What's the history of Warwick's Salter Memorial Grove? Here's what we found out.
In Warwick, there is a little park called Salter Memorial Grove.
It has hiking trails and stations set up to learn about different plants and animals, and it's a great spot for birding.
But one What and Why RI reader was curious about its history. They wrote in asking for a complete history of the park, including what it was before it was known as Warwick Downs and who called it Rock Island.
Here’s what we were able to find out:
What’s the early history of Salter Grove?
The strip of land, located between Pawtuxet Village and Passeonkquis Cove, was first settled by the Narragansett tribe. They called the area Choppequonsett, according to the Friends of Salter Grove.
As European colonists expanded their communities, this stretch of land was one of many that was settled. A review of all historic maps of the area that have been archived both by the Library of Congress and Harvard Library, however, shows no settlements of note in the area.
Who called it Rock Island?
Part of the park is a small island attached by a jetty. The island is so small that it's more of a big pile of rocks than anything else. The island has appeared on maps going back to the 1700s, but a name doesn't appear over the blip on the map that marks the island until a map published in 1880.
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There’s evidence the island was colloquially known as Rock Island before then. An 1839 auction listing in The Providence Journal for the estate of the deceased Daniel Rhodes included land in the area and “all his interests in the Rock Island, so called, and to a wharf lot in Pawtuxet.”
Who called it that first remains a mystery.
When did the area become Warwick Downs?
In the 1800s, the area started to develop into a playground for the rich. According to research by the Friends of Salter Grove, in the mid-1800s an Italianate villa was erected in the area by Nicholas and Caroline Brown, which would become the Choppequonsett Country Club.
While the country club burned down in 1897, it created an atmosphere that blossomed in Warwick Downs, also known as Pautuxet Camp. Summer cottages went up in the area, and families would come to the shoreline for the summer. Newspaper clippings from the time track the comings and goings, the clambakes, boat races, company picnics and more.
To get a taste of it, here’s how one week was described in 1911:
“The gayety of the summer residents at Warwick Downs was indeed at its height this past week and it excelled all other weeks thus far in regard to the summer social functions. With a wedding anniversary to which there were over 100 guests, automobile parties, bathing parties, and informal plaza luncheons during the day and whist bridge and several dinner parties in the evening, nearly all the campers and cottagers have led a most strenuous life,” the article stated.
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After decades of summers with weeks like the above, in June 1942, Warwick Downs found itself in an “exceptionally quiet” season, reports from the time stated. With America locked in World War II, the regular lifeguards were stationed elsewhere in the county for the military, and social groups and activities were grinding to a halt because of lack of leadership. By July 12, typically the height of the season, there were no more events planned for the summer, and there was a steep increase in bulletins of people leaving to serve in the war.
It was never really the same after the war. People continued to come for the state-run Warwick Downs beach, and there were some clambakes and the like, but the flurry of activity that existed before the war never returned.
And then, in 1946, came talk of pollution in the river that started when an oyster company deemed the water too polluted from which to harvest.
By the next summer, the state was closing Warwick Downs to swimming. It hardly seems a coincidence that the Warwick Downs Assembly Hall went up for sale the same year.
For years, there was a back and forth about swimming in the water. Some people refused to heed the warning and kept swimming. But there were reports of oil sheens, and the lifeguards were pulled off duty, and it just became less and less popular. In 1954, there was an article mentioning “Warwick Downs Grove” that referred to the area as a park.
By the time the Assembly Hall, then owned by the American Legion, burned down in April 1955, summers in Warwick Downs looked entirely different from what they had been.
When did it become Salter Grove?
For a while, there wasn’t a lot of talk about the Warwick Downs area, but in 1966, the Warwick City Council passed a resolution asking the state Department of Natural Resources to rename the Warwick Downs area as the George B. Salter Memorial Grove.
Salter was a former councilman who had died four months before the council passed the resolution. His day job was executive vice president and director of Providence Washington Insurance Co., but in 1936, the Republican was elected to the council, where he served for 16 years and was credited with being a force in establishing Warwick’s permanent fire department.
Gov. John Chafee dedicated the park as George B. Salter Memorial Grove in May 1967.
What and Why RI is a weekly feature by The Providence Journal to explore our readers' curiosity. If you have a question about Rhode Island, big or small, email it to klandeck@gannett.com. She loves a good question.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Warwick's George B. Salter Memorial Grove has a long history
