The North Woods have a rich social and cultural history, beginning with the Narragansett People over 30,000 years ago. The upland forest was suitable for hunting and gathering. Indigenous land management methods included controlled burns to steward healthy forests. European colonists created a settlement in Kingston in the late 1600s. Colonists occupied the land, clearing forests for building materials, pasture, and firewood. Between the 1700s and mid-1900s, there were active farms and homesteads within the boundary of what we now call the North Woods. During the industrial revolution, the shift away from subsistence agriculture led to a decline of small farms. The forest began to regrow.
All habitats change with time. Most forests in Rhode Island are relatively new. The North Woods as we know it today is the patchwork of forests that began to regrow in the 1900s. In 2008, URI students conducted a forestry survey that documented the “Century Forest”. This invaluable site had been untouched by logging for over 100 years, and it survived the 1938 hurricane. Some trees in the North Woods may be over 150 years old. Since the 1960s, population growth and development in Rhode Island have resulted in a steady decline in forested lands. Large, old forests such as the North Woods are rare in the state, which makes URI especially lucky to have one at our doorstep.
Today, the North Woods is an essential part of the URI community. It is currently used for experiential learning across multiple colleges and by students, faculty and community members for recreation and research.
Early History
The Narragansett People have inhabited the land now known as the state of Rhode Island for over 30,000 years. An archaeological survey near the southwestern edge of the North Woods property documented ancestral Narragansett camps dating between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago. Most of the North Woods is upland forest, which would have been used for hunting and gathering. Before European colonization, indigenous peoples used fire to steward upland forests. Patches within forests were sometimes cleared for agriculture or hunting through controlled burns, creating a mosaic of mixed species and age classes.
The Narragansett People continue to inhabit and steward lands in Rhode Island. The Tomaquag Museum is an Indigenous-led institution that provides cultural education, preserves Indigenous histories, and advocates for Indigenous Empowerment. The Tomaquag Museum is actively working on constructing and transitioning to a new campus on 18 acres of land adjacent to URI.
Colonization and Homesteading
European colonists cleared the forests, harvesting trees for construction and firewood. From the 1700s to the mid-1900s, there were active homesteads within the boundary of the North Woods. A 1944 USGS Map displays the presence of multiple houses and unpaved roads. One of the main trails in the North Woods, the Driftway, is a remnant of a road that likely began in the 1800s or earlier. Features along this trail include historical masonry, such as stone walls and culverts, as well as a drainage ditch that runs along the road. Sometimes water flows through, resembling a small stream, but stone features and the proximity to the road indicate that it was dug intentionally.
Some anthropology classes visit the Underwood Homestead site. Here, several old foundations lie adjacent to a small plot surrounded by stone walls. Bloodroot, a rare native plant with medicinal properties, grows among daffodils, indicating that the area may have been a garden. This 19th century homestead was active into the 1940s, according to maps from the United States Geological Survey.
A report completed by URI Professor Dr. Bill Turnbaugh in 1976 referenced standing structures in that area, which may have been remains of homes or farm buildings. Pieces of rubbish from the homestead era are scattered across the site. While it seems like trash, the age of these materials (50 years or more) means that they have historical value. Cleanups of the North Woods have intentionally left these materials intact, as they may be protected by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). In addition to the materials themselves, the context and exact location in which they are found is important. Old glass bottles, or cans, for example, may provide strong evidence for the years in which people lived at a site. If you encounter such materials during your visit, be mindful not to disturb the area, and never take an artifact with you.
Sites such as the Underwood Homestead have potential for students of archaeology to explore innovative technologies, such as ground-penetrating radar. Field methods in archaeological sciences are advancing, reducing the need for “digs”. With ground-penetrating radar, field projects could potentially be repeated at the site, as opposed to excavations with a limited timeframe.
Solar Array and Superfund Site
Roughly 10 acres of the North Woods have been developed for human use, including athletic fields and a solar array. The solar array was constructed on a Superfund Site. Superfund is a government program to clean sites affected by toxic waste and restore them to productive use. Improper waste disposal from the Kingston Town Dump (active from 1930s-1978) and URI Disposal Area (active from 1945 to 1987) caused long-term pollution of soils and groundwater at the 18-acre site. Extensive remediation has been done at this site to make it safe and restore water quality. Collaborate action between URI and federal, municipal, and state entities has been widely successful. The most significant cleanup actions were completed between 1987 and 2009.
In 2018, the University partnered with South Kingstown and Narragansett to complete construction of a solar array on this site. This innovative use of the Superfund Site demonstrates how sustainability efforts can be integrated to address diverse goals at URI.
Research Park Proposal and COVID-19
In 2006, URI purchased 114 acres of undeveloped land that increased the North Woods footprint to 307 acres. At the time, there were talks of building a Research and Technology Park on the newly acquired parcel. The specific location drew significant controversy, as it was home to the “Century Forest”, a section of the North Woods which was undisturbed for over 100 years.
An outpouring of support demonstrated that the community holds the North Woods in high regard. Faculty, students, and community members sent hundreds of letters to advocate for the protection of the North Woods. Supporters emphasized the academic, ecological, and psychological benefits of the university forest. There was even a sit-in at the office of the University President, led by student activists. Ultimately, the Research and Technology Park proposal was unsuccessful due to economic and environmental concerns.
The foresight to preserve this resource proved to be incredibly valuable when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The North Woods provided a venue for field-based classes to continue conducting site visits and long-term research. At an easy walking distance from the main campus, the outdoor laboratory enabled safe social distancing. While COVID greatly impacted academic programs and rites of passage, students found some normalcy, and reprieve from the chaos, in the North Woods. Now the URI community continues to use our campus forest as a place of learning, recreation, and restoration.