East Providence Historical Society News

“2nd Sunday” Spring Open Houses
March 10 - April 14 - May 12
1:00 - 3:30pm

John Hunt Museum - 65 Hunts Mills Road - 02916

“ Hikes At Hunt’s”- 1:30 at the Gazebo

This is an exciting spring for preservation in EP! The RI Preservation Conference brings over 500 people to our City on Sat. April 6. Every part of the City will be on display with a special emphasis on the part EP has played in sports/recreation for the whole area. Did you know we had an airport and have the 2nd oldest tennis court in the country? The 10 Mile River had canoe houses along its length and Hunt’s Mills was visited by General Burnside every week. So much more! You can register for the conference at Registration is online only and closes March 22. EPHS is very proud to be involved in this event!

Open House - March 10 - Hunt House and the wonderful recreation activities of Hunt’s Mills will be spotlighted at the conference. The museum has been freshly painted and re-organized with some new additions, both indoors and out. Small spotlights on EP history will be featured rather than a big exhibit so archives that have been stored away will come out for this spring. As usual, join Ernie Germani for his informative, fun hikes.

Public Meeting: ”Why can’t all those herring find the fish ladder?”
Monday - March 25th - 6:30 for site visit / 7pm for presentation
The Education Center at Hunt’s Mills - 68 Hunt’s MIlls Road

Some of you have been fish counters at the dam at Hunt’s in April as the blue herring swim up the 10 Mile from the Seekonk/ Bay. Those which manage to navigate the 2 lad-ders and reach the Turner Reservoir have a straight shot up to Pawtucket Country Club which gives them a much larger spawning area. However, there is a very small falls just above Herring Rock at Hunt’s which seems to hold some fish back. The Army Corps of Engineers will hold a site visit at 6:30 and present its idea for solving this problem. Marc Paiva and Larry Oliver of the Concord, MA office will do a formal presentation at 7pm. Seating is very limited (25) so plan on getting there early. We will also give a full report on their presentation in the next Gazette.

The EPHS is a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation of local history. We are located at the 1751 John Hunt House Museum in the Hunts Mills Local Historic District, maintain a URI Master Gardening program, and provide educational programs open to the public. For more information visit info@ephist.org or call 438-1750