Apponaug Village

The Warwick Rhode Island Digital History project recounts that  Apponaug is one of Warwick’s most important villages. Located at a key point in the Old Pequot Path (now Post Road) it has been at the center of much activity from the time of the Native Americans to the present. This is the first of a series on the village.

The Indian Heritage
After King Philip’s War (1675-76), the Gortonites were able to expand to the west from Conimicut Village and Warwick Neck. The area most in use in the last part of the 17h century was the 4-Mile Common, the excellent meadowland between Conimicut Shore and Apponaug Cove. By the turn of the century the second generation of settlers had occupied much of the land around the cove in the area the Indians had occupied for many centuries.

The Indians at Sweet Meadow Brook, Apponaug
Nearly 2000 years before Roger Williams established his colony at Providence, the Apponaug section of Warwick was inhabited by sub-tribes of the Narragansett Indians Nation. Williams first trod the old Pequot path (Post Road) through Apponaug on his journey from Providence to the trading post at Cocumscussoc, near present day Wickford, in 1636.

Place of the oyster
Williams, speaking of approximately the same area we today refer to as Apponaug Four Corners, commented on this crossroads of the Indian paths. He said the Indians called the place, "Oppenenauchack," which he defined as meaning, "oyster." Shellfish were plentiful here and Indians traveling through the paths were welcome to take all they needed. As early as 1663, there is reference to Apponaug by other early writers who often spelled it "Aponahock" or "Aponake."

Sweet Meadow
While Williams, Samuel Gorton, William Harris and other settlers give us a picture of Indian life style in this historic period, excavations by the Narragansett Archaeological Society help provide a picture of life around the cove in the prehistoric period. In 1954 and 1955, archaeologists worked at an area called Sweet’s Meadows. In a very well documented report, written by the late William Fowler, one time director of the Bronson Museum in Attleboro, Mass., we learn that the Indians encamped, "On the northerly side of the town of Apponaug...along a small spring fed brook, which empties into Apponaug Cove." Fowler surmised that at one time the body of water in that area was larger because of a beaver dam at its mouth.

In his report, Fowler noted that, "many beaver incisors occurred in the shell refuse on the site..." The area contained remains of oysters, quahaugs, sea clams, small clams, scallops, whelk, and razor clams. The site, we are told, gave early man a favorable location for a camping place with fresh water conveniently near. Fowler's report adds, "The sand ridge along the westerly side would have provided suitable protection from the prevailing wind. This, together with other advantages, must have made this location a favorite place over a long span of years." It is estimated that the camp was occupied from approximately 100 B.C. to 1600 A.D.

In 1685, after King Philip's War had removed the Indians from the area, a man named Sweet came in possession of the property and the sandy meadow was known as Sweet's Meadow. In time it changed to Sweet Meadow, the name commonly used today.

Shanty History
Rhode Island's Shellfish Heritage recounts that the following shanty's lined the banks of the cove.

Drew Shanty

The Drew family shanty, on the shores of Greenwich Cove in Scallop town, is the best-preserved shellfi sh shanty in the state. Its fi rst life was as  a scallop-shucking house. Workers from the neighborhood stood along  a bench and worked as fast as they could to keep up with the scallop  catches. ‘You got paid by the measure,’ says Drew. ‘So there was always  something in the air — guts, shells, something.’  When scallop catches dwindled, the family exchanged shucking  buckets for welding machines, and started assembling bullrakes in the  shanty. Now, Drew and his family use it for recreational purposes. One of  his daughters even held her wedding there.  ‘I spent a ton of money fi xing it up,’ says Drew. ‘My mom called me  up and said I’d lost my mind … [But then we had a family cookout,] and  my mom was there. Th ere were a half a dozen kayaks there, and we were  cooking. Th e kids were playing. And my mom said, ‘Oh, this is what you  meant.’ My grandfather had it as a business, then it was my dad’s work shop, and now it’s about family. It’s about social gathering.’

The Wilcox Shanty
The Wilcox Shanty has stood at the bottom of Station Street in Ap ponaug for several generations. Th e Wilcox fi shing family used it for  many years as a place to buy quahogs and shuck scallops. ‘It was an old  shanty,’ says Don Wilcox. ‘My father inherited it in 1948, and it was  already old then. My father used to buy quahogs there. It was just a  transfer station. Th e boats would come in, they’d weigh up the quahogs,  bag them up, and put them on a truck. It was shipped to New York every  night. Quite a lot of stuff  went through there.’  Today, it is no longer in use and has fallen into disrepair. ‘It’s on  f  i lled land,’ says Wilcox. ‘In other words, there were never any legal rights  to have it. Just squatters’ rights. They went out into the bay and put it on  pilings and fi lled it. Th ere’s never been no taxes paid on it. It’s built on  the bay. Anyway, it’s just fallen down because they won’t let nobody fi x  it. You can’t sell it. They’re at a stalemate. Th ey know it’s my family’s, but  that we had no right to put it there. But it’s been there a hundred years.  T  h ey’re just going to let it fall apart. So there it sits.’