12/10/2025
WAY BACK WEDNESDAY ✨⏳
Today we’re traveling back across the bay to one of Rhode Island’s most surprising hidden gems… Prudence Island.
From Barrington Beach it looks quiet and unassuming — but this 1-by-6 mile stretch of land has lived MANY lives:
🌿 A 1600s “independent republic”
In 1672, John Paine actually declared the island Sophy Manor and ruled as its manorial lord… for three months before being arrested for inventing his own government. (A+ for confidence.)
🏰 A Gilded Age estate that nobody ever lived in
In the early 1900s, James Garland built a massive 36-room stone mansion overlooking Potter Cove… only to pass away just before move-in. The mansion eventually became a summer camp before burning down in the 1970s.
🌊 Wild island adventures
Rachel Chase Boynton (born 1894 on Prudence) remembered exploring the abandoned mansion, roaming a wrecked excursion boat, and even walking across the frozen bay to Warwick Neck in winter. Absolutely iconic.
🎥 Movie-worthy characters
Her twin sister, Rebecca, became one of the first U.S. women with a commercial pilot’s license, worked as a stunt diver, and once aquaplaned around Bristol Harbor while standing on her husband’s shoulders.
And all of it happened just a short ferry ride from Bristol.
Story by Scott Bean, from our June 2025 issue.