Saving the Past, One Farm at a Time

Historical Preservation of Rhode Island Agricultural Land

Anna McCullagh Willard

Undergraduate Thesis

Environmental Studies

May 18, 2006; Grad date: May 28, 2006

Executive Summary

With the constant decline in Rhode Island agricultural land over the past 125 years, it is imperative for not only the state, but also localities and the nation to address preservation strategies to safe-guard these cherished landscapes. Agriculture has played a major role in the founding and sustaining of the state of Rhode Island, and deserves to be valued as a cultural keepsake for generations to come. With this publication, I hope to provide a resource for local Rhode Island farmers to utilize when considering preserving their historically significant farmland. It is my hope that farmers, activists, community members, academics and policy makers will prosper from my written document that synthesizes the importance of saving the family lineage, agricultural land history, environmental integrity as well as any historic colonial buildings.

In the following four chapters, I have investigated the true definition of historic preservation and its relationship to farmers, as well as what qualifies a property as historically significant and what kind of moral and cultural judgments are assumed when a landscape is selected as important to American History. Secondly, I examined the specifics that are particularly helpful to Rhode Island farmers, such as: Rhode Island’s unique history, how Rhode Island legislation works, and preservation organizations available to serve Rhode Islanders. Thirdly, I moved along to my case study, where I studied a 179.9 acre farm called Old Forge Farm in Potowomut, Rhode Island. With the help of an enthusiastic owner, I was able to uncover the family history, the environmental history, and the overall history of the colonial home. With these facts, I pieced together many possible solutions for the farmer to either pursue or disregard at his discretion which will hopefully serve as a guide for other private property owners in a similar position.

Finally, my conclusions and recommendations are formatted in the final chapter in an easy to navigate layout so that the average reader can simply peruse the cohesive piece and still gather many helpful tips and resources. While my recommendations were geared specifically towards Old Forge Farm, I found it important to also address the overarching issues on a Rhode Island and National scale in hopes to make an impact on the preservation movement. The main principal that I continued to touch upon throughout my work is that of community building through the preservation of a private good as an accessible public amenity. When a local population can become involved in the maintenance of a shared land, an appreciation for the history and a sense of responsibility to the future is acquired. Furthermore, encouraging the community to become invested is both an educational tool as well as a neighborhood support system. Whether it is a small or large parcel of land that is preserved, each contribution benefits the community through efforts to protect the cultural heirloom that make up our country which have a profound and important part in our history.