Historic Landscapes of Rhode Island

Documenting Rhode Island’s historic landscapes

The Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) is the state historic preservation office for Rhode Island. They publish monographs and reports on the architectural history of Rhode Island’s cities and towns. The monograph, Historic Landscapes of Rhode Island was their first analysis and inventory of Rhode Island’s historic landscapes.

As historic landscape architectural consultant, Elena M. Pascarella provided field investigation services for historic vernacular
landscapes. Ms Pascarella researched the status of vernacular farm and village sites within communities to verify locations and then performed detailed on-site analysis. This work included a foot survey of each site to note the existence and conditions of all site features and structures, a hand-drawn sketch plan to landscape and architectural features and spatial relationships, and photo documentation in black and white print as well as color slides. All work was done to comply with National Register of Historic Places nomination criteria.

William MacKenzie Woodward, staff architectural historian at RIHPHC, authored the report. Ms. Pascarella provided hand-drawn sketch plans and photographs for the final publication as well as reviews of draft reports. This report is available online.