


COUM Name Changed 1729


SILISWHATSS


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1703 - 1750 (continued)


Shawomet Neck (Brayton Point), and then in a straight line to the aforesaid point opposite to the said neck; then east three miles, and then along the aforesaid lines, running at three miles distance from the easternmost parts of the said bay, to the sea."


By this designation of bounds, five towns were ceded to Rhode Island by Massachu- setts: Cumberland, formerly known as the Attleboro Gore, and located on the east side of the Blackstone River, became a part of Providence County; Tiverton and Little Compton, both situated on the east side of Sakonnet River, became a part of Newport County; and Warren and Bristol together formed a new Bristol County, located west of Mount Hope Bay, with Bristol named as the county town.


Charlestown was separated from the eastern part of Westerly in 1738, the dividing line being the Wood and Pawcatuck rivers and a line down to the ocean at Quonochon- taug Pond; in 1743 Exeter was taken from the western part of North Kingstown; and in 1747 Richmond was separated from that part of Charlestown north of the Pawca- tuck River.


Warwick and East Greenwich were reduced in area in 1741 with the setting off of the towns of Coventry and West Greenwich, respectively, from their western territories. The Warwick-Coventry dividing line was run north seven degrees east, passing through the western part of "Coweset Farms," and the line between West and East Greenwich was established as the "westerly line of the old township." Those four towns, together with Potowomut Neck, were taken from Providence County and incorporated as Kent County in 1750 with East Greenwich as the county town.


· 17 .


RHODE ISLAND BOUNDARIES


1750-1806


DETWEEN 1754 and 1767 the town of Providence was further subdivided by the General Assembly. By an act of 1754 Cranston was set off from the south-westerly part of Providence, and the dividing line established as "a straight line from Hawkins Cove on Providence Bay or River, to a bend in Pocasset River, then to follow the river up to the Plainfield road, then by that road to the seven mile line." By an act of 1759 the town of Johnston was erected out of the westerly part of Providence, the dividing line commencing "on the southern bank of Woonasquatucket river, due north from the easternmost part of Solitary Hill, and runs thence due south to the northern line of Cranston. From the place of beginning the line north is the Woonasquatucket river." By an act of 1765 the town of North Providence was set off from Providence and the dividing line established from the southernmost point where the line of Johnston meets the Woonasquatucket river, thence bounding on that river "until it comes to the north- west corner of the town's land at the east end of a place called Forestack meadow;" thence to the middle of Mill Bridge, and thence due east to Seekonk River. The bounds east and north of "the north-east corner of the town's land east of Forestack meadow" were re-established to the advantage of Providence by an act of 1767 to run "to the north-west corner of the burying land (North Burial Ground) ; and then, easterly and southerly, by said burying ground until it comes to Harrington's lane (Rochambeau Avenue), then easterly, by the north side of said lane, till it meets with the south-west corner of the land of Joseph Olney; then crossing said lane, due south; then extending easterly, as said lane runs, bounding northerly by said lane until it comes to the dividing line between land of William Brown and Phineas Brown; and then by said line easterly, to Seekonk River." With the setting off of Cranston, Johnston and North Providence, the town of Providence was thereby, in 1767, reduced to an area of five and one-half square miles, which area was but one and one-half per cent of the original lands as confirmed in 1659.




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