“On the former Bowen-Haile-Nunes Farmstead, a rare surviving representative of a 17th century Narragansett Bay saltwater livestock farm now given over largely to development, stands the oldest extant house in Warren. . .The original house was erected by Obadiah Bowen about 1682 as a story-and-a-half house with a steeply pitched gable roof. . .In 1708, Richard Haile Jr. acquired the farm; thereafter it remained in the Haile family for over two centuries, until 1911.” The Warren Land Conservation Trust acquired approximately sixty acres of the original farm land on the eastern shore of the Palmer River that now is permanently in conservation for all to enjoy. The land has been undeveloped over the past 365 years since the Town of Warren was acquired from the Massasoit Ousamequin of the Pokanoket Tribe who had occupied the land for the past 10,000 years. [Most photographs courtesy of the WLCT]
Warren Conservation Land Trust President Mike Gerhardt, Vice President Jenny Flanagan, Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dave Weed, and Land Trust Board Member Rock Singewald pose for a photo taken during a February winter trail clearings.
The path to the Betty Hallberg Trail is open to the wooded trail to views of the Palmer River Salt Marsh, revealing spring growth along the way.
Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dave Weed uses a chain saw to cut a fallen tree while Land Trust Member John Mensinger clears some brush in a February trail clearing.
Newly-installed roadside attraction signs along Route 136 in Warren, RI, indicate the turn-off at the 1690 Haile-Nunes Farmhouse leading to the trails. Click here for a larger map.
