Local History Articles

Read about the history and people of Smithfield, Rhode Island, in our collection of articles written by local historians.  New articles are frequently added.

One can also read about Smithfield history in the following books:  “Remembering Smithfield, Sketches of Apple Valley” and “Images of America – Smithfield.”  

 

Apple Growing

• A Forgotten Artifact of Smithfield’s Past Come Home
• Apple Lore And Fruits Of The Harvest

Aviation

• A View Heretofore Reserved For Birds And Gods
• Arthur Gould’s Vision of the Future
• Forgotten Tales of North Central Airport
• The Wreck of the Dawn Patrol 
• The Jinxed Airplane
• The Jinxed Airplane Revisited
• Historic Rhode Island Aviation Accidents
• Plane Crash – 1940
• Wolf Hill Plane Crash – 1943
• Plane Crash – 1947
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 1952
• Lime Rock Rd. Plane Crash – 1970
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 1974
• Lime Rock Rd. Plane Crash – 1977
• North Central Airport Aviation Accident – 1978
• Forced Aircraft Landing – 1979
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 1980
• North Central Airport Helicopter Crash – 1981 
• Scituate Reservoir Plane Crash – 1982
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 1986
• Mann School Rd. Plane Crash – 1988
• Williams Rd. Plane Crash – 1990
• North Central Airport – 2002
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 2008
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 2016 
• North Central Airport Plane Crash – 2019

Banks

• Early Banks of Smithfield
• Smithfield Union Bank Robbery – 1838
• The Brazen Bank Bandits of Slatersville  
• The Scituate National Bank Robbery of 1868
• A New Lease On Life For The Former Smithfield Exchange Bank

Cemeteries 

• Nothing Gold Can Stay – a love story 

Churches/Religion

• Two Trips to Heaven
• A Spiritual Journey Along The Camino De Santiago
• A Pilgrim’s Quest For Mary
• An Angel For St. Philip Church
• St. Thomas Church Parsonage Article – 1881
• Devine Faith

Crimes and Dastardly Deeds

• A Sad Case Of Mistaken Identity: How a chance meeting and a runaway imagination led to tragedy
• Blood, Bullets, and Bad Men
• Murdered For Thirteen Dollars
• Police Tales of Yesteryear
• The Great Georgiaville Liquor Raid of 1898
• The Brazen Bank Bandits Of Slatersville
• Smithfield Union Bank Robbery – 1838
• Robbery & Arrest – 1854
• A Highway Robbery – 1864
• Highway Robbery – 1901
• The Great Escape of 1916
• A Murderous Night in Cumberland – 1901

Dairy Farms

• The Days of Milk Wagons and Glass Bottles

Disasters

• The Great Greenville Conflagration of 1924
• The Industrial National Bank Disaster
• Long Lost Local Lore about Lightning
• The Wolf Hill Plane Crash – 1943
• Prelude
• Smithfield Fire Log – 1800’s
• Stillwater Mill Fire – 1872
• Capron Mill Fire – 1876
• The Stillwater Train Wreck
• The Wreck of the Dawn Patrol
• Lightning Strikes – 1870s
• Woonsocket Falls Village Fire – 1829

Esmond (Village)

• Nothing Gold Can Stay
• Forgotten Tales of the Esmond Mill
• The Battle To Bring Water To Smithfield

Fire Department

• The Mystery of the Water Witch
• Origin Of The Greenville Fire Co.
• Three New Recruits Join Fire Dept.
• Smithfield’s First Paid Firemen
• The Wionkhiege Valley Fire Co.

Georgiaville (Village)

• Tales of Georgiaville Pond
• The Phillips Parker Black House – Georgiaville

Greenville (Village)

• Tobey’s Store Was the “Capitol” of  Smithfield
• Elephants and Other Curiosities  
• Greenville Postmasters 1823 – 2005

Hanton City

• Are There Ghosts In Smithfield’s “Haunted City”?

Holidays

• Forgotten Romance Superstitions Of Halloween
• Vintage Christmas Cards Reveal Santa Didn’t Always Wear Red 
• Little Known Victorian Legends of Christmas Past
• Forgotten Folktales of Easter
• Forgotten Miracles of Saint Patrick

Human Interest

• The Woodstock Generation Reaches A Milestone

Labor Unrest

• A House Divided
• Battle Lines

Mills

• Early Mill Articles – 1800s
• Stillwater Mill Fire – 1872
• Forgotten Tales Of The Esmond Mill
• Forgotten Industries of Spragueville & Mountaindale

Military Veterans

• A Supreme Act of Kindness – Sgt. Lawrence J. La Croix of Georgiaville
• “Black Thursday” – The Day Nobody Anticipated
• By Dawn’s Early Light – Howard Thornton of Greenville
• Chance Relics Reveal a Forgotten Tale – Robert M. Martin of Spragueville
• Sgt. Robert Martin Memorial
• The Escolar Mystery
• Freedom Isn’t Free
• A Footnote to History
• One Veteran’s Story – Leo Swider of Georgiaville
• Snatched From Friendly Skies – Lt. Frances Payette
• Lest We Forget The Price For Peace – Pvt. Alexander M. Balfour
• The Forgotten War
• Unsung Heroes – Capt. Peder Johnson
• Remembering Our Heroes on D-Day
• The Wolf Hill Plane Crash – 1943 

Moshassuck Valley

• Forgotten Tales Of The Moshassuck Valley
• Moshassuck Valley Railroad

Police

• Protecting Smithfield in a Simpler Time
• Police Tales Of Yesteryear
• Rhode Island’s First State Police
• To Serve And Protect – Rhode Island’s Roll of Honor
• Jencks Smith Obituary – 1910
• Smithfield Police – A Concise History
• Early Rhode Island Municipal Police Insignia
• Early Rhode Island State Police Insignia
• Vintage Rhode Island Sheriff Insignia
• Smithfield Police Ordinance – 1937
• Smithfield Bridewells – 1913
• Relics of Smithfield’s Police History Rescued Just In Time
• Sgt. Norman G. Vezina Memorial Poem – 1970

Post Offices

• A Post Office In A Bar – 1845
• Smithfield’s Early Post Offices 

Schools

• A Place to Call Home
• Hidden History in Plain Sight
• If Walls Could Talk
• The “Hot Potato” School
• Protecting Bryant University
• Smithfield’s Early Schools
• New School House – 1871

“Skeeterville” & Fountain Spring

• Where Was “Skeeterville”?

Smithfield 

• From Humble Beginnings
• The “Death Moon” of March and Other Historical Curiosities
• The Town Seal of Approval
• The Rift that Nearly Divided The Town – Again
• The Smithfield Meeting House Lottery of 1807
  • See photos
• Tobey’s Store was the “Capitol” of Smithfield 
• News Items From 1867 & 1868
• Newspaper Articles Relating to the Division Of Smithfield – 1871  
• The Smiths of Smithfield – 1867
• Smithfield Voting Districts – 1845

Stillwater (Village)

• The Stillwater Country Club

Strange Happenings

• Jumping To a Conclusion
• The Ghoulish Resurrection of Stella Newman
• The Jinxed Airplane 
• The Jinxed Airplane – Revisited
• The Mysterious Skeleton of Putnam Pike
• The Yellow Day of 1881
• Tall Tales of Treacherous Trees (Smithfield’s Witch Tree)
• If Smithfield Had A “Black Book”
• The Mysterious Snake Man
• Are There Ghosts In Smithfield’s “Haunted City”?
• The “Grant Radish” – 1868
• A Four Legged Chicken – 1900
• The Heatwave of 1911

  Transportation

• Harold Parkinson’s Great Smithfield Railroad, and Other Lost Tales of Yesteryear
• Smithfield’s “Powder Mill” Turnpike
• When the Future Was New
• The Capron Rd. Bridge 
• Smithfield’s Air-Line Railroad
• Smithfield’s Air-Line Railroad Newspaper Articles – 1843-1893
• Smithfield’s Woonasquatucket Railroad
• Woonasquatucket Railroad Newspaper Articles – 1870s
• Railroad Accident – 1835
• Valley Falls Train Wreck – 1853
• Railroad Accident – 1855
• Lonsdale Railroad Accident – 1855
• Stagecoach Accident – 1873
• Railroad Accident – 1878
• Lonsdale Railroad Accident – 1893
• Scituate Reservoir Plane Crash – 1982 

Union Village  

• Union Village – Ancient Landmarks, 1870

50 Years Ago Articles    

• 50 Years Ago — August 1965
• 50 Years Ago — September 1965
  • 50 Years Ago — October 1965
  • 50 Years Ago — November 1965
  • 50 Years Ago — December 1965
  • 50 Years Ago — January 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — February, 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — March, 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — April, 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — May, 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — June 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — July 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — August 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — September 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — October 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — November 1966
  • 50 Years Ago — December 1966
  • 50 years Ago — January 1967
  • 50 Years Ago — April 1967
  • 50 Years Ago — July 1967
  • 50 Years Ago — August 1967
  • 50 Years Ago – September, 1967
  • 50 Years Ago – October, 1967
  • 50 Years Ago – November, 1967
  • 50 Years Ago – December, 1967 
  • 50 years Ago – January, 1968 
  • 50 Years Ago – February, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – April, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – May, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – June, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – August, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – September, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – October, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – November, 1968
  • 50 Years Ago – December, 1968
  • 50 years Ago – February, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – March, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – April, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – May, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – June, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – June, 1969 
  • 50 Years Ago – July, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – August, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – September, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – October, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago, December, 1969
  • 50 Years Ago – January, 1970 
  • 50 years Ago – February, 1970 
  • 50 Years Ago – March, 1970
  • 50 Years Ago – November, 1970 
  • 50 Years Ago – December, 1970 
  • 50 Years Ago – January, 1971 
  • 50 years Ago – February, 1971
  • 50 Years Ago – March, 1971
  • 

    1967

  • 50 Years Ago — Ads from the 1960’s
  • Smithfield Ads from the 1970s