Little Compton Historical Society Remembers Adamsville

This summer, the Little Compton Historical Society will honor the history and culture of Adamsville.

  The Little Compton Historical Society will honor the culture, architecture, community and heritage of Adamsville this summer.  The Adamsville Post Office and Gray's General Store are some of Adamsville's more obvious historical landmarks, but through oral histories from long-time residents, publications, parties and new signs, the Little Compton Historical Society hopes to expose some of Adamsville's lesser-known treasurers. Despite the village's small size, the historical society has identified more than 30 significant sites that it will mark off with real-estate style signs so that passer's by can learn about the little village's big history. "This is a cross-border exhibition," said Marjory O'Toole, managing director to the Little …

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Share Your Local History & Scan Your Photos Day in Adamsville

The Little Compton Historical Society are recording local's oral histories and scanning historical photos tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 1 at the William Raveis Real Estate Office in Adamsville.

The Little Compton Historical Society invites anyone with a connection to Adamsville to share their memories and images this Friday, February 1. Historical Society Managing Director Marjory Gomez O’Toole and a small team of volunteers will be on site at the William Raveis Real Estate Office in Adamsville to record oral histories and to scan Adamsville photographs and other images in preparation for this summer’s “Remembering Adamsville” project. Appointments are necessary and may be made by calling 401-635-4035. It is important that anyone interested in contributing materials to the project contact this Historical Society this month as the research portion of the project is coming to a close. The “Remembering Adamsville” project will …

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50 Pieces of Art Arrived For Little Compton History Book

A jury should select approximately 20 to be digitized for the publication.

The Little Compton Historical Society received 50 pieces of art last week for their second history book, tentatively titled The History of Little Compton: A Home by the Sea, 1820-1954. President Marjory O'Toole said a panel of jurers reviewed the art and estimated they may select approximately 20 illustrations for the publication. She said the three-member jury includes Lisa Goddard, director of the Newport Art Museum, Chief Justice Paul Suttell and author Janet Lisle. They select the art for the book and the cover. O'Toole said the selected pieces will be professionally digitized so that they can be reproduced in the book. Everything will be displayed in the exhibit this summer and everything will be for sale. The book will be available …

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Last Chance: Artist Submissions for Little Compton History Book

Submissions are due by Friday, March 30.

The following is from the Little Compton Historical Society: Friday, March 30 is the last day for local artists to drop off their submissions at the Little Compton Historical Society for possible inclusion in the society's new book on Little Compton History. Over 50 artists are participating and submissions include paintings, sculpture, quilts, hand-woven rugs, even jewelry. The following day, all of the submissions will be reviewed by a three person jury who will select approximately 14 works of art to illustrate "The History of Little Compton, A Home by the Sea, 1820-1954" written by Janet Lisle and published by the Little Compton Historical Society. The book will be available to the public this July. All submitted work will be exhibited…

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Humanities Council Awards Grants to Tiverton Schools, Little Compton Historical Society

The funding goes toward a history book project at the Little Compton Historical Society and the social studies curriculum at Tiverton High School.

The following information was supplied by the Rhode Council for the Humanities in a press release. The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH) awarded approximately $192,600 in major grant recipients for 2012, including funds going toward groups in Tiverton and Little Compton. The Little Compton Historical Society received $10,000 toward their archival project The History of Little Compton: A Home by the Sea, 1820-1954. Mirroring their first phase, The History of Little Compton, First Light: Sakonnet, 1660-1820, the project will research and archive the history of the town from 1820 to 1954. An exhibition, publication and public programs will also be presented. They are searching for artists to submit illustrations for the …

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Artists Sought For Second Little Compton History Book

All work entered will go on display at upcoming 2012 events and also possibly selected to be used as illustrations in an upcoming book on the town's history.

The Little Compton Historical Society is inviting Sakonnet area artists to participate in the second half of their project, History of Little Compton, by Janet Lisle. It is tentatively titled The History of Little Compton: A Home by the Sea, 1820-1954 and it is being modeled after their successful 2010 publication First Light: Sakonnet. In a letter from Dora Atwater Millikin, vice president of the exhibit committee, they are asking local artists to interpret a moment in Little Compton's history in a medium of their choice. The 2010 project brought over 40 local artists, who interepreted a part of town history and shared it. A wide variety of media is welcome, including but not limited to paintings, fine handicrafts and sculpture. All work …

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Three Scouts Soar To Eagle Rank In Little Compton [VIDEO]

Their Court of Honor was held Saturday at the Little Compton Game Club.

Three Boy Scouts from Little Compton Troop 29 attained the rank of Eagle during a Court of Honor ceremony held on Saturday at the Little Compton Game Club. Scouts C.J. Mickey, 18, Jack O’Toole, 17, and Colby Torre, 18, were joined by family and friends for the momentus event. With a maturity far beyond their years, each explained their Eagle Scout community service projects they completed and how scouting has affected them. “I built two picnic tables for the Little Compton Historical Society," said Torre. "During my six years in scouts, I learned how to be a leader and how important teamwork is,” said Torre. Mickey, a 2011 graduate of Portsmouth High School, is a pharmacy major at the University of Rhode Island. He echoed his fellow scout'…

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Patch Passport

Travel Back In Time: Little Compton's Wilbor House

Travel back in time with the Wednesday Patch Passport, to discover the history and roots of Little Compton.

To truly experience a New England town, one needs to look no further than Little Compton, because, as land evidence suggests, it is steeped in a well-chronicled history. It originally belonged to the Sakonnet tribe. Then, approximately 32 European proprietors came down from the Plymouth colony in the 1670s and won a petition from the native leading tribe, the Awashonks, to begin dividing the land. Little Compton was incorporated in 1686 by the Plymouth Colony, and it wasn’t until 1747 where it received a royal decree to be annexed to Newport County as part of Rhode Island, along with Tiverton and Bristol. Little Compton contains Rhode Island’s only town common, where most town offices, its church parishes, library, school district and some…

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Joe Sousa.

6:41 am on Wednesday, July 27, 2011

While it's fun to fantasize living in these times, the truth is it was a hard life. Preserving our history shows how easy we have it today. Putting enough food away to last till the next harvest. fetching water from a hand dug well. Dressing deer or other small game to cook . There was no shortage of work for the families of that time.   more ›

'Sakonnet Point Perspectives' Walking Tours Begin Friday

The walking tours to understand the past and present of Sakonnet Point will run at various times for the rest of the summer.

Throughout the summer, the Little Compton Historical Society, the Friends of the Sakonnet Lighthouse and the Sakonnet Preservation Association (SPA) will offer walking tours of Sakonnet Point that showcase the area’s historic and environmental importance. The tours are part of the groups’ collaborative “Sakonnet Point Perspectives” project and are funded in part by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and the Rhode Island Foundation’s Newport County Fund.  According to a press release from the historical society, the guided tours are 1.5 hours long and involve approximately 45 minutes of walking and some modest climbing. Participants are encouraged to wear study shoes and long pants. Children and adults are welcome, but children …

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Little Compton Historical Society Prepares for New Season

Among the society's holdings are a collection of dolls dating back to the 1700s.

Tucked inconspicuously in a narrow “dead space” beside a second floor bedroom fireplace, her small round eyes peer out from behind the protective glass. She neither moves nor breathes, but she has probably experienced much since she originally came from England in the 1700s. Her stare is steady, her expression, wooden – literally. And she has probably never changed her clothes.  She is a beautifully preserved Queen Anne doll whose companions include over 13,000 items inventoried at the Little Compton Historical Society at 548 West Main Road. She is one of hundreds of “recreational artifacts” that include doll clothing and furniture as well as a variety of dolls.  Most of the dolls owned by the Historical Society are in storage, according …

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