11:00 am -4:00 pm
September 21, 2019
1873 Old Louisquisset Pike, Lincoln, RI 02865
North Gate and the Bakery will be open 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on September 21 as part of Great Road Day. This event is free and all are welcome. Stop by to have a toll house cookie! On Great Road Day, many of the historical properties along Great Road are open free to the public, including the Eleazer Arnold House, the Saylesville Friends Meeting House, Hearthside, Hannaway Blacksmith Shop, Moffett Mill, and Mt. Moriah Lodge. This event is part of the Blackstone Heritage Corridor’s GO Series. Flyer for Great Road Day
North Gate (1807), the home of the Blackstone Valley Historical Society is a two story building originally built as a tollgate and residence for the toll collector for the Louisquisset Turnpike. The Pike, faster and straighter than Great Road, was the highway of its time and was built to expedite the shipment of lime to Providence. In later years, the building served as Lime Rock Grange #22, a gathering place for local farm families. It was sold to the BVHS in 1971 for the sum of one dollar.
Exhibits in North Gate on Great Road Day: Six large aerial photographs of Saylesville Highlands donated by Alan Laird of Lincoln, will be on display. The photographs are by Avery Lord (1896–1967) Providence photographer.
The Bicentennial Quilt given to the Society by the City of Pawtucket will be hung downstairs. The quilt blocks were hand sewn by different quilters and feature landmarks around the Blackstone Valley, such as Lincoln Woods, the Monastery, the Moffet Mill, and Slater Mill. A chart of the scenes and the known quilters will be displayed next to the quilt. BVHS welcomes any additional information about the quilt and its makers.
Upstairs some of BVHS’s historic signs relating to North Gate, the Grange and the Society will be on view, together with a folk art dollhouse hand made by Claire Boutiette from Manville. It was recently given to the BVHS by the Woonsocket Historical Society.
Arnold Bakery (1874) This one-story, one-room bakery was relocated and rebuilt in its current spot adjacent to North Gate. In this building, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jenks Arnold began a Lincoln business that lasted nearly 100 years. The bakery contains a collection of antique baking equipment and memorabilia relating to Arnold’s Lonsdale Bakery.
On September 22 at 1:00 pm, the Rehoboth Cemetery Commission is holding a service for Alexander Williams, a black naval Civil War Veteran from Rehoboth, who was buried in a unmarked grave. Beverly Baker found the grave and requested a veteran’s stone, which will be placed in Hix Cemetery, Brook Street, Rehoboth. Reception to follow at the Carpenter Museum, 4 Locust Street, Rehoboth. Ken Postle will be officiating. Flyer here.