The Little Compton Commons Historic District, or Little Compton Commons, is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from ce ...

Little Compton, Rhode Island Little Compton is a coastal town in Newport County, Rhode Island, bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Sakonnet River, on the north by the town of Tiverton, and on the east by the town of Westport, Massachusetts. The pop ...

. It is a triangular area roughly bounded by School House Lane to the north, South Commons Road to the east, and Meeting House Lane to the south. Properties continue to the west on West Road. The district features a variety of

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

and

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

buildings, including the United Congregational Church, whose tall steeple dominates the landscape; the First Methodist Meeting House; the Little Compton Town Hall and a former schoolhouse, now connected; Sakonnet Lodge, formerly a Methodist Church; the Little Compton Community Center, formerly Grange Hall; the Brownell Library; a restaurant; and C. R. Wilbur's General Merchandise store; among others."Little Compton Common nomination form"
/ref> At the center of the district is the town

common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

itself; one of only two remaining in Rhode Island. It contains a large colonial cemetery with many graves, including those of

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

veterans and other notable individuals. Nearby is Union Cemetery – also part of the historic district – which features a Civil War Memorial. The district was added to 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 ...

in 1974.

Notable burials

Benjamin Church Benjamin Church may refer to: * Benjamin Church (physician) (1734–1778), effectively the first Surgeon General of the U.S. Army * Benjamin Church (ranger) Benjamin Church (c. 1639 – January 17, 1718) was New England military leader and ...

, hero of

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

, father of

United States Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

Elizabeth Pabodie Elizabeth Pabodie (1623–1717), also known as Elizabeth Alden Pabodie or Elizabeth Peabody, was allegedly the first white child born in New England. Life Elizabeth Pabodie was born Elizabeth Alden in 1623, the firstborn child of the Plymouth Col ...

, the first European woman born in New England, the daughter of Mayflower Pilgrims

Gallery

File:First Methodist Meeting House, Common HD, Little Compton.jpg, Parsonage of the Congregational Church, originally the First Methodist Meeting House (built in 1824 and moved in 1839) File:Town Hall, Little Compton, Rhode Island.jpg, The Little Compton Town Hall (1880) File:C. R. Wilbur's Store, Common HD, Little Compton.jpg, C. R. Wilbur's General Merchandise (built ) File:Brownell Library, Common HD, Little Compton.jpg, The Brownell Library (built 1929), home of the Little Compton Public Library

References

External links

United Congregational Church in Little Compton
*Buxton, Wilson R. et al
''The Two-hundredth anniversary of the organization of the United Congregational Church, Little Compton, Rhode Island, September 7, 1904''
United Congregational Society, 1906 {{National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island, state=collapsed Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Historic districts in Newport County, Rhode Island Little Compton, Rhode Island Cemeteries in Rhode Island Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Newport County, Rhode Island

Notable burials

Gallery

See also

References

External links