Sowams Heritage Area

03/29/2026

Thank you to the 75+ people who attended the Sowams Community Conversation and participated in the Q&A on 3/19/26. Thank you to Newman Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Rumford, RI for hosting the event and to Dave W**d for recording and posting it on his YouTube Channel. If you missed the event or would like to revisit the information, it is available here:

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

03/10/2026

Save the Date for the March 19 Sowams Heritage Area Community Conversation at Newman Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. Your comments and input are vital to the Sowams Feasibility Study for creating a new National Heritage Area in RI and southeastern MA. https://reportertoday.com/rehoboth/stories/sowams-heritage-area-seeking-public-input-final-community-conversation-ends-three-year,49380

03/06/2026

If you live in these (Sowams) cities and towns, you should attend this event and learn about the plans to create a National Heritage Area. Sowams is comprised of the following Rhode Island and Massachusetts cities and towns: East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, part of Providence, Seekonk, Swansea, Rehoboth and Somerset.

02/25/2026

Due to the historic snowstorm in the area, the final Community Conversation to Discuss the Sowams Heritage Area Feasibility Study has been rescheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2026.

02/21/2026

🧐What is a National Heritage Area? National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are living, working landscapes that honor the important role of a region in our country’s development and celebrate its contributions to American history and culture.

Through dynamic public-private partnerships, NHAs preserve and revitalize cultural, historic, and natural resources, providing recreational and educational opportunities to residents and visitors.

Although NHAs are part of the National Park Service system, unlike national parks, they are community-based projects that foster heritage tourism, education, and community development without any form of federal government ownership, control, or management.

02/21/2026

Sowams is comprised of the following Rhode Island and Massachusetts cities and towns: East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, part of Providence, Seekonk, Swansea, Rehoboth and Somerset. www.sowams.org

02/18/2026

The Sowams Heritage Area planning team has completed the final draft feasibility study to assess the viability of designating Sowams as a National Heritage Area (NHA). Representing more than three years of comprehensive research and community participation, the study is now ready for public comment. Read it here:

Find out what’s happening in the communities of Sowams, catch up on our news and press, and subscribe to our newsletter.

02/18/2026

Check out the latest news about Sowams in the February newsletter!

The pivotal events that happened in Sowams over centuries are the living, breathing narratives that continue to shape who we are today. Tour the digital landscape of Sowams Heritage Area at

01/27/2026

Save the date for the last discussion with the community in preparation for the final edit of the Sowams Heritage Area Feasibility Study that will assist in determining if Sowams should be designated as a National Heritage Area by U.S. Congress. For more information, visit www.sowams.org

We're excited to be the site of the next Sowams Heritage Area Community Conversation. Come learn about the proposal to designate Sowams land as a National Heritage Area. More information: https://www.sowams.org/

Mark your calendar for Feb 26

10/14/2025

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we pause to honor the first residents of this land — the Pokanoket Tribe, whose ancestral homeland of Sowams includes what we now know as Barrington, Rhode Island.

We’re proud to have featured the Guy/Brown Family (Winds of Thunder and Dancing Star) in our April 2021 issue of The Barrington Sound — before our magazine became Greet Barrington.
As direct descendants of Massasoit Ousa Mequin, who welcomed the Pilgrims and signed a peace treaty that lasted over 50 years, their family continues to preserve and share Pokanoket history, culture, and community leadership.

Their story is a reminder that the history of Barrington is inseparable from the history of the land itself.

🌿 Learn more about the Pokanoket people and their ongoing work at SowamsHeritageArea.org

Sabrina Scolari Photography

07/13/2025

Happening today until 3:30pm at East Providence Historical Society. Open House and Opening Day of new exhibit featuring the Pokanoket people who have inhabited the Sowams area for thousands of years.