The Smith-Appleby House at 220 Stillwater Road is the headquarters for the Historical Society of Smithfield and is open to the public.
The original portion of the house dates to about 1696 when Elisha Smith (b.1680 – d.1766) of Providence moved to Stillwater and built a single room home with a small loft. The house was a “stone-ender”, meaning, one wall was composed entirely of stone. This stone wall held a large fireplace used for cooking and heat. Elisha was a farmer and he eventually acquired 721 acres of land surrounding the present-day house. In addition to farming, he built two mills on his land. The remains of one of these mills can still be seen today at the rear of the house. With Elisha’s passing, the house went to his eldest son, Philip Smith, (b.1703 – d.1792). Philip married Waite Waterman, whose father owned and operated the famous Waterman Tavern in Greenville. Philip and Waite had seven children and were the owners of the house during the time of the American Revolution.
The house was expanded during the late 1700’s with two rooms added to the north side and the fire places reconfigured. Further rooms were added around 1800 which included an add-on addition to the east portion of the house that doubled the size of the living space. This addition was actually another house that came from Johnston, Rhode Island. In those days, if one wanted to add on to their home, they had to cut the timber, mill the lumber, and build it themselves. Another solution was to purchase an existing house, dismantle it, and re-assemble it at another site, which was less labor intensive than the first option. A final addition was added about 1830 that includes the present day kitchen area and the room above it.
In the early part of the 19th century, the house was also used as a school house to teach the children of Stillwater until a permanent school house was built.
Before 1850, Stillwater Road was located on the other side of the present-day Smith-Appleby house and continued south where the upper end of Georgiaville Pond is today. This means that the rear of the present-day house was once the front and faced the road. Stillwater Road was re-located to its present day position near the Smith-Appleby House around 1850 during the creation of Georgiaville Pond. The remnants to the old road can still be seen today when the level of the pond is lowered every autumn.
The last resident of the property died in 1963 and the property sat neglected for many years afterwards until it was sold to the Historical Society of Smithfield in 1976. It took a few years to restore the Smith-Appleby House to its former self. Some work was done by professionals and other work by volunteers. Part of the restoration process included deciding what features to keep. One room of the house still bore original stenciling done in the late 1700’s. Another had a faux marbled floor done in the early 1800’s. Other rooms had their original beaded 18th Century wood sheathing on the walls, wide planked floors, and decorative fireplaces. All of these features were meticulously restored and can still be seen today. The outside of the house required the replacing of rotted boards and sills, along with extensive painting and repairs made to the chimneys and roofing. As one might imagine, a house of this age requires a lot of upkeep and maintenance, therefore, the grounds are continually maintained and kept up by volunteers. Major repairs are funded mostly through grants and donations gathered by dues and monies collected from special events held at the house.
There is a historical cemetery on the property dating to the 1760’s located on a small rise to the east of the house, next to Stillwater Road. Many of the homes former occupants are buried here. The oldest part of the cemetery consists of upright field stones used as markers. Unfortunately, only one of them is marked in any way. Many early family graveyards were done in this way for a variety of reasons. The cemetery itself is acclimated east to west as was the custom of the day, with the thinking that one would rise up facing the sunrise on the Final Judgment Day. The newer part of the cemetery dates from the 1800’s to 1963 and consists of marked stones, including those of Maria Appleby and Abbie Sargent, the last two people to be interred there.