In 1867, the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry began hosting agricultural fairs at Narragansett Park in Cranston. In 1886, the organization purchased the property and, four years later, the Rhode Island State Fair Association took control. The last state fair was held on the grounds in 1898, after which the land was sold for use as a horseracing venue.

During the 1885 Rhode Island State Fair, held from Sept. 21 through Sept. 25, attendees were invited to see a large curiosity on display. It had been unearthed on the farm of Jeremiah S. McGregor of Coventry. Sixty-one-year-old Jeremiah owned the property which contained Carbuncle Hill, a gloomy looking area which contained on its east side a massively deep, narrow ditch surrounded by towering 50-foot ledges pocked with large holes. On the very top of the hill was a large flat rock which covered about one-fourth of land. On top of that rock stood another rock, strangely orange in color and weighing about 100 tons. The rock was perfectly broken into two equal sections, each section touching the other at the bottom and the separated tops being about three feet apart. Whether or not this was the carbuncle referred to in the naming of the hill and nearby pond isn’t known. There may have been a rare garnet involved in the story.

Native American legends told that a very valuable red garnet had been found at the site by Natives and was coveted greatly by the white man. To prevent its being taken, the Natives allegedly buried the garnet – referred to at that time as a carbuncle – in a nearby body of water with some areas measuring 40 feet deep that came to be known as Carbuncle Pond. Whatever the truth of the legend might have been, the area of Carbuncle Hill was undoubtedly an important Native site at one time and had been part of the McGregor family farm for four generations.

On Aug. 26, 1885, 19-year-old George Carr and his 17-year-old brother James Carr, were doing some work on the McGregor farm. As they dug and hauled dirt from the hill’s ditch to the barnyard, they suddenly unearthed something unlike anything they had ever seen. A mechanism that contained iron jaws about 20 inches in length, complete with teeth three-fourths of an inch long riveted to the sides, the attached chain was large and strong enough to withstand the strength of an ox. The object appeared to be very old, with a few of the teeth having crumbled. As word of the discovery got out, people came from near and far to try and help solve the mystery. While most of the oldest residents claimed they had never seen anything quite like it, those who had experience in trapping were certain that it was a bear trap. The mystery remained, however, concerning its location. There were no bears or other animals roaming Southern Rhode Island that were large enough for anyone to need a trap this immense.

It is believed that black bears existed in great numbers throughout Rhode Island forests until the late 1600s when European settlers arrived and began to hunt them for food and fur, as well as trap and kill them to prevent the destruction of their newly planted crops and newly acquired livestock. As their numbers decreased, much of their habitat was destroyed by forestland being cleared for homes and large-scale agricultural operations. Mild-tempered animals which usually avoid interactions with humans, the bears of the Rhode Island forests eventually faded into history.

How long the trap had lain buried in Carbuncle Hill was never determined, however four generations of McGregors had never unearthed it until that summer of 1885. The object was hauled to the state fair where Jeremiah proudly showed it off to varied generations of Rhode Islanders who had never seen such a thing.  

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.