HANTON CITY
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HANTON CITY |
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NAME: Hanton City COUNTY: Providence County ROADS: 4WD GRID: 4 CLIMATE: Snow in winter. Warm in summer BEST TIME TO VISIT: Spring through Fall is the best. |
COMMENTS:
To get there, take route 295 north or south to exit 8B (Route 7 North). Go through two sets of traffic lights. After passing through the second set of traffic lights, you will go past Tina's Pub and a greenhouse. Just beyond the greenhouse on the right is Hanton City Trail. It is not marked, but there is a steel commercial building at the beginning of the road. The road quickly turns to dirt as you pass the commercial building. Follow this winding road for approximately 1/2 mile without taking any of the smaller side roads. You will go past a recent gas line installation that runs underground. Just past the gas line, the road takes a sharp turn to the left. Just up ahead of the sharp turn you will come to a clearing on your left that is blocked by a dirt embankment. Go into that clearing to find a trail that will lead you to the area I have pictures of. Also, back out on the road, if you keep going up you'll be able to see another stone foundation on the left, visible from the road, with an apparent man-made dam behind it that holds back a stream. I assume this was used for irrigation. REMAINS: Stone foundations, burial site, dam, stone walls. |
| Hanton City is also known as Lost City to the local residents of Smithfield, RI where this long gone settlement is located. This settlement was a small farming community that lived in relative isolation from the main town of Smithfield. It is theorized that the residents were either runaway slaves or stricken with a communicable disease that forced them to live an isolated existence away from the general population. Surprisingly, there is hardly a mention of this settlement in town records, but it is listed on older maps of the town (early 1900's). Fidelity Investment Group and/or DOW Chemical Co. owns this land now. Judging from the orange surveyors' tape and from recent news articles, this area will be developed soon. Submitted by: Rodney Caron |
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