A Brief History of Little Compton, Rhode Island

By the Little Compton Historical Society

Sakonnet

Long before there was Little Compton, there was Sakonnet. 

Sakonnet is the traditional homeland of the Sakonnet, Wampanoag people. Archeological evidence indicates that people have lived at Sakonnet since the end of the last ice age, 12,000 years ago. Though their customs changed through the millennium, the available evidence tells us the Sakonnets lived as part of a network of 69 Wampanoag villages in what would later become Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island and traded with people as far away as the Great Lakes. Multigenerational families lived in mat-covered weekus (houses) near their seaside fields during the growing season and in larger, multi-family, bark-covered homes more inland in the winter. Highly respected community members, men and women, served as sachems. 

In the 16th century, the Sakonnets began to encounter European explorers and fishermen. When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, they considered Sakonnet to be the southwest corner of Plymouth Colony. In the 1660s, as more English settlers arrived desiring land, Plymouth Colony turned its attention to Sakonnet and granted the former indentured servants of Plymouth the right to purchase land at Sakonnet if the Indians would sell. The Sakonnets resisted the sale of their land, but in time, under mounting pressure, those sales took place between 1673 and the 1750s. Though legal according to English law, the sales were coercive and pitted the sachem Awashonks, who was responsible for the territory along the Sakonnet River, against her kinsman, the sachem Mamanuah, who was responsible for the territory near the Acoaxet (now Westport) River.

In 1675, King Philip's War brought devastating changes for the Sakonnet people. Benjamin Church, one of Sakonnet’s first English proprietors, built two buildings on West Main Road and leased them to tenants, the Hazelton family. Just as the war erupted, Church sought the support of Awashonks and her people. Different Sakonnet factions adopted different strategies of survival throughout the war. Some fought against the English, others allied with them, some tried to remain neutral. The English burned the Sakonnets’ homes forcing Awashonks and her people to flee to Narragansett, where they were attacked by Benjamin Church and other Englishmen during the Great Swamp Massacre. Ultimately, Awashonks and her chief advisors agreed to ally with Church to avoid the enslavement of their women and children. Sakonnet men were a part of Church's company when Philip was found and killed at Mount Hope, ultimately ending the war in 1676.

Building an English Village

The following year, Sakonnet’s English Proprietors, who were still living near Plymouth, recruited a number of “useful” men and their families to settle at Sakonnet in order to prepare the way for other English settlers. These men were blacksmiths, coopers, surveyors, and farmers, chosen to build the infrastructure necessary for an English town. Each was given a free 10-acre house lot if they built a home and settled with their families at Sakonnet within two years. Soon other English families followed, most from Duxbury or Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Together they established an English town in a pattern used by many Plymouth and Massachusetts Colony towns, with a central commons, a combined town hall and Congregational church, a common burying ground, and an educational system of traveling teachers and one-room schools. 

Little Compton, Rhode Island

English settlers renamed Sakonnet as Little Compton in 1682. A new boundary, ordered by King George II in 1747 made most of Little Compton part of Rhode Island Colony, while Acoaxet became part of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. At that time many of Little Compton’s Sakonnet people became known as Dartmouth Indians. In the decades that followed, other Sakonnets joined the Pocassets at Watuppa or moved to cities or other Native communities. Today the Sakonnets are a diasporic people living throughout New England and beyond.  

Much of the success of Little Compton’s early English farming families relied on the unpaid labor of enslaved and indentured people, including men, women, and children of African heritage, Sakonnet people, and Indigenous people brought from southern colonies. The last enslaved person in Little Compton, Kate Hilliard, received her freedom in 1816. In 1755 people of color made up 10% of the town’s population.

Farming has been central to family life in this area for over 1000 years, from the native foods of the Sakonnet people, to the textiles of the first English settlers, to meat and vegetables sent to nearby cities and the Caribbean, to the Rhode Island Red Hen and the Little Compton Goose in the late 1800s, to dairy farming through much of the 20th century, and most recently, to specialty farms. With improvements to the breakwater and the harbor, fishing joined farming as a local industry in the 1800s. Merchants also found success in 19th-century Little Compton, shipping and receiving goods to and from ports all over the world and offering door-to-door delivery services to Little Compton homes.

The Birth of a Summer Colony

City dwellers were lured to Little Compton in the early 19th century by fishing and hunting opportunities. At first, sporting men came alone, but soon their families joined them, staying at local farms. Little Compton's next industry, summer tourism, was soon born. From the 1880s to 1917 summer steamships from Providence brought as many as 300 tourists a day to Sakonnet Point to escape the heat of the city and enjoy a shore dinner. Summer tourism continues today with many Little Compton summer families returning to their family’s summer retreats for well over a hundred years, and short-term rentals attracting many new visitors.

Portuguese Immigrants Find a New Home

In the late 1800s, another new group of people came to Little Compton in large numbers, Azorean immigrants. They filled the void for laborers that was left by the end of slavery and indenture, as well as the decision by more and more of Little Compton's sons and daughters to leave home and farming behind. These Azorean immigrants came at a time when some Little Compton farms were being abandoned, and many were available at low cost. They purchased farms for their own families and continued the local farming tradition, primarily as dairy farmers, well into the 20th century. Some Portuguese farmers (and some of their Yankee counterparts) were able to purchase these farms, and automobiles, and farm equipment with the money they made as rumrunners during Prohibition.

The 20th Century

The 20th century was marked by moments of great success and celebration tempered by great challenges and tragedy. During those hard times, the community pulled together to recover from devastating circumstances. Little Compton faced the influenza outbreak of 1918, when many young lives were lost and the local community center was transformed into a hospital, as well as the 1938 Hurricane that devastated Sakonnet Point and also took many lives. Other serious storms followed. World War II dramatically changed the community and the landscape with the building of a major Army fort at Sakonnet Point. That fort, Fort Church, was named after Colonel Benjamin Church of King Philip’s War.

After WWII, the trend for young men and women to seek opportunities beyond the town continued. Cars became commonplace, the roads were better, there were new bridges, and young people had many new work and educational opportunities elsewhere. In the 1960s, Little Compton became a bedroom community in addition to a farming and summer community, and it welcomed many middle class families with students attending the town's only school, Josephine F. Wilbur. The local dairy industry came to a sudden close in the 1980s when a Federal buyout prompted many local farmers to end that farming tradition. 

Little Compton joyously celebrated its Tricentennial in 1975 with events that surpassed the following year’s Bicentennial celebrations. It was an opportunity for residents to come together in good times to honor all that we love about our community, past and present.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, “Little Compton, Let’s Keep it Little” became a rallying cry to push back against over-development. Little Compton embraced one of the first land preservation movements in the country, successfully preserving hundreds of acres of natural habitat and agricultural land, and protecting the historic landscape. In many ways, 20th century Little Compton became even more “Little” than it had been in the past. The overflowing tourist steamships, large hotels, and bustling Army base were long gone, and as people were easily able to travel to work or to fill their shopping needs, local stores, bakeries, restaurants, gas stations, and taverns closed one by one, leaving very few, and in some cases no, options for local residents. Presently, there are no gas stations or public watering holes in Little Compton.  

21st Century

In the 21st Century the internet has connected Little Compton to the rest of the world in new and expanding ways. Residents are able to work remotely, advertise their rentals globally, and once again have products delivered right to their homes, though not as quickly as Wilbur’s Store once delivered. 

By far the greatest challenge of this still-new century has been the recent COVID outbreak. During the pandemic, the town pulled together once again and became a haven for both local families and newcomers seeking the safety of open spaces. Local farmers went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure there was a nearby supply of nutritious food. Summer residents became year-round residents, and all available properties were purchased by those interested in leaving more populated areas. The town's natural areas, trails, and beaches became places of safety and solace for everyone needing fresh air, sunshine, and socially distanced companionship during those trying times.

As we approach our 350th anniversary in 2025, we celebrate the strength of our community ties, beautiful natural areas, and a well-preserved history and historic landscape—all things that make Little Compton the community we so dearly love. But as a community, we must also face the challenges that we see before us, including an alarming lack of diversity among our residents, a desperate need for affordable housing, the very real pressures of climate change on our shoreline and wetland areas, and the threat of closure of even more of our basic community resources. Just as in the past, it will take community action to ensure that Little Compton remains a place that welcomes and supports all people willing to work together to face the challenges and celebrate the joys the next 350 years will bring.

For more information about Little Compton's history please visit the Little Compton Historical Society website.

Drone footage credited to Kraig Mitchell, Drone Ability Inc.