Feeling old? 5 of the oldest places in Rhode Island you can still see today
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Rhode Island has a lot of history.
Roger Williams, who famously was banished from the Massachusetts colony for his advocacy of religious tolerance and the separation of church and state, purchased land from the Narragansett tribe in 1636 to start a new state. Connecticut was founded the same year, making the pair the fifth and sixth of the original 13 colonies.
Getting such an early start comes with a lot of historic buildings, including the oldest restaurant in the country.
Here are five of the oldest places in Rhode Island.
Oldest Restaurant in Rhode Island: White Horse Tavern
White Horse Tavern is not only the oldest restaurant in Rhode Island, it’s the oldest operating in the country. A tavern, sometimes it’s called America’s oldest tavern or America’s oldest bar.
A National Historic Landmark, the tavern was built in 1652 as a two-story, two-room residence for Francis Brinley. It’s believed old colonial ships were dismantled to build the floors. Brinley eventually resettled in Boston, and William Mayes Sr. bought it and converted it into a tavern in 1673.
Until the Colony House was constructed in 1739, the tavern was one of the meeting places of the colony’s general assembly.
Today, it’s an upscale restaurant and they still serve a strong drink.
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Oldest place of worship in Rhode Island: The Great Friends Meeting House
Being the oldest place of worship in Rhode Island is quite an accomplishment, as the state has many of the oldest places of worship in the country because of our founding principles of religious tolerance.
To name two, Rhode Island is home to Touro Synagogue, which was built in 1763 making it the oldest in the country and the aptly named First Baptist Church established by Roger Williams in 1638, though the current location wasn’t built until 1775.
But the oldest place of worship is The Great Friends Meeting House, built in 1699, in Newport.
The Quakers formed The Society of Friends in the 1640s and were prominent in the City by the Sea. The Meeting House was the “largest and most recognizable building in town” during the first few decades of the 18th century, according to the Newport Historical Society.
Quakerism declined in Newport after the American Revolution. Today, the building is owned by the Newport Historical Society.
Oldest Business in Rhode Island: Kenyon’s Grist Mill
White Horse Tavern aside (as it does predate this business), Kenyon’s Grist Mill is the oldest business in the state, grinding away since 1696.
On the Queen’s River in the village of Usquepaugh, farmers would bring their corn to be ground at the grist mill. The mill stones that the corn is ground between are made of Westerly granite.
While they’ve been consistently grinding on the site, the current building wasn’t built until 1886. And it didn’t become Kenyon’s Grist Mill until C.D. Kenyon bought the mill in 1906. He was the one who had the idea to brand the meal in sacks and make it more readily available, paving the way for the mixes that are so beloved today.
Oldest School in Rhode Island: The Southermost Schoolhouse
Built in 1725, the one-room Southermost Schoolhouse in Portsmouth is the oldest in New England and was built well before the first building went up at Brown University.
The town paid 23 pounds, 12 shillings, and seven pence to build the little house on land donated by William Sanford. It included a cellar, where the original schoolmaster James Preston lived, according to the Portsmouth Historical Society.
The school was moved sometime before 1800 – leaving the cellar accommodations behind – and then again in 1952 by the historical society. Now at East Main Road, it’s one of the sites the society maintains that the public can visit.
Oldest Lighthouse in Rhode Island: Beavertail Lighthouse
The third lighthouse built in the county, the first iteration of the Beavertail lighthouse was a wood structure guiding merchant vessels to the burgeoning trading port of Newport. Built in 1749, it burned down just a few years later in 1753.
It was replaced by another that fell out of repair in 1851. A new granite tower, which is the one seen today, was built in 1856. Today, the lighthouse is a museum and event rental space. The museum is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the summer, with the option to climb to the top of the tower on select days. A $5 donation is requested for climbing the 49-step spiral staircase and 7-foot ladder.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The oldest places in RI, including oldest restaurant in US
