Stephen Venuti, past president of the Barrington Preservation Society (BPS), briefed members of the Barrington Town Council on the findings-to-date of a project called “A Place Called Nockum” and the inception of King Philip’s War. In 2020, the BPS invited the Public Archaeology Survey Team of Storrs, CT to submit a proposal to assist the Town of Barrington in locating the site of the first Baptist meetinghouse in what was Massachusetts (now the town of Barrington, Rhode Island) It is thought to be the location of the first hostilities at the start of King Philip’s war in June, 1675. Click here for a 22-minute video of Venuti’s presentation.

In his presentation to the Town Council on November 3, 2025, Venuti said recent archeological surveys of the property yielded dozens of musket balls and other munitions, including larger steel balls (above, lower right) that were fired from weapons called swivel guns or murder guns.

(Above) A series of maps created by BPS member Van Edwards shows the boundary changes over time around Nockum Hill. Venuti is quoted in the the Barrington-Times as stating: “Realize that through an accident of history, that they are sitting on something that is uniquely important to the development of not only New England, but the entire country. The events that happened on June 24, 1675 and through the following year shaped the development of this country like nothing else did up until the American Revolution.”

(Above, left) Members of the survey team are shown in a photo at the site of the dig on George Street near the monument and plaque (above, right) placed there in 1906 to mark the location. (Above, center) Venuti was interviewed about the project for a December 17th article in the Barrington Times.