Historic Casey Farm virtual tour is a step back in time

Posted 1/11/23

This Thursday, Jan 12th, join Dan Santos, site administrator for the southern branch of the non-profit preservation group Historic New England for a virtual tour through the rich history and …

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Historic Casey Farm virtual tour is a step back in time

Posted

A virtual tour through the rich history and beautiful landscape of scenic Casey Farm in Saunderstown will be presented at the Bosworth Lecture Series on Thursday, Jan 12 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Free Library. The event is open to the public.

Dan Santos, site administrator for the southern branch of the non-profit preservation group Historic New England, will showcase the 300 acre farm stretching from Narraganset Bay to the Pettaquamscutt (Narrow) River, including the ancestral homeland of the Narragansett people at “Namcook,” or “the place of the fish.”

Casey Farm was one of many Rhode Island plantations that used forced labor by people of indigenous and African descent to care for crops and animals, and to carry out domestic duties. On Juneteenth of this year the farm marked its history with a R.I. Slave History Medallion, the seventh such slavery medallion to be installed in this state.

Beginning in 1702, the farm was owned by eight generations of the Casey family, including Civil War General Silas Casey who summered and was buried at the farm. Also designer/architect Edward Pearce Casey, known among others for his design of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He is also buried on the farm.

From 1955 to the present, Casey Farm has been stewarded and shared by Historic New England, the nation’s oldest and largest regional preservation and heritage organization honoring the lives of all of the people who lived and worked on the farm.

Mr. Santos said his group celebrates the farm’s legacy from its heritage breed animals and hundreds of varieties of organic produce, to historic bullet holes and over ten miles of beautiful stone walls. “This place has a ton to share! Please come join us.”

Today, farm managers raise organically grown produce for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. A weekly farmers’ market from May through October offers products from Casey Farm and other local vendors. Visitors can also choose from a wide range of farm-based education programs or tour the farmyard to visit the animals

Mr Santos has worked in the museum field for over twenty years in site management and museum education. Beyond Casey Farm, he currently supervises Arnold House in Lincoln, Clemence-Irons House in Johnston; Watson Farm in Jamestown, Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, CT and Merwin House in Stockbridge, Mass.

Raised on a family farm in Rehoboth, Mass. Mr Santos has served as vice president of the board for the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society. He is a graduate of Villanova University, where he received a B.A. in history. With his wife Sarah, their two children and foxhound Tally, they recently moved back to Dan’s hometown of Rehoboth.

The Roswell S. Bosworth, Jr. Lecture Series is presented by the Men’s Club, a Bristol organization that pays tribute to its founding member and former editor/publisher of the East Bay Newspapers with lectures of general interest.

Upcoming lecture:

• Lawrence Verria on his book, "The Cool Moose, Robert J.Healey, Jr. Beyond the Beard"

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