Massasoit's Spring

A monument to Massasoit (Ousamequin), Chief of the Pokanoket tribe in the 17th century until 1661, sits at the end of Baker Street in Warren, the site of one of the reputed native villages. The street was named for Virginia Baker, school teacher and local historian who lived next to the spring in the early 20th century and who wrote extensively about Massasoit and early Warren.

The boulder was taken from the farm of first permanent settler Hugh Cole.

When first constructed, water gushed from the spring, but it is now dry.

In 1806, Jesse Baker and Captain Martin Bowen excavated the spring to a depth of 8 feet and walled it up like a well with a sluice for the water to go into the river. 

The stone marker appears in a postcard photo soon after it was installed and dedicated by Virginia Baker  on October 19, 1907..

A Native American memorial tot lot sits across from the spring on Baker St.

Rocks in the park are painted with Native American symbols.

A Warren Conservation Commission pocket park sits at the end of Baker Street.

Maxwell House and the Massasoit Historical Society is one block south.

Click on map below to see a Google satellite map of this location.

Parking is very limited at the end of Baker Street and is better found on Water Street.

Click here for the Historic Preservation Plan for the Town of Warren, Rhode Island, where the spring is mentioned on page 19.

Click here for the Massasoit Historical Association page to see photos of the dedication of the spring.

Click here for the text of the dedicatory exercises held at the spring on October 19, 1907.

Click here to return to the Sowams Site Map