LETTERS

Wonder memories from Posnegansett Lake

Posted 2/11/16

To the Editor:

Posnegansett Lake, or Arnold’s Pond, in Lakewood is one of Warwick’s natural gemstones. Its placid waters once delighted summer swimmers and winter skaters for decades. As …

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LETTERS

Wonder memories from Posnegansett Lake

Posted

To the Editor:

Posnegansett Lake, or Arnold’s Pond, in Lakewood is one of Warwick’s natural gemstones. Its placid waters once delighted summer swimmers and winter skaters for decades. As recently as last summer, I noticed people fishing along the pond’s eastern banks facing Warwick Avenue, trying to catch one more bite before sunset. The lake is world-renowned for its carp population.

Arnold’s Pond will always be a special place to me because I spent many childhood summers swimming there. My grandparents, Dr. Stanley and Dorothy Cate, lived on the southern edge of the lake for nearly 45 years until Nana died in 1999. Papa remained an Arnold’s Pond resident until his death in 2006. Family and friends alike continue to remember the halcyon days of sizzling summers and whispering winters on the lake. It meant something special to each of us.

Arnold’s Pond was named after the family of William Arnold, one of the original Providence proprietors with whom Roger Williams divided up the land he bought in 1636. Arnold later left Providence in 1638 and traveled south to the Warwick/Cranston border. He allegedly settled near the Warwick Avenue bridge in Cranston that spans the Pawtuxet River. I have heard that the Arnold family once owned all of the land from where William Arnold resided down to Airport Road, bounded to the west by Aldrich Junior High School and to the east by the bay.

Although William Arnold’s legacy is less reputed than his former friend Roger Williams, Arnold played a significant role in shaping Warwick’s history. Arnold famously led the movement to banish Samuel Gorton and his followers from Pawtuxet. Gorton later founded Shawomet, which became modern-day Warwick.

Fast-forwarding two centuries, Arnold’s Pond became home to the Posnegansett Ice Company, which was founded in 1887. Posnegansett Ice Co. provided ice to the community and elsewhere for decades. Throughout the 20th century, Rhode Islanders enjoyed spending summer vacations swimming at the beach end of the lake. Winters would be spent ice-skating or riding snowmobiles on the pond’s frozen surface.

What are your memories of Posnegansett Lake (Arnold’s Pond)? They are all a part of Warwick’s rich history – a tapestry of human experience that must never be forgotten.

Matt Cate

Warwick

Matt is a member of the Warwick Historical Society. Anyone with memories of Arnold’s Pond to share may request his contact information from the Beacon.

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