Historic Landscapes of Rhode Island booklet

From introduction: "The following study encompasses the historic landscape resources of the state of Rhode Island. The report begins with an explanation of survey methodology followed by a description of the physical and social setting in which these landscapes developed. The third section explains the historical development of a wide variety of property types and concludes with a discussion of current issues, threats, and opportunities. At the heart of the report is an annotated inventory of historic landscapes throughout the state. At the end is a list of properties which are listed in or suggested for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The Rhode Island Landscape Survey presented in this volume is the product of two discrete survey efforts conducted sequentially. The first, a survey of designed landscapes,’ occurred between 1988 and 1990; the second, a survey of vernacular landscapes, between 1992 and 1994. An explanation of how each survey was carried out helps toward understanding the scope and limitations of the findings presented here. Both landscape surveys were conducted by consultant Lucinda A. Brockway, selected through a national request for proposals solicited from a field of experts in the history of landscape design. Designed landscapes, for the purpose of this survey, were defined as those for which a conscious, aesthetics-driven design effort could be documented through written or graphic sources. The survey began with a literature search, including primary and secondary sources. Archival resources consulted included local municipal documents, materials in the hands of original clients, the Harvard Estates Guide, the Catalogue of Landscape Records in the United States, and the archives of landscape architects active in Rhode Island, such as those of the Olmsted firm in Brookline, Massachusetts; Fletcher Steele at Cornell University in Utica, New York; and Beatrix Jones Farrand. at the University of California, Berkeley. Secondary sources encompassed published diaries especially telling for eighteenth-century landscapes, the many specialized landscape architecture and gardening books and periodicals that appeared increasingly beginning after the mid-nineteenth century, and the Commission’s existing surveys of state historic resources, which identified individual historic designed landscapes as one of many property types. After compiling a master list of designed landscapes, the consultant conducted field checks of the proper ties to determine both their existence and the degree to which they survived, when extant, as well as to document their current condition. From the archival and field information, the consultant prepared an inventory of individual properties that both described their appearance and evaluated their significance. Once the inventory was developed, the consultant prepared an essay that established a context for understanding and evaluating designed landscapes." Funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Rhode Island State Historic Preservation Office and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Historic Landscapes of Rhode Island booklet

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