#AtoZ Stay Home! Wear a Mask! "F" is for FISKEVILLE
It seemed appropriate this year to feature a theme that kept me close to home, so I give you my A to Z within the small acreage that is Rhode Island. I tried to be creative (you’ll see!) but I hope you learn something about Little Rhody, too. Whether you’ve lived here all your life, grew up within the boundaries, or have never set foot on one of our many beaches, come along for a virtual tour.
Tiny little Fiskeville!
Fiskeville is a small - really small - village in the southwest corner of Cranston, bordering on the southeast corner of Scituate, and across the northern side of Coventry. The village's Main Street, which extends from the town of West Warwick, forms the border between Cranston and Scituate. Fiskeville was one of several mill towns along the Pawtuxet River in the mid-1800s, and many of the villages were named after the mill that dominated that area (Anthony, Crompton, Lippitt, Natick, Harris).
In Fiskeville, there was a textile mill that was founded by Dr. Caleb Fiske, who lived from 1753 to 1834. In 1818, Dr. Fiske became a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society and was for a few years its president. He and his son, Philip Manchester Fiske, established a cotton manufacturing business and carried it on for many years. The textile industry in Rhode Island, and New England, was formed and led to strong economic ties with the Deep South, whose slave labor supplied the cotton. The village of Fiskeville became home to those who worked in the mill, mostly immigrants from Portugal, France, Italy and England.
