The Pettaquamscutt Historical Society Museum is a former jail building in Kingston, Rhode Island, USA, that houses the organization, a collection of fine Early American artifacts, and a history within the building's wall.
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Pettaquamscutt Historical Society Museum was the location of the former old Rhode Island Washington County Jail.[1] situated at the crest of the hill on Kingstown Road and Upper College Road at the University of Rhode Island southeastern entrance on Route 138. The front building was constructed in 1792 recognized by the National Register of Historical Places plaque, the rear building 1856 as the old jail, for the purpose of confining criminals who disrupted the society of old Washington County, with further redesigned 1861. One of many locals tradesmen, Amos Reynold Sweet [2] set the rafters of the structure with local oakwood, and built walls of mica greywacke and Westerly RI granite stones, mortar and the iron cell gates. [3] The jail was closed in 1956, and the building by 1958 housed the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society Museum. The front section of the building was redesigned in 1956 to establish the museum art collection, library and historical records, while the rear section of jail cells was refurbished and opened to the visiting public.
The Pettaquamscutt Historical Society was founded in 1958 by South County, RI residents to encourage the study and appreciation of the history of the region; collect and preserve materials of historic interest; and preserve and mark local historical sites.[4] A quarterly newsletter is printed offering sponsored educational workshops and lectures, and historical site visits. Pettaquamscutt Historical Society is a member of the Historical Sites Coalition of RI (HSCRI).
The artifact collection and library content was initiated in 1958 by donations from local residents' personal ancestral items of Early American history.
Marjorie Webster Schunke,(1905-2002) a historian was instrumental in gathering the archived historical materials in the library and wrote volumes of printed research on local genealogy, sites and cemeteries.
On loan to Pettaquamscutt Historical Museum by his family, William Russell Sweet (1860-1946) [5] carved in 1896 a hutch cabinet themed upon the poem "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published 1855. William Russell Sweet greatly admired the American Indian and depicted their lifestyle in some of his art pieces. William Russell Sweet carved many wood pieces including wall plaques, tables and chairs each of individual themes; such as the Sweet Coat of Arms, New England sea shells as quahogs and scallops, maple leaves, nuts and berries, textile weaving patterns, and animals. His great grandson, Carson Young Sweet Ferri Carson Grant has placed on loan several other artworks to the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society Museum in RI.
The 14-by-6-foot mural depicting a white overseer and black slaves in 18th century Narragansett, RI, entitled "The Economic Activities of the Narragansett Planters", the painting's subject matter—slavery—disturbs some people, while others argue it's important to remember southern Rhode Island's plantation past. The mural was painted by Rhode Island native and renowned illustrator Ernest Hamlin Baker in the 1930s, as part of the federal government's Work Projects Administration. It hung for nearly 60 years in the Wakefield, RI post office, until the post office closed in 1999. [6]
Address: Pettaquamscutt Historical Society Museum 2636 Kingstown Road, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA.