Photo by Tony Mistretta, Blackstone Heritage Corridor Photography Ambassador
Photo by Tony Mistretta, Blackstone Heritage Corridor Photography Ambassador

Includes the villages of Ashton, Albion, Lonsdale and Valley Falls

Settled in 1635, Incorporated as a town in 1730 and as a city in 1895

  • William Blackstone was the first European to settle and live in Cumberland
  • The Nine Men’s Misery is the oldest Veteran’s Memorials in the country and located at the current location of the Cumberland Library. During King Philip’s War, nine Colonial soldiers were held prisoner by the Narragansett warriors and killed at this site.
  • The town was named in honor of Prince William, Duke of Cumberland
  • The first power looms were manufactured here
  • In 1953, Martin Chased opened Ann & Hope, America’s first discount department store
  • In 2014 the Cumberland American Little League team won the New England Regional Little League Baseball Championship and went to the Little League World Series

Resource Links

Valley Falls Walking Tour

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission

Blackstone Valley Historical Society

Cumberland Library

Cumberland Town Hall

Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce

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