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Welcome to the Smith's Castle Kids Website!
Here you will find pictures, artifacts, maps, links, and much more!
Smith's Castle is a very important structure in Rhode Island history. Richard Smith was the first person to live in the Castle, and it was a trading post at the time. The people who lived in the house called it a Castle because it was built in native lands and was a very sturdy English house with a fence for keeping in livestock. Richard Smith lived in the house around the same time that Roger Williams also had a trading post nearby.
When Richard Smith died, he left the house left it to his son, Richard Smith Jr. In 1675, colonial soldiers from Plymouth, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island met at the Castle and began their attack on a Narragansett village nearby. This was called The Great Swamp Fight. Since the battle only lasted 4 hours, The Great Swamp Fight began and ended on December 16, 1675. When Richard Smith Jr. grew old, he left it to Lodowick Updike, who turned it into a plantation. He also started to build Wickford, or as they called it, Updike's New Town.
How to pronounce Cocumscussoc...
Click below to visit the Smith's Castle Garden site
Top reasons why kids should visit:
1. Smiths Castle is a really unique place to learn fun facts, see artifacts and see what it was like in their colonial life.
2. At Smiths Castle you will learn a lot of Rhode Island history and important people of Rhode Island history and, of course, have a great time.
3. At Smith's Castle their are two gardens and a wonderful water front view that shows what is now called Rabbit Island.
4. You will understand Rhode Island history better.
5. At Smith's Castle they have a lot of event that are fun and interesting to go to.
6. Kids can learn history.
7. There is a lot of space to run around in the 10 acre piece of land.