The Lost Village of Richmond Traditional Geocache
The Lost Village of Richmond
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In 1813, the village of Richmond, RI saw its first industry, the Richmond Cotton Mill. Destroyed by fire in 1874 and rebuilt in 1876, it was one of 11 mills owned across Scituate by the Joslin mill company; it was all sold to the City of Providence in 1925 for $1.7 million. In its day, the Richmond mill company was a world-leading producer of shoe and corset laces. A 60 horsepower engine powered the mill's 500+ braiding machines.
After over 100 years of operation, the only reminder of the mill is the bare foundation, which lies under 57 feet of water, to the northeast of Tunk Hill Road. The village was located along the shores of the Ponaganset River, which supplied water to the village's industry. The center of the village was marked by the intersection of the Rockland to Richmond Road and Plainfield Pike, which was realigned to the north over a new causeway.
As you stand at this cemetery (Scituate Historical Cemetery #75) and look across Tunk Hill Road, imagine the village that once laid at the end of it's gentle downhill slope. In the winter time, you might have been able to see the mills and mill houses that dotted the riverbank. Like several other villages in Scituate, it was cleared to make way for the new reservoir -- changing the landscape of Scituate forever.
For more information about this and other lost villages in Scituate, you may want to read "The Lost Villages of Scituate", by Raymond A. Wolf.
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(Decrypt)
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