Community Conversations: March 2024

What’s next?

Last fall the Sowams Planning team introduced the public to the Sowams Heritage Area Project and the National Heritage Area program.

Now it’s time to dig deeper.

This next round of Community Conversations will focus on the natural, historic and cultural resources in the Sowams region and the themes that flow from that watershed period in our nation’s history. Then we will explore how to leverage the national significance of Sowams to showcase the different communities in the region, each in its own way, with its own voice.

We’d like to hear from you

The Sowams Community Conversations are free and open to the public. We’ll save you a seat!

The Seekonk Public Library in Seekonk, MA is hosting the first Community Conversation on March 26th at 3:30pm, 410 Newman Avenue, Seekonk, MA. Click here to reserve a seat.

In 1641, the Plymouth Bay Colony gave John Brown and Edward Winslow permission to purchase 64 square miles of land that now includes Seekonk from the Massasoit Ousamequin for Rev. Samuel Newman and his congregation from Weymouth.

Founded 1899, the Seekonk Library’s first collection of books dated back to 1825.

Today the Seekonk Library is located on the grounds of Seekonk Meadows, the gateway to the Seekonk Sanctuary and the Gammino Pond Preserve.

Mt. Hope Farm in Bristol, RI is hosting the second Community Conversation on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 7:00pm in the Barn, 250 Metacom Avenue, Bristol, RI. Click here to reserve a seat.

On the National Register of Historic Places, Bristol’s Mt. Hope Farm overlooks the western slope of Mt. Hope, the ancestral and ceremonial home of the Pokanoket Nation, whose people farmed and fished here for millennia.

Heroes of the American Revolution walked here, including George Washington, who visited Senator William Bradford in the 1790s.

Today the 127-acre property hosts a popular farmer’s market, is a favorite wedding destination, and is home to cows, chickens, twin miniature donkeys, and 21 Nigerian Dwarf goats!

Written on the Landscape

The story of Sowams is really many stories. Not only is it about a time and place where two worlds met, but Sowams also tells us about colonization, war, religious toleration, enslavement, and commerce—each is defined by the landscape where land meets the water.

Which story resonates with you?

What resources on the landscape make Sowams nationally significant?

What are the needs in your own community?

How could a Sowams National Heritage Area benefit you?