Brick & Mortar

Are ruins romantic? Rhode Island is grossly littered with empty mills and famous failures. Reminded of great/late 38 Studios, which lasted as long as a newbie warrior in a Halo or World of Warcraft tournament, shouldn’t some sense be made out of collateral carnage among such market economy debacles? Or has the very idea of a company of coworkers working cooperatively become obsolete in an entrepreneurial/narcissistic era plagued by continuous upheaval?

This state had numerous clothing, dye, fabric and thread mills, 29 on Blackstone River alone, but spread across state in Ashaway, Centerville, Central Falls (11 closures in decade between 1997 and 2007), Cranston, Crompton, Cumberland, Lincoln, Olneyville, North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, West Warwick, and Woonsocket. Many closed because of Civil War Reconstruction in the South, which relocated them below the Mason-Dixon Line nearer to fields where cotton was sourced. Brings into question, "Who won?" because it was a net loss for the North in jobs and lives. Another such exodus occurred during The Great Depression in the 1930's. Costume jewelry manufacturers once employed 16,000 residents, now only 7,000. Downtown retail stores fell to suburban malls. These migrations cost Rhode Island 500,000 jobs and decimated all of New England. More recently, mills nationwide were shipped to China or Mexico, where they promptly ran into counterproductive snafus. Ambitions will never be satisfied paying minimum to dedicated servants. The lure of slave labor seldom entails educated or qualified help. Meanwhile, existing buildings are left to rot or were refurbished as artist lofts or elderly tenements, though many are known fire traps or structurally unsound. Buildings may remain, but those who worked there tend to be forgotten.

Cannot enumerate every office for finance, law, or medicine that went under, just trying to identify instances where hundreds of jobs vanished. Small businesses surely come and go; only 5% last 5 years. Reasons vary, though most fit into categories of botching client fulfillments, consolidating after mergers, failing to compete, not adapting to change, offshoring for cheaper labor, or pissing off employees so badly they start unions and strike you into defeat. Sometimes business owners or principle shareholders figure they had enough, relocate to take deals that other states offer, sell out, or shut doors. High cost of electricity and gas puts a damper on local development. Rhode Island, with highest corporate tax rate in nation, ended its historic preservation tax credit, which deters from investing in piles of crumbling mud.

Seems Americans can no longer stomach the drudgery and stench of manufacture, but for someone such jobs remain sources of steady income by adding value, thereby growing through investing capital and time, whereas services don’t, so inevitably fizzle. However, many of their gains came from poor practices that merely transferred wealth by dumping wastes or raping environment, leaving costly aftermaths to taxpayers. Developers got a $200,000 government grant to clean up decades of dry cleaning chemicals before they raised historic Louttit Laundry altogether, which remains a vacant lot near Hoyle Square. In the long run, some factories, particularly refineries or utilities, aren’t worth having around no matter how many they employ.

Given voluminous cancer causing wastes industry spews, perhaps poverty appeals after all. Rhode Island harbors 2,488 (1,800 of them proven contaminated) former landfills, leaking underground storage tanks, toxic release sites, water dischargers, and whatnot including 200 EPA Superfund sites. One of the biggest harms is heavy metal sediments in Narragansett Bay, too difficult to remediate even though precious gold and silver constitute a high percentage. Heard of jewelry shops being profitably dismantled so floor boards could be cremated to recover a century worth of gold filings.

Several millionaires, formerly industrialists themselves, maneuvered most polluters out. The few who remained contributed heavily to politicians to avoid enforcement and legislation. With miles of shoreline, you’d think shipping and warehousing would be more popular, though a sustainable strategy is to fabricate where you sell. College dilettantes turn up their noses at smelly shoreline operations and try endlessly to eliminate them; they neither care nor realize that means no positions for graduates, no longer their problem once diplomas are dispensed. Rhode Island might be a great place for startups, but don’t even think about upscaling or regulators will arrive unannounced to drive you out or extract a pound of flesh.

Without spending much time, here's a short list with intentions to supplement with future input:
A&P Supermarket, various locations
Adams Drug Stores, various locations
Alcoa, Cumberland
Allen Cotton Mill, Smithfield
Almacs Supermarket, various locations
Alrose Chemical, Cranston
American Ball Company, Providence
American/Bailey Wringer Company, Woonsocket
American Emery Wheel Works, Richmond Square, Providence
American Screw Company, Providence
American Ship Windlass Company, Providence
American Tourister (formerly Warren Manufacturing), Warren
Amperex Electronic Corporation, Slaterville, North Smithfield
Armington & Sims Steam Engines, Hoyle Square, Providence
Atlantic Mills, Olneyville, Providence
Atlantic Rayon (Thurston Saw), Providence
Atlantic Tubing & Rubber, Cranston
Ballou, Johnson & Nichols, Providence
Barstow Stove, Jewelry District, Providence
Bercen Chemical (moved to Livingston Parish, LA), Cranston and Providence
Blue Coal, Olneyville, Providence
Bulova Watch, Bucklin Park, Providence
Bourne Cotton Mill, Tiverton
Box and Lumber, Providence
Brownell & Field, Providence
Brown&Sharpe, Providence, then North Kingstown (11,000 employees at WWII peak)
Buttonwood Industrial, Miner Rubber, Bristol
Caldor Department Store, Warwick
Carpenter Mill, Providence
Casual Corners Stores, various locations
Ceco Radio Tubes, Providence
Cherry&Webb Department Store, Providence
Ciba Geigy, Cranston
C.J. Fox, Providence
Clark Cotton Mill, Shannock, Richmond
Colibri Jewelry and (cigarette) Lighters, Providence
Combination Ladder, Providence
Corliss Engine, Providence
Coro, Providence
Cranston General (Osteopath) Hospital, Cranston
Cranston Print Works at Randall Pond
Davol Rubber Works, Providence
David Square Mall, Providence
D.M. Watkins, Providence
Eaton Aerospace, Warwick
Elmwood Sensors (purchased by Honeywell, 1000 employees), Cranston
Federated Lithograph, South Providence
Filenes Department Store, Warwick Mall
First National Supermarket, various locations
Forestdale Cotton Mill, North Smithfield
G-Fox Stores, Warwick
General Electric Providence Base Works (light bulbs), Eagle Park
GE Monowatt, Cranston line, Providence
Gladdings Department Store, Providence
Gorham Silver, Columbus Square, Providence
Grandberg Brothers Wallpaper, Providence
Greystone Worsted Mill, North Providence
Grinnell General Fire Extinguisher, Providence
Hadley Watch Bracelet, Providence
Hall & Lyon Department Store, Providence
Hamilton & Hamilton Jewelry, Providence
Hamilton Woolen Mill, North Kingstown
Hanley Brewing Company & Hanley-Hoye Distributing, Providence
Hedison Manufacturing, Providence, then Lincoln
Hope Mill, Scituate
Ideal Jewelry, Cranston
Lying-In Hospital, Providence
Hotels such as Colonial Hilton, Cranston
IGT (Gtech), Coventry
James C. Goff Mortar and Plaster, Providence
J. B. Barnaby Clothiers, Providence
Jencks Paper Box, Providence
Jordan Marsh Department Store, Warwick Mall
Kendall Soap, Providence
Lafayette Woolen Mill, North Kingstown
Leesona (formerly Universal Winding Company; now based in North Carolina), Warwick
Leviton (fomer Elizabeth Mill), Hillsgrove, Warwick
Lipitt Mill, West Warwick
Louttit (What Cheer) Laundry, Providence
Lymansville Worsted Mill, North Providence
Midland Mall Stores, Warwick
Miller Box, Warwick
NABsys Genome, Providence
Narragansett Brewery, Cranston
Narragansett Grey Iron Foundry, Smithfield
National Rubber, Bristol
National Worsted Mill (now Rising Sun), Olneyville, Providence
Newport Steam Factory
Nicholson File, Providence
O'Bannon Imitation Leather Mill, Barrington
On Semiconductor (formerly Amperex in Cranston, then Cherry Semiconductor on South County Trail in East Greenwich)
Osram Sylvania, Central Falls
Outlet Department Store, Providence
Peace Dale Manufacturing, South Kingstown
Perry Mill, Newport
Philmont Worsted Mill, Woonsocket
Pontiac (Fruit of the Loom) Mills, Warwick
Providence Belting Company
Providence Brewing Company
Providence Machine, waterfront, Providence
Providence Tool
Half a thousand restaurants that closed., collectively
Rhode Island Lace Works, West Barrington
Rhode Island Locomotive Works, Providence
Rhode Island Malleable Iron Works, Hillsgrove, Warwick
Royal Mill, West Warwick
Sayles Bleacheries, Saylesville
Seaconnet Coal Company, Providence
Shepard Department Store, Providence
Silver Springs Bleaching and Dyeing, Providence
Slater Mill (Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution), Pawtucket
Slater Cotton Mill, Pawtucket
Stanley Bostitch, North Kingstown
Theodore W. Foster & Brother Company Silversmiths, Providence
Tilden Thurber Stores, downtown Providence and Midland Mall, Warwick 38 Studios, Providence
Transcom Electronics, Portsmouth
Union Wadding, Pawtucket
Uniroyal, Providence
US Mill Supply, Providence
Valley Worsted Mill, Eagle Square, Providence
Vandell Jewelry, Providence
Vesta Knitting Mills, Providence
Walsh-Kaiser Shipyard, Fields Point, Providence (14,000 WWII employees)
Wamponaug Mall Stores, East Providence
Waukesha Bearing, West Greenwich
WJ Braitsch & Company Canes, Providence
Woolworth's Department Stores, Cranston & Providence
Woonsocket (Alice Mills) Rubber Company
Woonsocket Machine & Press Company

Feel free to comment with other examples of factories and industries that slipped away.

Famous For What?

As this blog is shaping up as a series of lists, followed through with another describing what Rhode Island is best known for:

Cabinets & Grinders: Not at all what you think, they mean something different to locals than power tools or wooden caseworks. "Cabinets" describe milkshakes (often coffee ice cream, syrup and milk, always blended), whereas grinders are elongated sandwiches, otherwise known as “submarines”, subs for short. During last century Italian immigrants set up shops near shipyards and assembled these torpedo shaped lunches. They called shipbuilders who ground rivets “grinders”, and somehow the name transferred to the sandwiches with which they stuffed their faces, though some argue teeth needed to eat these chewy monsters had to be the real grinders, thus the name. Lexicographers also dispute the origin of cabinet; some say it had to do with the blender being stored in a wooden cabinet at pharmacy’s fountain. But it could be a bastardization of the word “carbonate”. Rhode Islanders speak in an odd dialect, a cross between Boston and Brooklyn, that confuses an “r” with an “ah” sound and vice versa; for example, chowder, a kind of soup, is pronounced “chowdah”, whereas idea is “ideer”. So ordering an ice cream soda may have sounded like “cahbinat”. Speaking of ships, Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound reputably have more wrecks per square mile than anywhere on either coast. During WWII, Kaiser Shipyards in Fields Point hung massive signs that read, “On to Nippon”. Ironically, by the 1970’s, Field’s Point became a major port for unloading cars imported from Germany and Japan. Maybe that’s why the generation before held onto gruesome August holiday Victory (VJ) Day, only celebrated here, which commemorates ending war with Japan by the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Celebrities - Actors, authors, composers, filmmakers, rock stars, and sports people have prowled its streets for centuries. Ghosts of H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe haunt Providence’s East Side to tunes by George M. Cohan, Nico Muhly, and Talking Heads. Dozens of movies have been made here. Offspring of A-listers attend area colleges. Venues for MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises and several farm teams are all within 50 miles. Yet it’s no match for New York, where such sightings are commonplace. And residents can’t claim any credit or glory by mere association.

Firsts - Given its diminutive size, you’d think staying ahead of the curve would be easy: fewer to convince and lower costs to implement. Rhode Island was first to declare independence from and strike a blow against British rule, but last to join other 12 colonies to form The United States. It was, however, the first to ban slave trade at which it formerly excelled. The Blackstone Canal was North America’s inaugural civil engineering project, though the Viking Tower in Newport is believed to be its oldest structure (est., 1120 A.D.). US-1 runs right though, built atop the Boston to New York Highway, nation’s original Post Road. Even older is Great Road, RI’s first, begun in 1683, where Arnold House (stone ender shown in pretty autumn colors increasingly harder to find) can be counted among RI’s half dozen 17th Century homes still standing having survived over 3 centuries of fires and wars. Now that's remarkable; despite modern restoration, they make history palpable along with other architecture from every era.

The industrial revolution started here with Slater’s cotton mill powered by waterwheels in the mighty Blackstone River. Before anywhere else in America, RI judge Darius Baker jailed a motorist for speeding recklessly at 15 mph. Nation's first golf open, jazz festival, lawn tennis tournament, and outdoor polo match were held in RI. United Nuclear in Richmond was the only place in America where a nuclear explosion occurred outside a controlled environment. Adjacent Massachusetts recently garnered firsts for permitting same sex marriages, something Rhode Island’s catholic majority will forever condemn, and providing state sponsored health insurance, which Rhode Island left to abundant insurers once Obama signed it into federal law. Healthcare had already been its fastest growing business sector, rivaling finance, still number one, home to banks and brokerages. Some federal pilot programs were also tried, though nobody seems to remember them. Rhody has yet another chance to be first, to complete its leg of the East Coast Greenway System from Florida to Maine before any other state; only a few miles remain, but will is weak to designate a corridor through Pawtucket and Providence, or link Coventry and Woonsocket to adjacent states, even though ECGS has proven indispensable to commuters. “Hope” heads list as USA's shortest state motto, and "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" its longest, most controversial name.

Food - Culinary schools, hospitality industry, and resultant restaurants rely mostly on meats and produce provided from elsewhere, though champion pumpkins up to a ton are still grown. Only several dozen dairies, farms, orchards, and ranches remain, and they sell out all too soon. Farm-to-table initiatives and outdoor markets are nevertheless afoot, but drawn as much from CT and MA stock. Coffee milk was made its official drink in 1993, but only 1 local craft roaster makes a caffeine free syrup, and “plantations” never grew coffee beans. Rhode Island does have a greater concentration of colleges within a one hour drive than anywhere in nation, yet illiteracy hovers around 17%, among the nation’s worst, because politicians “import” unschooled Third Worlders, presumably for federal grants and minimum wage servitude.

Huge, interminable, wasteful projects - Over the course of a half century, expensive highway constructions chewed through state revenues like locusts across arid farmlands. First it was the small Greenwood Bridge over AMTRAK, which, for some inexplicable reason, took more than a decade to repair. Similarly, the Cranston Street underpass, but that was tied to Route 10 beltway improvements, which also took nearly a decade and yet seem incomplete. The so-called Q-way between RI-4 and Quonset began as a link from I-95 to a proposed container port, but design flaws meant all overpasses had to be raised for containers to pass beneath. In the end, the 2.5 mile stretch cost more than a quarter of a billion, 10 times more than the national average per highway mile. Meanwhile, a single mile of I-way across the Providence River cost 3 times as much. Similar figures for I-95 bridges across Blackstone River in Pawtucket didn’t deter in the least starting the Viaduct Project, RIDOT’s biggest boondoggle yet. Because they failed to keep up bridge cleaning and painting for decades, those existing deteriorated into a $1 billion unfunded snafu. All key RIDOT officials have been fired and positions are being refilled. Then there were civic and convention centers, sports stadiums, sweetheart deals for business startups, and such assaults on public trust. Taxpayers will be repaying for generations to come.

Jewelry & Sliverware - Indeed, there are 1,000 factories still in existence churning out baubles, bijoux, costume trinkets and toys, but silverware is long gone. Gorham, who fabricated the America’s Cup and served as foundry for 700 notable statues across the continent, may still be in business as a subsidiary of Lennox, but products are manufactured or sourced elsewhere. Empty mills being renovated into retirement living is more typical.

Obscure directions - If asked, long time residents will give you directions based on landmarks that may no longer exist, for example, “Turn past where Almacs used to be.” Luckily, cell towers are plentiful, so mapping via GPS obviates the need to ask the hostile, ignorant or senile.

Political corruption - For decades Federal Hill was the epicenter of New England mob activity. Dozens of lawmakers and at least one mayor have gone to prison because of what they did in office, not just general crimes. However, some endured terms despite miscarriages of justice; locals joke about buying judges. It took citizen advocacy groups like Common Cause to investigate and uncover. Gina Raimondo (shown, left center), one of only six women in the country currently serving as governor, made an unprecedented attempt to end excess pension entitlements and reign in costs. Kleptocracy and the rule by thieves have consequently slowed, though not yet altogether gone. Assets spirited away in a Winnebago could be recovered, but to what end?

Potholes & Road Rage: Boats unload onto train cars. Both construction and neglect impair flow. Highway planners add lanes and eschew tolls. Towns put red lights and stop signs at every intersection after numerous accidents. Truck dispatchers plot cheapest/shortest routes. What results is an interwoven knot, a traffic nexus, that beats alternately baked and frozen pavement to rubble and regularly forces vehicles to slow or stop. Expect to see drivers rolling well below speed limit in left lane, since it may be the only one passable given abundance of damage in lanes most used. This encourages passing on right, a proven hazard that catches blind spot and causes cutoffs. Add rubbernecking tourists who don’t know where to turn and residents who only use interstates to go the few miles between malls, it’s no wonder impatience mounts and vehicles reach turnpike speeds on the few remaining secondaries which resemble phony TV car ads. Some find it faster to bike around during rush hours. Maybe all this keeps housing costs reasonable compared to states adjacent. It often takes an hour on interstate to go the few miles from Attleboro line to Providence or Seekonk line to Washington Bridge. The knot tightens upon Nibbles Woodaway, the World’s biggest bug, and The Vortex, a sci-fi auto zone made real that eats space and time.

Tourism - In the gilded age of robber barons, they built in Newport a bunch of gaudy “cottages” (really rivaling European castles). Once they came under control of a trust, visitors were allowed to enter and gawk. Long ago the state’s capital during its slave trade days, eateries sprung up along Thames Street among Newport's wharves. Airport expansion in Warwick, bridges replacing ferries, legalized gambling at Jai Alai fronton, later Newport Grand casino, and presence of a naval base resulted in Newport becoming one of the nation’s top ten destinations. Rest of state has little to offer apart from bikeways, parks, and perhaps small pockets of charming quaintness, such as Bristol and Wickford, amidst urban blight, waste treatment plants, and working ports. You’d never guess there are over a thousand practicing professional artists, six hundred squeezed in ghost town Pawtucket, because even RISCA holds artists in contempt. A Percent for Art Law exists, whereby 1% of any government project is supposed to be set aside for art adornment, but only 0.01% has actually been allocated since enacted in 1980’s. Almost every installation was awarded to insiders and resulted in controversy, such as birdsong at Kent Courthouse and fine mist at Sundlun Airport Terminal. Even traditional realist bronzes get besmirched by blood, as was Christopher Columbus, heroic explorer and imagined villain. Nevertheless, visitors throng to Waterfire (shown), a tribal celebration along Providence's renovated riverfront, where scores of bonfires are lit in braziers standing above the flow for a delightful but temporary effect, while both live and recorded music blares and buskers and hawkers bust butts for a buck.

Units of Measure: Hardly a day goes by when someone isn't foolishly comparing size of Rhode Island to some other area: Asteroids, bigger cities in other states, regions on remote planets, and whatnot. Some wag combined micron, a basic unit of small measure, with “Rho Dialin”, how residents pronounce state’s name, and so coined the portmanteau “rhodialon” to indicate any vague area, roughly 1212 to 1776 square miles (3140 to 4600 square km), depending upon whether you include Narragansett Bay, which bisects state into so-called East and West Bay. In fairness, since residents designate a loosely defined South County area, there could also be a North Bay section from Providence to Woonsocket, but, obviously, that would seem too sensible, so will never happen. Providence is too high and mighty to get lumped into the likes of “the Bucket” Pawtucket, Lincoln, or “Loony Woonie” Woonsocket, all arguably better places to live despite hype.

Parks & Recreation

People (wrongly) think of parks as shared space. The greatest shared portion of Rhode Island, over 120 square miles (10% of total area), consists of 12,915 linear miles of highways, roads and streets, not counting parking lots, sidewalks and such paved areas, as well as zones required alongside. Access by road is expected; few are private, except driveways, or require tolls, something fiercely independent residents despise. Sharing seems an alien concept considering how most motorists drive, cutting others off and ignoring traffic controls. Parks, on the other hand, are not always so accessible - you can hardly visit some - or occupy as much acreage. They range from off-limits management areas to overrun neighborhood playgrounds not listed. Cranston alone boasts of 32 fields, playgrounds, and tracks, Providence 100. The multitude of uses for parks include buffers for enterprises and estates, campsites for the homeless, common sites of protests, event venues for everything from culture to sports, family picnics, shooting galleries for junkies, and somewhere to “park” the unwanted. You can saunter nonchalantly in many - linear parks were solely built with bicycling and walking in mind - though hazards vary by location and time.

What does “recreate” even mean? Do you again create anything by visiting parks? Well, maybe. Your interest means cities and towns feel compelled to improve and maintain them. Although recessions cut budgets and volunteers, a few do accept this challenge for many reasons, some of which are self serving. Most people agree parks fill some function, though many never visit them and wouldn’t know why. Artificial surroundings are abstractly comforting yet emotionally disturbing. Parks remind humans they live integrated within nature.

While one of the wealthiest states per capita in the nation in the 19th Century, Rhode Island only spent 1% of its income on public spaces. Exploitation of resources and rivers haphazardly left swarths of inaccessible and unused land later designated as parks and reserves. Birds must have trees to roost, fauna and fish unpolluted waterways, but humans rushing to develop out of greed and need for sure forget kin of feather, fin and fur.

This represents the most comprehensive list based on maps and multiple sources, since official websites seldom get updated or skip locations based on jurisdiction or size. Consult maps or websites for grid coordinates. Entries are operated by cities or towns (unless indicated as national or state). Several state facilities remain totally undeveloped. Any distinction among entries is blurry at best. All offer natural respite, some more than others. By listing them one hopes they won’t simply disappear to relentless development or stingy neglect. Elected officials would love to sell public properties to balance budgets after raiding revenues. Taxpayers are your hosts, whether they welcome visitors or would rather not.

Beaches: Maintained by city and state taxes, you’d think only residents could visit these coastal parks, yet anyone can after a fashion. However, fees and tags for using adjacent parking lots fleece locals and inspire private competitors. Nobody owns tidal land, so, should you arrive by bike or foot, excluders cannot keep you from strolling shoreline through Blue Shutters, Bonnet Shores, Briggs, Buttonwoods, Collins, Dunes (Weekapaug), Dunes Club (Narragansett), Easton, Fogland, Gooseberry, Goosewing, Green Hill, Grinnell, Hazard’s, Jerusalem, Jim’s, Kelly, Moonstone, Napatree Point, Ocean House, Quonochontaug, Ray Carpenter, Reject’s, Round Meadows, Second, South Shore (Little Compton), Spouting Rock, Tappens, Teddy’s, Third, Warrens Point, and Watch Hill Beaches, as well as whatever overlooked patches of sand readers might complain wasn’t mentioned. Due to widespread ground water and road runoff pollution, it’s unsafe to swim in fresh water other than where listed. Salt water in Greenwich Cove and Narragansett Bay north of Patience Island is also questionable for swimming, though boaters, sunbathers and those who can’t afford gasoline to drive further do enjoy.

Andy’s Way, Block Island
Arcadia Pond (state, fresh water), Hopkinton
Aunt Carrie’s, Point Judith, Narragansett
Barrington Town, Barrington
Briar Point, Coventry
Bristol Town, Bristol
Burlingame (state), Charlestown
Calf Pasture Point, North Kingstown
Charlestown, Block Island
Charlestown Breachway (state), Charlestown
Charlestown Town, Charlestown
City Park, Warwick
Conimicut Point, Warwick
Crescent, New Shoreham, Block Island
East (state), Charlestown
East Ferry, Jamestown
East Matunuck (state), Charlestown
Fenway, Weekapaug, Westerly
Fred Benson, New Shoreham, Block Island
Fort Getty, Jamestown
Fort Adams, Newport
Frank Moody (state, fresh water), Lincoln Woods, Lincoln
Geogiaville Pond (fresh water), Smithfield
Gilleran's Pond (fresh water), Gazzaville, Burrillville
Goddard Park, Warwick
Greenlake, Slack’s Pond (fresh water), Smithfield
Hope Pond (fresh water), Scituate
Island Park, Portsmouth
Jack's Island, Tiverton
Juniper Trail, Bristol
King's Park, Newport
Juniper Trail, Bristol
Little Compton Town, Little Compton Longmeadow, Warwick
Misquamicut (state), Westerly
Mackerel Cove, Jamestown
Moonstone (state, closed to bathing), South Kingstown
Narragansett Pier, Narragansett
Navy, Middletown
North Kingstown, North Kingstown
Oakland, Warwick
Pascoag Club (fresh water), Burrillville
Pebbly, Block Island
Plum, North Kingstown
Point Judith Back, Narragansett
Quonnie, Charlestown
Roger Wheeler (state), Narragansett
Sachuest, Middletown
Salty Brine (state), Narragansett
Sandy Point, Warwick
Sandy Point, Portsmouth
Scarborough (state), Narragansett
Scotch, Block Island
Seaside, Weekapaug, Westerly
Spinks Neck, Davisville, North Kingstown
Spring Lake (fresh water), Black Hut, Burrillville
Stony, Jamestown
Union Street, Bristol
Vail, Block Island
Warren Town, Warren
Weekapaug, Westerly
Westerly Town, Weekapaug, Westerly
Wuskenau Town, Westerly

Bicycling/Walking Paths: Major bikeways are state installed but locally maintained. They run through all sorts of scenery: Industrial backsides, parks/playgrounds, pond edges, quiet forests, railroad sidings, river overlooks, suburban neighborhoods, and train trestles. Whether their roughly 70 miles are clear or not of fallen branches or snow cover depends on city/town budgets and user vigilance. Designed for mixed use, expect dog walkers (long leashes), families with kids, horseback riders, in-line skaters, potential assailants, skiers after heavy snows, and teen gangs. Parks and sports facilities often have sidewalk loops or tracks, too, but bicycling is usually excluded.
Belmont Park Loop (0.5 mi.) - Warwick
Blackstone River Bikeway (11.6 mi.) - Lincoln, Cumberland, Woonsocket
Burrillville Bike Path (1.2 mi.) - Burrillville
East Bay Bike Path (14.5 mi.) - Providence, East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol
Meadow View Avenue Bike Path - Warwick
Northwest Trail (aka Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway, 5.0 mi.) - Providence, Johnston
Pawtuxet Spur off WSBP (0.5 mi.)- Warwick
Quonset Bike Path (2.5 mi.) - North Kingstown
Rocky Point Path (1.0 mi.) - Warwick
Ten Mile River Bikeway (2.0 mi.) - East Providence, Pawtucket
Tongue Pond Loop (0.5 mi.)- Cranston
Warren Bike Path (1.0 mi.) - Warren
Washington Secondary (aka West Bay) Bike Path, (18.9 mi.) including Coventry Greenway and Trestle Trail - Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, Coventry
William C. O’Neill Memorial (aka South County) Bike Path, (7.8 mi.) - Kingston, Narragansett
Wilson Park Bikeway (1.0 mi.) - Wickford, North Kingstown

Update, 2019: New, unnamed bit of bike path in Providence inspired by blog author runs from Gano Street beneath George Washington Bridge to Waterman Square
Hiking Trails: Popular paved walkways include Narragansett Pier’s Promenade, Newport’s Cliff Walk, and Providence’s Riverwalk. Scores of unpaved trails exist, some marked with trailhead signs alongside roads. They range from flat urban ambles to forbidding vertical challenges. Several combine to form the rugged 78 mile North-South Trail along the western border of state, though it also uses rural unpaved roads. Clubs facilitate segmented outings by stationing buses at day’s end to return you to your vehicle at start. Also consult Farms, Preserves, Refuges & Sanctuaries and Management Areas (below), many of which feature improved hiking trails, or these sites: All Trails.com and Trails and Walks RI.
Arcadia’s Ben Utter (3.2 mi.), Breakheart (6.8 mi.), Hemlock Ledges (3.5 mi.), and Mt Tom (4.2 mi.) - Exeter
Audobon Envrionmental Education Center, boardwalk (0.25 mi.) and trail (0.5 mi. (0.5 mi.) - Bristol
Awkright Riverwalk (1.0 mi.) - Coventry
Blackstone Boulevard (1.8 mi.) - Providence
Donald Roch Riverwalk (1.2 mi.) - River Point, West Warwick
Jerimoth Hill (0.5 mi.) - Foster
Maxwell Mays (2.3 mi.) - Coventry
Pachaug-Tippecansestt Loop (10.5 mi.) - Richmond, Exeter, West Greenwich
Pawtuxet River Trail (2.0 mi.) - Cranston/Warwick
Pettaquamscutt Rock (2.0 mi.) - Narragansett
Phenix-Harris Riverwalk (0.3 mi.) - West Warwick
Purgatory Chasm (0.5 mi.) - Middletown
Rockland Walking Trail (1.0 mi.) - Scituate
Tefft Trail (0.5 mi.) - Town Hall, West Greenwich
Tillinghast Pond Loop - West Greenwich
Wenscott Reservoir (1.0 mi.) - Lincoln
Westconnaug Meadows Trail (1.3 mi.) - Scituate
West Warwick River Walk (1.0 mi.) - West Warwick

Parks: Especially important in congested cities, they generally have ponds, sidewalks, streams, trees and/or waterviews. Ones in italics exemplify the notion and reward your attendance. Not to be confused with burial grounds, industrial sites, or place/village names, though either could be just as parklike. A visit to a cemetery can be more rewarding with greenery than some parks, scores of which only cover a block or two. Many visit Scituate with its stands of trees and vistas across state’s biggest reservoir, ironically, since fewer parks have been designated there than any other city or town, though they do have a Green Acres program to develop more and several athletic fields.
Agawam, East Providence
Albion, Lincoln
Aquidneck, Newport
Arcadia (state), Exeter
Beach Pond (state), Exeter
Beavertail (state), Jamestown
Belmont, Warwick
Biltmore, downtown, Providence
Blackstone, Providence
Blackstone River (state), Lincoln
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (state), Lincoln/Woonsocket
Bold Point, East Providence
Booth Pond , North Smithfield
Brenton Point (state), Newport
Brickyard Pond, Barrington
Bridge Point Commons, Narragansett
Brook Avenue, East Providence
Bucklin, Providence
Bucks Horn (state), Coventry
Burlingame (state), Charlestown
Burnside, downtown, Providence
Burr Hill, Warren
Camp Meehan, Lincoln
Captain Steven Olney Memorial, North Providence
Casimir Pulaski (state), Glocester
Casino & The Towers, Narragansett
Cass, Woonsocket
Chepiwanoxet Point, Warwick
City, Warwick
Clarke Road Camp, Narragansett
Cliff Walk, Newport
Cocumcossoc (mostly undeveloped state) and Smith Grove, North Kingstown
Cold Spring, Woonsocket
Colt (state), Bristol
Collier Point, under I-way, Providence
Common Fence, Portsmouth
Conanicut Battery National Historic, Warwick
Conimicut Point, Warwick
Columbia, Providence
Crescent (has a Looff Carousel), East Providence
Davis, Providence
Dawley Memorial (state), Richmond
Deerfield, Smithfield
Dexter Training Ground, Providence
Diamond Hill (state), Cumberland
Domenic Christofaro, Narragansett
Donald Downs, Allenton, North Kingstown
Dunnell, Pawtucket
Dyerville (state), Johnston
Eastward Look, Narragansett
Esek Hopkins, Providence
Esmond, Smithfield
Evans, Lincoln
Fairlawn, Lincoln
Fell/Greystone, North Providence
Fisherman’s Memorial (state), Narragansett
Flat Top, West Warwick
Forest, North Kingstown
Forster Memorial, Coventry
Fort Adams (state), Newport
Fort Barton, Tiverton
Fort Getty, Jamestown
Fort Wetherill (state), Jamestown
Francis H. Sherman Memorial, Johnson’s Pond, Coventry
Freebody, Newport
Freedom Green, East Providence
Gano, Providence
Gazebo Park, Narragansett
George C, Narragansett
George Washington Picnic Grove, Smithfield
Glen, Portsmouth
Glenlyon, East Providence
Globe Park, Woonsocket
Glocester Memorial, Chepachet, Glocester
Goddard (state), Warwick
Governor Notte, North Providence
Guiteras, Bristol
Grassy Plains, East Providence
Green Hill, South Kingstown
Haines Memorial (state), Barrington
Heritage, Chestnut Oak, Glocester
Hope, Scituate
India Point, Providence
Jenks, Central Falls
John L. Curran (closed), Cranston
John Lewis, East Providence
Johnston Memorial, Johnston
King, Newport
Leroy Thomson Memorial Park, Narragansett
Lime Acres, Lincoln
Lincoln Woods (state), Lincoln
Lippett, Providence
Lombardi, Barrington
Lonsdale, Lincoln
Manville Memorial, Lincoln
Margaret S. Walsh, Howard, Cranston
Mattity Road, North Smithfield
McCarthy, North Kingstown
Merino, Providence
Meshanticut (state), Cranston
Mettatuxet Park. Narragansett
Miantonomi, Newport
Monastery, Cumberland
Morton, Newport
Mystic Woods, East Greenwich
Neutaconkanut, Cranston
Ninigret, Charlestown
Old Mountain Field, South Kingstown
Pacheco, North Smithfield
Paull, Chestnut Street, Bristol
Pawtuxet (state), Warwick
Pettaquamscutt, Narragansett
Peter Randall (undeveloped), North Providence
River Point, West Warwick
Riverside, Olneyville, Providence
Riverside Square, East Providence
Rocky Point (state), Warwick
Rocky, Jamestown
Rocky Hill, North Smithfield
Roger Williams (has only zoo), Providence
Roger Williams National Memorial, Providence
Rosegarden, East Providence
Rose Larisa Memorial, East Providence
Rotary, Westerly
Rovensky, Newport
Ryan (undeveloped), North Kingstown
Sabin Point, East Providence
Sandy Acres, Coventry
Sayesville, Lincoln
Scalloptown, East Greenwich
Seaside, Jamestown
Signal Rock, North Kingstown
Slater (has a Looff Carousel), Pawtucket
Slater Grove Memorial, Warwick
Slater Historic Site, Pawtucket
Sprague Memorial, Narragansett
Snake Den (undeveloped state), Johnston
Social, Woonsocket
South Prudence Bay Island, Prudence Island
Squantum Woods (state), East Providence
Stillhouse Cove, Cranston
Ten Mile River (state), Pawtucket
Touro, Newport
Town Hall, Lincoln
Town Farm, South Kingstown
Treaty Rock, South Kingstown
Trestle, Quidnick, Coventry
Trestle Trail, Coventry
Tri-Pond, South Kingstown
Tucker Field, Cumberland
Tuckertown, South Kingstown
Upper East Woonsocket, Woonsocket
Valley Falls Heritage, Cumberland
Veterans, New Shoreham, Block Island
Veterans Memorial, Narragansett Pier
Village Way, North Smithfield
Wanskuck, North End, Providence
Washington Grove, Smithfield
Waterplace, downtown, Providence
West Kingston, South Kingstown
Weetamoo Woods, Tiverton
Wheeler Common, Little Compton
Whipple, Smithfield
Wilcox, Westerly
William Brousseau, South Kingstown
Willow, Smithfield
Wilson, Wickford, North Kingstown
Witherby, Richmond Square, Providence
Woody Lowden Recreation Area, Foster
World War II Veteran’s (state), Woonsocket

Farms, Preserves, Refuges & Sanctuaries: Provide green space for birds and fauna, though some can be hiked or visited.
Aldrich Marshall Woods, Lincoln
Ballard’s Farm, Lincoln
Bayside Field, Warwick
Beach Pond Reservation, Exeter
Bradford Preserve, Westerly
Briggs/Boesch Farm, East Greenwich
Butterfly Smith Farm, Lincoln
Canada Pond, Providence
Canochet Farm, Narragansett
Casey Farm, North Kingstown
Casimir Pulaski Memorial (state) Forest, Glocester
Cedar Swamp Wetland, West Greenwich
Chase Farm, Lincoln
Claire D. McIntosh Wildlife Refuge, Bristol
Coggeshall Farm, Bristol
Conanicut Island Sactuary, Jamestown
Dame Farm, Johnston
Davis Memorial Wildlife Refuge, North Kingstown
Dundery Brook Preserve, Little Compton
Eagles Nest Conservation Area, Lincoln
Emelie Ruecker Wildlife Refuge, Tiverton
Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge, Exeter
Florence Sutherland Fort and Richard Knight Fort Nature Refuge, North Smithfield
Foster Memorial Park Conservation Area, Coventry
Frenchtown Park and Frye Family Nature Preserve, East Greenwich
Forest Park Sanctuary, Quidnessett, North Kingstown
Galille Bird Sanctuary, Narragansett
George B. Parker Woodland, Coventry/Foster
George Washington Memorial (state) Forest, Glocester
Great Swamp Wildlife Reservation, Richmond
Hall Conservation Area, Coventry
Handy Pond Conservation Area, Lincoln
Hines Farm - Millers Oak, Cumberland
Hope Meadows & Sandy Acres, Coventry
Hopkins Woodland Town Forest, Glocester
Hunts River Preserve, East Greenwich
John H. Chaffee Nature Preserve (state), North Kingstown
Kimball Sanctuary, Charlestown
Lathrop Pond Wildlife Refuge, Westerly
Lawton Farm, Scituate
Lewis Dickens Farm, New Shoreham
Lime Rock Preserve, Lincoln
Long Pond Woods, Hopkington
Mahoney Property, Coventry
Marshmeadows Wildlife Preserve, Jamestown
Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge, Coventry
Merrill S. Whipple Conservation Area, Coventry
Minturn Farm, Bristol
Mount Hope (Montaup) Farm & Haffenreffer Lands, Bristol
Mowry Conservation Area, Smithfield
Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research, Patience and Prudence Islands
Neylon Property, Coventry
Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, Charlestown
Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
Olivia’s Forest, Smithfield
Osamequin Nature Trails and Bird Sanctuary, Barrington
Pawtuxet River Reservation, Cranston
Phillip’s Land, Smithfield
Portsmouth Wildlife Refuge, Portsmouth
Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, Smithfield
Queen’s Fort Reservation, Exeter
Quonochonntaug Breachway, Charlestown
Rodman’s Hollow, Block Island
Rome Point (state), North Kingstown
Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge, Middletown
Seapowet Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Tiverton
Shady Brook Conservation Area, Lincoln
Sprague Farm & Town Forest, Glocester
Sunset Farm, Narragansett
Thompson, Narragansett
Touisett Marsh Wildlife Refuge, Warren
Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, South Kingstown
Valley Marsh Conservation Area, Cumberland
Walker Farm Preserve, Coventry
Waterman (Sisson) Pond, Coventry
Watson Farm, Jamestown
Westerly Town Forest, Westerly
West Greenwich Land Trust (Racoon Hill), West Greenwich
Wilbur Woods, Little Compton

Management Areas: Patrolled by hunters in season, mountain bikers, and out-of-state all terrain enthusiasts year-round. Nicholas Farm is mostly used by Connecticut residents. Hikers report seeing amphibians, bats, bears, beavers, bobcats, coyotes, deer, fisher cats, foxes, mountain lions, possums, rabbits, raccoons, rats, reptiles, sasquatch (disputed), skunks, voles and wolves.
Arcadia, Exeter/Richmond
Beach Pond, Exeter
Beaudoin Conservation, Coventry
Big River, West Greenwich
Black Hut, Burrillville
Buck Hill, Burrillville
Burlingame Wildlife, Charlestown
Carbuncle Pond, Coventry
Carolina, Richmond
Durfee Hill, Glocester
Dutch Island State, Narragansett Bay Islands
Fry Pond Conservation, West Greenwich
Hawkings Pond Forest, Glocester
Hog Island, Narragansett Bay Islands
Moosup River, Coventry
Newton Swamp, Westerly
Nicholas Farm, Coventry
Ponagansett, West Greenwich
Pratt Conservation, Coventry
Rockville (hiking among Blue, Ell, and Long Ponds), Hopkinton
Round Top, Burrillville
Simmons Mill Pond, Little Compton
South Shore, South Kingstown
Wickaboxet, West Greenwich
Woody Hill, Westerly