Colt State Park is an American public open space that occupies on Poppasquash Neck in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. The population of ...

, once owned by industrialist

Samuel P. Colt Samuel Pomeroy Colt (January 10, 1852 – August 13, 1921) was an industrialist and politician from Rhode Island. He formed the United States Rubber Company, later called Uniroyal and the largest rubber company in the nation. Early life and ed ...

, nephew of firearms manufacturer

Samuel Colt Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company (now Colt's Manufacturing Company) and made the mass production of ...

. The park is a major component of the Poppasquash Farms Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, and is a stop on the East Bay Bike Path. The park includes trails, picnic groves, boat ramps, an observation tower, and an open air Chapel-by-the-Sea.

History

Beginning in 1905, Samuel P. Colt purchased and consolidated the Chase, Church and Van Wickle farms. He built a summer house, the "Casino," on the grounds as well as a magnificent stone barn to accommodate a prize herd of

Jersey cattle The Jersey is a British breed of small dairy cattle from Jersey, in the British Channel Islands. It is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds, the others being the Alderney – now extinct – and the Guernsey. It is highly productive � ...

. The summer house was demolished in the 1960s while the stone cow barn survives. A pair of life-size bull statues, named Conrad and Pomeroy, stand guard at the main entrance gate on Hope Street. The marble bases which support the bronze bulls are believed to have been modeled after the approach gates to French King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

Petit Trianon The Petit Trianon (; French for "small Trianon") is a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

and were unveiled in 1913. The gate bears the inscription: "Colt Farm. Private Property, Public Welcome." At Colt's death in 1921, the lands passed to his

Industrial Trust Company Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city domin ...

. According to the provisions of Colt's will, the farm was to remain open to the public in

perpetuity A perpetuity is an annuity that has no end, or a stream of cash payments that continues forever. There are few actual perpetuities in existence. For example, the United Kingdom (UK) government issued them in the past; these were known as cons ...

. Over the years, the grounds suffered from vandalism, and a number of statues were destroyed or stolen. Many of Colt Park's statues were relocated to Linden Place for safe keeping. In 1965, the State of Rhode Island took over Colt Farm via eminent domain, and on August 21, 1968, the lands were dedicated as Colt State Park by

Rhode Island Governor The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Democrat Dan McKee. In their capa ...

John Chafee. A statue of Chafee was erected in the park in 2003.

Activities and amenities

The park offers trails for hikers, joggers, bicyclers and equestrians, a skate park, and facilities for picnicking, and boating. The park's fishing pier, built in the 1980s, was reconstructed and expanded in 2014 to provide four handicap-accessible stations for fishing from a wheelchair. File:BristolRI ColtStatePark EntranceGate.jpg, The bulls at the Hope Street entrance File:John Chafee statue in Colt State Park.jpg, Chafee statue File:Colt state park.jpg, Shoreline at the park

References

External links

Colt State Park
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Division of Parks & Recreation {{authority control 1965 establishments in Rhode Island Bristol, Rhode Island Protected areas established in 1965 Protected areas of Bristol County, Rhode Island State parks of Rhode Island