Tiverton
Originally part of the Province of Massachusetts in 1694, the Town of Tiverton was incorporated in 1746 and annexed to the Newport County by Royal Decree. Fishing with hand nets or seines has been identified with Tiverton since its very beginning.
The Old Stone Bridge.
Stone Bridge
The Stone Bridge area of Tiverton is named for a bridge connecting Tiverton to Island Park in Portsmouth was built to commute back and forth in the late 1600’s. For more than 150 years, Stone Bridge acted as a funnel through which anyone traveling across the Sakonnet River on foot, horseback, wagon—or later, automobile and street car—had to pass.
On the Tiverton side of the bridge, a village of stores, fish markets, and blacksmith shops blossomed. For more than 100 years, a succession of inns at the foot of the bridge served weary travelers and hosted milestone celebrations for town residents until the 1980s, when the Stone Bridge Inn was razed.
Today the bride no longer exists but an update to the area called Stone Bridge Reimagined took over the area updated the beach and beach houses and made a lovely walkway out to the river where once the old Stone Bridge was.
The Stone Bridge area is a historic neighborhood directly on the Sakonnet River, that includes Grinnell’s Beach, the Town Hall, local restaurants, a coffee shop by the water, and a Revolutionary War redoubt, Fort Barton.
Tiverton Four Corners
TIverton Four Corners offers all the charm of a quaint New England village. It is a unique place where visitors can eat homemade ice cream, gourmet sandwiches and browse through a dozen or so shops and galleries.
Early settlers in this part of RI passed a law that you could not build a tavern only at a four-way intersection. Then they made sure there weren’t any except the one that gave Tiverton Four Corners its name.
Four Corners today is a mix shopping, antiques, art and art activities that range from summer concerts to art classes. A cheese shop, a cafe an ice cream shop that makes homemade ice cream is just the beginning of places you can visit while here.
There are many distinguished historic house in the area to see along your way as well. Amoung the notable historic house are the Soule-Seabury House and the Chase Cory House, which is opened from time to time as a house museum.
Just passed the lights is the Mill Pond area of Four Corners, now the home to the Mill Pond Shops. Where a stone mill and early Grange Hall have been converted into a cluster of specialty shops and a real estate office. To find out more about Tiverton Four Corners visit TivertonFourCorners.com .
