Discover 4 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Saunderstown (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge, Hannah Robinson Tower, and Willett Free Library. Also, be sure to include Mesocosm in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Saunderstown (Rhode Island).
Table of Contents
Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge
Box girder bridge in Rhode Island. The Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge spans the West Passage of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, United States. It is part of Rhode Island Route 138 and is on the route to Newport, Rhode Island for traffic heading northbound from Interstate 95.[1]
Address: Rte 138, Saunderstown
Hannah Robinson Tower
The Hannah Robinson Tower is a 40 feet tall wooden tower at the interchange between U.S. Route 1 and Route 138 in the community of South Kingstown, South County, Rhode Island. The tower was built in 1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and was rebuilt in 1988 using the same pillars. The structure is named after Hannah Robinson, a colonial Rhode Island resident and daughter of a wealthy Narragansett society man, Rowland Robinson. Hannah fell in love with a local teacher, Peter Simon, but the relationship was deemed unsuitable by her father. Despite her father's disapproval, Hannah Robinson married her suitor and lived in Providence, Rhode Island. The family became estranged from Robinson, who was enveloped in poverty, leading to a fatal decline. Robinson's father ended his opposition and left his community of Boston Neck to bring Hannah home. As Rowland Robinson brought his daughter home, she requested a chance to visit nearby McSparran Hill, where she considered a view of her homeland. Robinson died soon after.
In 1966, the owner of the land along McSparran Hill, sold off the 1.52-acre (0.62 ha) of land along with the rock to Preserve Rhode Island. Although owned by Preserve Rhode Island, the property is managed independently by Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The state maintains the area as public open space as a memorial to Hannah Robinson.[2]
Willett Free Library
Library
Address: 45 Ferry Rd, PO Box 178, Saunderstown
Mesocosm
A mesocosm is any outdoor experimental system that examines the natural environment under controlled conditions. In this way mesocosm studies provide a link between field surveys and highly controlled laboratory experiments.
Mesocosms tend to be medium-sized to large (e.g. aquatic mesocosm range: 1 litre (34 US fl oz) to 10,000 litres (2,600 US gal)+) and contain multiple trophic levels of interacting organisms.
In contrast to laboratory experiments, mesocosm studies are normally conducted outdoors in order to incorporate natural variation (e.g. diel cycles). Mesocosm studies may be conducted in either an enclosure that is small enough that key variables can be brought under control or by field-collecting key components of the natural environment for further experimentation.
Extensive mesocosm studies have been conducted to evaluate how organisms or communities might react to environmental change, through deliberate manipulation of environmental variables, such as increased temperature, carbon dioxide or pH levels.[3]