![]() 10am-8pm Thurs.-Sat.) has transcended New England’s reputation for lackluster grapes to produce some exceptionally fine wines. Still farther south along Route 77, Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyards (162 W. Grapes on the vine at Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard. Parts of the house date to the 1690s, but it has been added onto several times through the centuries. mid-June-mid-Sept., free), a lovely old clapboard farmhouse with several restored outbuildings. On your left, not long after crossing from Tiverton into Little Compton, you’ll reach the Wilbor House (Rte. You can reach it most easily and scenically by driving south from Tiverton either on Route 77, on the west side of town, or Route 81, on the east side.Īs you explore the west side of Little Compton by car or by bike, you can enjoy great views of the Sakonnet River and the many historic homes along Route 77. Like Tiverton, it has also drawn heavily on fishing and agriculture to support itself. The town’s history as a summer resort predates even the Civil War, making it one of New England’s oldest retreats. Once the domain of the Seaconnet Native Americans, who were ruled in the late 1680s by a female chieftain named Awashonks, Little Compton holds a special place in the hearts of Rhode Islanders, many of whom have dear memories of summer bike rides, country drives, and campfires on the beach. 77), a narrow spit of sand where an old stone bridge used to cross the Sakonnet River before the towering Sakonnet Bridge replaced it. Beachcombers should wander along Grinnell’s Beach (Rte. It’s at the junction of Routes 77 and 179, a few miles south of Route 24, the main road through the peninsula. Aside from the war, for its first 300 years Tiverton maintained a mostly agricultural existence, with a smaller but still significant fishing industry.Īttractions are few, but shoppers will want to congregate around Historic Tiverton Four Corners, a village of mostly 18th-century houses full of boutiques, galleries, and cafés. From the town’s shores, the Continental Army launched several raids on the British, who had settled comfortably in Newport and elsewhere on Aquidneck Island. No provisions for a church or school were made until 1746, shortly before the area, along with its East Bay neighbors to the north, were transferred to the Rhode Island colony.ĭuring the Revolutionary War, however, the town’s high bluffs overlooking the Sakonnet River and Aquidneck Island had tremendous strategic importance. TivertonĪlthough Plymouth settlers bought the land that is now Tiverton in 1680, the town wasn’t incorporated until 1694. An antique shop in Historic Tiverton Four Corners. Tourism isn’t discouraged in these parts, but you won’t find many places to stay or things to do, and that’s just the way the locals and many visitors like it. There are no miniature golf courses or amusements, however, just a handful of informal eateries, a yacht club, and a smattering of beach houses, most of them down quiet dirt lanes out of the public eye. Little Compton has a large and close-knit summer community, many of the families having been regulars for generations. Suburbia has been slowly creeping into both towns, especially the northern reaches of Tiverton, but the two communities still remain pleasingly rural. After exploring them both, it’s interesting to consider that these two towns have a land area considerably larger than either Aquidneck Island (home to Newport, Portsmouth, and Middletown) or the East Bay towns of Barrington, Bristol, and Warren. Sakonnet is a quiet and picturesque corner of Rhode Island both Tiverton and Little Compton are small and pastoral, with acres of flat farmland surrounded by trim stone walls and gray-shingled farmhouses. It is not a true peninsula, since it shares a land border with Massachusetts to the east, but the area is nevertheless physically cut off from the rest of Rhode Island except by way of the Sakonnet Bridge (Route 24/138). Originally named Pocasset by the Seaconnet Native Americans who lived here before selling the land to the Plymouth Colony in 1680, Tiverton and Little Compton (to the south) make up the Sakonnet Peninsula.
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