Rhode Island History

Origin of the Shoreline/Northeast Corridor Through Rhode Island

The stretch of railroad which runs through East Greenwich was originally known as the Providence & Stonington Railroad. Construction began at Providence at Fields Point (its northern terminus) in 1832 and was completed to Stonington (its southern terminus) in 1837.

A ferry took passengers from Fields Point to Fox Point where the Boston-bound passengers and freight transferred to the Boston & Providence Railroad, crossed the Seekonk River at India Point (originally over a covered railroad bridge) to the Seekonk shore (East Providence didn't exist as such yet), then to Boston.

Of interesting note is that some of the bridges along this line, including the stone railroad bridge at King Street were designed by West Point's George Washington Whistler, husband to Anna Matilda Whistler (aka Whistler's Mother). George died of cholera in 1849 while working as chief engineer for Tsar Nicolas I, supervising the construction of the railroad between Moscow and St Petersburg.

posted by RI_History @ 7:45 AM