Old Buttonwoods

Buttonwoods is part of an area of Warwick known to the early settlers as Nausauket. It was divided into farms in the 1680s. James Greene acquired most of the present-day Buttonwoods Point. Two early colonial houses associated with this farm still stand. The Greene-Bowen House was built for James Greene or his son Fones between 1687 and 1715. It is located just outside "The Gates" in Buttonwoods at 100 Mill Wheel Road. The gambrel-roof house that sits near the Casino grounds on Buttonwoods Avenue was built in the early eighteenth century and in 1758 was the home of Fones Greene's son Thomas. The Greene Farm was divided in 1806. The eastern portion, which is now Buttonwoods, was passed down to Fones Greene Hill.

In the early nineteenth century, people that lived in nearby urban and rural areas began to recognize and appreciate the recreational potential of the Warwick shoreline. The sandy shore bordering the Greene Farms became a popular destination for excursions. Travelers came by steamboat or by wagon from the Apponaug train depot. In the 1830s the Kinnecom family started to hold clambakes on the Greene property. This is the earliest known effort to make a commercial success of clambakes, which have become a long-standing New England tradition. The area was also a favorite place for church outings. The area was first called Buttonwoods at this time because of the many buttonwood trees that grew here.

The Reverend Moses H. Bixby of Providence's Cranston Street Baptist Church, inspired by the Methodist campground at Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, suggested that a summer colony be established at Buttonwoods where people could combine recreational and religious activities in a wholesome, respectable environment. This colony began as a tent community that congregated every summer in the western area of Olde Buttonwoods.

Late in 1871 a total of 127 acres of land was purchased from Fones Greene Hill and Henry W. Greene by the Buttonwoods Beach Association. The Association was incorporated by the Rhode Island General Assembly in July of 1872. It was established to create a "summer resort" in Buttonwoods and included buying, selling, using and improving and managing real and personal estate for that purpose. The Association built a hotel and hired Providence engineer Niles B. Schubarth to plat streets and house lots. He designed the grounds in accordance with Victorian-era planning theories that called for the creation of picturesque, park-like suburban residential areas. The grounds were laid out to follow the natural triangular shape of the peninsula that Buttonwoods is on, with Buttonwoods Avenue on the north side and Promenade Avenue on the south side. The area between these two streets was filled with several parallel streets with a few perpendicular cross-streets forming a partial grid pattern. The triangular plots along Buttonwoods Avenue were reserved as parkland.

The Buttonwood Beach Association sold lots with use and setback restrictions as well as a first-refusal clause that gave directors some control over who could purchase property. By 1873 about 35 cottages had been built here in addition to the hotel. A horsecar line was built from Apponaug in the early 1870s, and the Warwick Railroad was extended into Buttonwoods in 1881, providing a direct connection to Providence. The trolley came into Buttonwoods by way of a bridge from Conimicut to "The Point" and along the northern shoreline. It came to a small train station and post office located near the hotel. The Buttonwood Hotel sat on the land located across from Beach Park Ave on the northern side of Buttonwoods Ave. In 1885 the Chapel was built and the Casino later built about 1896.

In 1925, an act to incorporate the Buttonwoods Fire District was enacted by the General Assembly, allowing the community to "enjoy all the other powers generally incident to corporations." This allowed the residents to have "oversight" over the streets within the District. The District is responsible for the general maintenance of the roads, has the authority for taxation, and has adopted rules and regulations for the health, welfare, and safety of the residents of the District.

What property is within the Buttonwoods Fire District? It includes, on the westerly side, all property from and including Andrew Comstock Road to "The Point", the eastern tip of the peninsula and all property from those residences fronting on Buttonwoods Avenue and streets therefrom to the water of Greenwich Bay.