Bill Whelan’s Bristol Highlands

Bill Whalen has spent much of his life in and around Bristol Highlands, a popular summer-colony-turned-year-round-waterview-upscale-neighborhood, during its 100 years of existence.

He loves the place and has produced a 300-page illustrated book, “The Highlands,” which outlines his reasons for this love. It is a remarkable record of how three farms on Bristol Neck— Gibson’s, Fales’ and Church’s — became one of the most popular summer colonies on Narragansett Bay’s shoreline.

The Highlands, now in its fifth generation of residents, is upbeat after surviving two major hurricanes, two world wars, replacement of its commuter rail service to Providence with a bicycle path, a loss of jobs in southern New England, and (worst of all) the proposed erection of a major electric generating plant on the shoreline at the foot of Fales Road.

Whalen traces the construction of the earliest summer homes, the first of which was built in 1905 by Joseph and Elizabeth (Fales) Freeman of Central Falls. He was a prominent printer and stationer whose family imprint has been firmly planted in the Highlands for a century.

Early changes and adjustments did not come easily. Except for the ancient dirt farm roads and open cornfields, this land was virgin territory dating back to King Philip. Whalen describes the first folks who built homes in the Highlands as “settlers.” Their challenges included no public roads, no public water, limited electric service, etc.

Whalen also points out that the settlers were resourceful types who came from the Central Falls - Pawtucket area, were adventurous, and enjoyed the challenge.

The book is loaded with family recollections and photos, including the Freemans, the Archibalds, Agatiellos, Bannons, Fosters, Barbers, Vorros and many others. A photo of the huge crowd that turned out for the 100th anniversary celebration in 2011 is prominent in the book.

An obscure story revealed by Whalen is the plan quietly organized by the local electric company (Narragansett) to build a new electric generating plant to replace the existing Point Street plant in Providence.

The new plant would be located at the foot of Fales Road in Bristol! This was during the 1940s when coal was the fuel of the day, guaranteeing a daily blanket of soot for Bristol and vicinity. The settlers organized quietly, employing Attorney Edward L. Leahy, former Gov. Aram Pothier and others to save the East Bay from this calamity. The plan died quietly.

Whalen’s piece of bayside history illustrates a phenomenon that was repeated along the coast of Narragansett and Mt. Hope Bays, as well as the islands. This was the summer colony era that developed in the latter days of the 19th century and continued until the Crash of 1929.

Bristol Highlands was one of many places where settlers were hard at it. For example, while the folks from Central Falls were building their dream homes in Bristol, the folks from Bristol were building their dream homes on Prudence Island. Touisset, the Narrows, Beach Terrace, Island Park, Common Fence Point fit the description!

Thanks to the energies of Bill Whelan, a wonderful record of local history has been written, and will be preserved for generations to come. There are others at work on local histories, and our hat goes off to them as well.