Prudence Island: From farming community to summer resort

The island was considered to be somewhat of a market basket for nearby cities such as Providence and Newport.”

Joe Bains

PORTSMOUTH — Long before it became the place “where you can find peaceful solitude and scenic views,” Prudence Island was a farming community similar to other mainland cites and towns, according to Joe Bains.

Mr. Bains, an island historian who sits on the board of directors of the Prudence Island Historical & Preservation Society, shared stories of Prudence’s transformative history to about 40 people at the Portsmouth Free Public Library last Thursday night. The event was presented by the Portsmouth Historical Society and the library.

The island, accessible only by ferry from Bristol and which resembles a “whale swimming south” on maps, is a far different place now than it once was, said Mr. Bains, who grew up on Prudence and was a student in the one-room schoolhouse.

Settled by English immigrants in the mid-17th century, it was used primarily for farming until the late 19th century. By the early to mid-18th century there were nearly 30 small farms on the 7.5-mile-long island.

“The island was considered to be somewhat of a market basket for nearby cities such as Providence and Newport,” Mr. Bains said.

But things were changing rapidly on Prudence and by the 1930s there were only four working farms left, while two stores and two post offices had popped up to serve more than 120 homes. A population of just 80 to 85 in 1870 swelled to more than 500 summer residents — about 55 were year-rounders — by the ’30s, he said.

The seeds of the island’s transformation from a farming community to a summer vacation spot, however, were actually planted in the late 1600s, he said. “It become common practice for plantation owners in the Carolinas to send their families up north … and one of the places they sent them was to Prudence Island,” said Mr. Bains, adding this continued well into the 18th century as several island residents held licenses “to keep public houses or inns for the relief of his majesty’s subjects."

From 1742 to 1776, the island played an important role in mail delivery between Providence and Newport, as letters and packages went to Prudence by ferry — then across the island by horseback — before another ferry would ship more mail out.

Prudence suffered greatly during the Revolutionary War, particularly during a British raid in January 1776. “Nearly all of the homes there were destroyed except one or two,” said Mr. Bains, adding that many “pre-war residents” never returned.

But even before the war was over, Prudence was being rebuilt. Providence businessman John Brown acquired about a third of the island in compensation for his financial support for the war, and had three large homes built there. One of them, at Baker Farm, was later the site of the Prudence Inn.

Island education

The first schoolhouse was built in 1763 at the island’s highest point but was burned by the British in 1776. A new school was erected and moved to the original location around 1820. 

The current one-room schoolhouse, built in 1896 by Halsey Chase, was formally under the authority of the Portsmouth School Department but is now “essentially homeschooling” and operated by the nonprofit Prudence Island School Foundation for students in kindergarten through grade 12, Mr. Bains said.

The 121-year-old schoolhouse has a connection to a famous Rhode Islander: Florence K. Murray (1916-2004), the state’s first female senator and judge and the first woman to serve on Rhode Island Supreme Court.

“The first job she had was a teacher on Prudence Island at the time of the (1938) hurricane,” Mr. Bains said.

The island received its first lighthouse in 1851. Originally built in 1823 on Goat Island, Newport, it was disassembled and moved to Prudence, where it was lit for the first time on Jan. 17, 1852. “Today it’s the oldest-standing lighthouse in Rhode Island and still an active light,” said Mr. Bains.

Development gets ‘big’

Things changed dramatically on Prudence in June of 1874, when investors formed the Prudence Land Company, bought 380 acres along the west shore and platted out house lots. Prudence Park had 30 seasonal homes by 1895. 

“There was also a beach pavilion and a number of other features,” Mr. Bains said. “It was an opportunity to fashion the latest full-length wool bathing suits.”

One of the development’s more prominent residents was Charles Perkins, general manager of the R.I. Horseshoe Company, which made a killing during the Civil War. He owned at least three homes there and also built the Prudence Park Casino, which was used for parties, dances and community gatherings. (A “casino” didn’t necessarily mean gambling back then, Mr. Bains explained.)

Alas, the casino was destroyed by fire in 1936, which was a common fate in those days. “Generally if a fire got started, there was nothing much you could do,” said Mr. Bains, noting the island had only a “bucket brigade” before the volunteer fire department was formed. “A lot of houses were lost to fire there.”

Several other developers also took advantage of the island summer resort appeal and started building other small communities such as the Lombardy Camp and the Homestead Plat.

The Homestead Casino was built in 1911 at the site of the ferry landing and added a post office in 1912. “You could now have an ice cream cone while you were waiting for the ferry to get there,” said Mr. Bains. Sand Point Pavilion — another ferry landing — offered many of the same amenities as Homestead Casino, he said.

To inform the growing summer population, the Prudence Island Beacon became the island’s first newspaper in 1926. The weekly featured a cartoon character, Johnny Woodtick, that relayed island news. The paper lasted only two years but another seasonal publication, The Visitor, appeared in 1940.

“It lasted for only one issue,” Mr. Bains quipped.

‘Good feelings’

Many things have come and gone from Prudence over the years: DeWitt’s Bakery (known for its hermit cookies before closing in the late ‘50s), the Friendly Store at Sand Point (where you could catch a movie before it was taken out by Hurricane Carol in 1954) and DelPapa’s Sand Point Coffee Shop, which operated for 20 years starting in 1955.

The latter is now owned by the Prudence Island Historical Society and operates as a museum during the summer months. Mr. Bains said he’s happy to show people around, “one or two at a time.”

Now more than 80 percent of the island’s land is under some form of protection, such as the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve property, parts of which served as a U.S. Navy ammunition depot during World War II.

There are about 475 homes now on Prudence and while summer residents still outnumber year-rounders by about 10 to one, more and more of them keep coming back even during the colder months. 

“One type of population we have now that we didn’t have when I was a child is year-round weekenders,” said Mr. Bains.

What attracts residents here— far more than the solitude and scenic views — is community, he said.

“It’s also a place where you can experience the good feelings and happiness that you get from being with friends.”