Since Native Americans camped by its ponds and waterfront, Rhode Island's South Shore has been a magnet for recreational activity, drawing summer visitors whose accommodations ranged from tents to opulent hotels and summer homes. From Narragansett Pier to Watch Hill Point, this book tells the story of our fascination with life by the sea. Drawn by its clean air and pastoral shores, visitors for generations have come back to “South County” year after year to fish, swim, sunbathe, and simply rest. Some craved the social whirl of Narragansett, while others opted for the slower lifestyle in rural villages like Matunuck and Jerusalem. Each village and resort had its own identity, which is explored in this collection of postcards and photographs, most from private collections. These pictures show the dramatic changes wrought by the Hurricane of 1938, urban renewal, and development.

South Shore, Rhode Island (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Cotter, Betty J.

Photography & Video

Arcadia Publishing

Perhaps no village in Rhode Island can boast the history of Kingston, or “Little Rest” as it was called. Once a seat of government (its library was one of Rhode Island’s five state houses), Kingston has been home to some of the state’s most illustrious residents as well as the now sprawling University of Rhode Island. A center of intellectual life long before the university began, Kingston was characterized by social, civic, and dramatic clubs, academies for both men and women, taverns for the weary traveler, and an imposing church atop Kingston Hill whose influence was felt broadly in the village. More than 200 photographs take the reader back to nineteenth-century Kingston, where Stephen Knowles waits atop his carriage to take travelers to Kingston Station, hat maker Cyrus French regales the menfolk in Joe Reynolds’s tavern with his expansive stories, and the villagers gather on a summer evening to listen to a musicale on the library’s lawn. Within Kingston’s pages, the reader can meet people like Solomon Fayerweather, the village blacksmith and church sexton with a unique wisdom about village doings; and Quaker Billy Rose, whose fine weaving work was sought by the likes of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt. See the familiar, Colonial-style houses that still line Kingstown Road as well as others that have fallen victim to the wrecking ball. Photographs of nearby “Biscuit City” and West Kingston are also included. These photographs, mostly from the collection of the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, chronicle church, school, and business life in this picturesque village that has played such an important role in Rhode Island’s history.

Kingston (Images of America)

The history of Wakefield, which developed from a rural mill town in the nineteenth century to SouthCounty’s mercantile center in the twentieth, has never before been published in pictorial format. Using images from the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, the Peace Dale Library, and a number of private sources, local author Betty J. Cotter chronicles Wakefield’s growth from the days of the horse and buggy, dairy farms, and fields to those of shopping centers and fast-food restaurants. Readers will marvel at the trees lining Main Street before a devastating hurricane and Dutch Elm disease changed the landscape forever. While much of downtown Wakefield has retained its historic character, certain locales―like Dale Carlia Corner―are barely recognizable in images from the first half of the twentieth century. Wakefield’s growth is illustrated vividly in photographs of residents at work and at play: images depict grocery clerks showing off mounds of produce, the owners of one of the town’s first car dealerships standing proudly in front of anew model, and the wealthy inhabitants of Shadow Farmpulling away from their home in a carriage.

Wakefield (Images of America)

Sprawling mansions and granite buildings from the past arestill at the center of Peace Dale village life, but the town’shistory is more than just a tale of a privileged few. The legacyof the Irish and Italian immigrants who came to work in themills and stayed to build a way of life is as important in thecommunity today as the legacy left by the wealthy Hazard andRodman families. Discover these early residents of Peace Dalein a remarkable collection of images, complemented by the textof author and local historian Betty J. Cotter. From Peace Dale’sfamous arched bridges to the mom-and-pop stores that ring PeaceDale Flats, this unprecedented collection explores the memoriesof yesteryear. The photographs date from the mid-nineteenthcentury to the 1960s and were gathered from the collections ofthe Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, the Peace Dale Library,and local residents.

Peace Dale (Images of America)

The history of Wakefield, which developed from a rural mill town in the nineteenth century to SouthCountyÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â’s mercantile center in the twentieth, has never before been published in pictorial format. Using images from the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, the Peace Dale Library, and a number of private sources, local author Betty J. Cotter chronicles WakefieldÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â’s growth from the days of the horse and buggy, dairy farms, and fields to those of shopping centers and fast-food restaurants. Readers will marvel at the trees lining Main Street before a devastating hurricane and Dutch Elm disease changed the landscape forever. While much of downtown Wakefield has retained its historic character, certain localesÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â—like Dale Carlia CornerÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â—are barely recognizable in images from the first half of the twentieth century. WakefieldÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â’s growth is illustrated vividly in photographs of residents at work and at play: images depict grocery clerks showing off mounds of produce, the owners of one of the townÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â’s first car dealerships standing proudly in front of anew model, and the wealthy inhabitants of Shadow Farmpulling away from their home in a carriage.

Wakefield, RI (Images of America)

History

Americas

Chalford Pub Corp

Kingston  (RI)   (Images of America)

Within the pages you will be transported to summers long past

South Shore, RI (Images of America)

Arcadia Pub

Since Native Americans camped by its ponds and waterfront, Rhode Island's South Shore has been a magnet for recreational activity, drawing summer visitors whose accommodations ranged from tents to opulent hotels and summer homes. From Narragansett Pier to Watch Hill Point, this book tells the story of our fascination with life by the sea. Drawn by its clean air and pastoral shores, visitors for generations have come back to "South County" year after year to fish, swim, sunbathe, and simply rest. Some craved the social whirl of Narragansett, while others opted for the slower lifestyle in rural villages like Matunuck and Jerusalem. Each village and resort had its own identity, which is explored in this collection of postcards and photographs, most from private collections. These pictures show the dramatic changes wrought by the Hurricane of 1938, urban renewal, and development.

South Shore, Rhode Island

Arcadia Publishing Library Editions

Perhaps no village in Rhode Island can boast the history of Kingston, or "Little Rest" as it was called. Once a seat of government (its library was one of Rhode Island's five state houses), Kingston has been home to some of the state's most illustrious residents as well as the now sprawling University of Rhode Island. A center of intellectual life long before the university began, Kingston was characterized by social, civic, and dramatic clubs, academies for both men and women, taverns for the weary traveler, and an imposing church atop Kingston Hill whose influence was felt broadly in the village. More than 200 photographs take the reader back to nineteenth-century Kingston, where Stephen Knowles waits atop his carriage to take travelers to Kingston Station, hat maker Cyrus French regales the menfolk in Joe Reynolds's tavern with his expansive stories, and the villagers gather on a summer evening to listen to a musicale on the library's lawn. Within Kingston's pages, the reader can meet people like Solomon Fayerweather, the village blacksmith and church sexton with a unique wisdom about village doings; and Quaker Billy Rose, whose fine weaving work was sought by the likes of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt. See the familiar, Colonial-style houses that still line Kingstown Road as well as others that have fallen victim to the wrecking ball. Photographs of nearby "Biscuit City" and West Kingston are also included. These photographs, mostly from the collection of the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, chronicle church, school, and business life in this picturesque village that has played such an important role in Rhode Island's history.

Kingston

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cotter, Betty J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cotter, Betty J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cotter, Betty J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

South Shore, Rhode Island (Images of America)

Kingston (Images of America)

Wakefield (Images of America)

Peace Dale (Images of America)

Wakefield, RI (Images of America)

Kingston (RI) (Images of America)

South Shore, RI (Images of America)

Peace Dale (Images of America)

South Shore, Rhode Island

Kingston