Worden Pond is a large lake in

South Kingstown South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

Washington County, Rhode Island Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrat ...

. It is the second-largest freshwater lake in the state of Rhode Island, behind

Scituate Reservoir The Scituate Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in the state of Rhode Island. It has an aggregate capacity of and a surface area of . It and its six tributary reservoirs—which make up a total surface area of —supply drinking water ...

, and the largest natural freshwater lake in the state.

History

At the start 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 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

in June of 1675

Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...

requested a meeting on behalf of the Massachusetts authorities, with the Narragansett tribal leaders at Richard

Smith's Castle Smith's Castle, built in 1678, is a house museum at 55 Richard Smith Drive, near Wickford, a village in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Smith's Castle is one of the oldest houses in the state. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 199 ...

. Due to Queen Quaiapen's fears, they agreed instead to hold a meeting at Worden Pond (referred to as the "great pond" 10 miles from

) with Queen

Quaiapen Quaiapen ( July 2, 1676), also known as Magnus, Matantuck, Old Queen, or Watowswokotaus, was a Narragansett-Niantic female sachem (saunkskwa) who was the last sachem captured or killed during King Philip’s War.

Ninigret Ninigret (also known as Juanemo according to Roger Williams) (c. 1610 This source confirms 1662 as the date of his land sales.-1677 This source suggests a date of 1667 for his land sales and a 1647 war against the Mohegans.) was a sachem of the ea ...

, Quinnapin, and Quaunochu where the Narragansetts agreed not to ally with the Wampanoag King Philip and to deliver Philip to the English if he sought refuge with the Narragansetts. Worden Pond was located near the Great Swamp fort. In 1695 Samuel Worden (1646-1716) a physician purchased land surrounding the pond as part of the Pettaquamscutt purchase, and gave his name to the pond. The pond was also known as the head of the

Pawcatuck River The Pawcatuck River is a river in the US states of Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 There are eight da ...

in the boundary dispute between Rhode Island and Connecticut.Oliver Norton Worden, ''Some Records of Persons by the Name of Worden, Particularly'' · (1868), p. 34 (accessible on Google Books)

References

Lakes of Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-geo-stub

History

See also

References