Bristol, Rhode Island
Population (2000) - 22,469
Bristol, Rhode Island, was founded in 1680, by four wealthy Boston merchants: John Walley, Stephen Burton, Nathaniel Byfield and Nathaniel Oliver. Together they bought the Mount Hope Lands from the Plymouth Colony. These lands extended from Mount Hope on the east to Narragansett Bay on the west, and six miles to the north. This peninsula of 21 square miles cost them eleven hundred pounds.
At that time New England was a colony of England. It was Charles II of England who granted permission for the purchase of the Mount Hope Lands. The document was signed at Windsor Castle on June 12, 1677. The four owners of Bristol immediately set about to develop an urban plan. They traced perpendicular streets and avenues and divided the land into lots for houses, farms, schools, churches, parks, cemeteries and government buildings. Apart from the four founders lots were also purchased by Benjamin Church, the Indian fighter of the Plymouth Colony.
Independence Day in Bristol, Rhode Island
This page created 19th July 2002, last modified 18th August 2005
