Oak Lawn Village Historic District | |
Location | Wilbur Ave. from Natick Rd. to Oaklawn Ave., includes Searle, Exchange, and Wheelock Sts., Cranston, Rhode Island |
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Coordinates | 41°44′57″N71°29′6″W / 41.74917°N 71.48500°W |
Area | 30 acres (12 ha) |
Architectural style | Greek Revival, Late Victorian, Colonial |
NRHP reference No. | 77000004 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 25, 1977 |
Oak Lawn or Oaklawn is a historical village in southwest Cranston, Rhode Island. Prior to being named "Oak Lawn" in 1872 the area was known as "Searle's Corner". The Edward Searle House, built in 1677, and one of the oldest standing structures in Rhode Island, is located in Oak Lawn. The village is known for its annual May Breakfast, a New England tradition that began in Oak Lawn in 1865 as a way for the members of the Oak Lawn Baptist Church to raise money for local American Civil War veterans. The 1855 Herman Melville novel "Israel Potter" is based on the life and adventures of an American Revolutionary soldier who was raised on a farm near present-day Oak Lawn. Oak Lawn is also the site of an important archeological excavation: in the 1950s archeologists discovered bowls and other Native American artifacts, carved from soapstone and dating back more than 10,000 years. In the pre-colonial era the area was populated with bands of the Narragansett Indians known as the "Meshanticut" and "Natick" Indians.
Much of the village was designated a historic district by the city of Cranston, and a section of the village, extending along Wilbur Avenue from Natick Road to Exchange Street, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as the Oak Lawn Historic District. [1] [2]
Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston. Cranston is a part of the Providence metropolitan area.
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Wickford is a small village in the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, which is named after Wickford in Essex, England. Wickford is located on the west side of Narragansett Bay, just about a 20-minute drive across two bridges from Newport, Rhode Island. The village is built around one of the most well-protected natural harbors on the eastern seaboard, and features one of the largest collections of 18th century dwellings to be found anywhere in the Northeast. Today the majority of the village's historic homes and buildings remain largely intact upon their original foundations.
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The Pawtuxet River, also known as the Pawtuxet River Main Stem and the Lower Pawtuxet, is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows 12.3 miles (19.8 km) and empties into the upper Narragansett Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Together with its two main tributary branches, the North Branch Pawtuxet River and the South Branch Pawtuxet River, it drains a watershed of 231.6 square miles (600 km2), all of which is in the state of R.I.
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Westcote is a historic house in Cranston, Rhode Island. This 1+1⁄2-story Greek Revival cottage was built c. 1843, and was originally located on Oaklawn Avenue before being moved to its present location. It was built by a member of the locally prominent Westcott family as a farmhouse, and is a well-preserved and little-altered example of vernacular Greek Revival style.
Columbus is a historic statue in Providence, Rhode Island, United States which formerly stood on Elmwood Avenue in Columbus Square. The statue is a bronze cast of a sterling silver statue which was created by Rhode Island's Gorham Manufacturing Company for the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The original silver statue was not meant for permanent exhibition, but rather as a demonstration of the skills of the Gorham Company, and was later melted down. The bronze cast was dedicated November 8, 1893 as a gift from the Elmwood Association to the City of Providence. The statue was created in 1893 by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. It was removed from Columbus Square in 2020 by the City of Providence.
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The Edward Searle House is an historic stone ender in Cranston, Rhode Island in the village of Oaklawn. The house is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the state.
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The Edgewood Historic District–Shaw Plat is a residential historic district in the Edgewood neighborhood of northeastern Cranston, Rhode Island. It is bounded by Broad Street on the west, Marion Avenue on the south, and Narragansett Bay on the east; it consists of the properties that line the parallel streets, Shaw and Marion Avenues, and the short section of Narragansett Boulevard that runs between Shaw and Marion Avenues. On the north, it abuts the separately-listed Edgewood Historic District–Arnold Farm Plat. The area was platted out between 1867 and 1895, with the construction of most of its housing taking place between 1867 and the start of World War II, with the most construction going on between 1895 and 1930. The district also includes the previously listed Edgewood Yacht Club. In 1853, the 25 acres of land that became the Shaw Plat was sold to Allen Shaw of Providence for $3,660.
The Cranston Public Library is the public library system serving Cranston, the second largest city in Rhode Island. The first library in Cranston was formed in 1797, while the library system was formed in 1966 by the Cranston City Council. The present day library system formed in 1968 when six independent neighborhood libraries came together as one. There are six locations in the system, including a central library and five neighborhood branches. The library system is governed by a board of trustees consisting of seven members appointed by the Cranston City Council. Members serve staggered three-year terms. Meetings are open to the public.