rumford.html

Dance Halls, etc.

The following is c/c/p from the curator of Hunts Mills Museum.....

Hunt's Mills Amusement Park was built by the Rumford Baking Powder co. in conjunction with two other mills in 1894 on property owned by the Rumford beside the TenMIle river in 1894.They had bought the area as a water source and also built a water pumping station to pump water to the plants and mill houses. A trolley track was run from Providence out to the site and across a bridge back to Providence because its fame soon spread and people came from all over . there was a merry go round, dance hall, amusement game buildings, a beautiful Japanese Tea House ,tomantic walks along the river, canoeing etc. etc. The place flourished until the dance hall burned in 1925. In 1928 the town of East Providence bought the area and tore everything down except the manager's building.

Our Museum House is part of the area and the managers of the water co. lived in the 1750 house.Right now the area has been declared and an Historic Preservation site , the Hunt House has been restored, the manager's building is almost completely restored and a fancy gazebo is on the site of where the teahouse was. The whole area is beautifully maintained by the city and the area around the old manse has been historicaly restored with 18th century gardens.

IF you have any further questions contact me by tomorrow because I leave for South America on Saturday. If you would like photos you will have to wait until after April 9th.

Edna Anness,Curator

Hunt House Museum

East Providence Historical Society Merry-Go-Round

The good part was when we got ice cream at Sullivan’s gas station at the corner of Pawtucket and Ferris Avenues, across from the Newman Avenue Church while waiting for the streetcar. The bad part wasn’t far away at Hunt’s Mills.

It was 1926 and the fashionable dress for spoiled little boys was the Lord Fauntleroy suit and not by choice, the writer wore one that day. No effort spared, the whole caboodle, wide white collar, dark velvet short pants, velvet jacket, bright buttons down the front, but thankfully no wide brim hat, just a Dutch cut. Then, Mom and Dad, brothers Ed and Bill, caught the electric car at the corner of the cemetery to go to the merry-go-round at he end of the line.

That suit, I was reminded, had been lovingly hand made by my mother from her honeymoon trousseau because, being her fist born, she wanted her little offspring, Joseph, to look elegant. Well la-de-da! Nobody asked Joseph.

Guess what? This six year old boy might have developed an anti sissy attitude all by himself but kids like Steve Weeden, Googie, Kela Pierce, Dave Aiken and others promoted it and we didn’t like girls either. When we got to the merry-go-round with “In The Good Old Summertime” playing and all those people standing around gawking, no way would I display myself rigged like that. Not in that sissy garb. It didn’t matter that my tickets for rides would be given to my brothers.

When we got home and could get off alone, sobs would come for missing the merry-go-round rides we loved. The hurt we caused our parents, we didn’t realize until a long time after but it was much too late to apologize.