Mount Hope (Rhode Island)

The site of King Philip's death in Miery Swamp on Mount Hope

"King Philip's Seat," a meeting place on Mount Hope, (Rhode Island)

Mount Hope (originally Montaup in Pokanoket language) is a small hill in Bristol, Rhode Island overlooking the part of Narragansett Bay known as Mount Hope Bay. The elevation of the summit is 209 feet, and drops sharply to the bay on its eastern side.^[1] Mount Hope was the site of a Wampanoag (Pokanoket) village. It is remembered for its role in King Philip's War.[1]

Today, Brown University's Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology owns 376 acres (1.52 km²) of woodland on Mt. Hope off Tower Street in Bristol. The Museum grounds on Mount Hope include King Philip's Seat (or "chair"), a large rock formation where Wampanoag sachem King Philip held meetings. The site of King Philip's death in Miery Swamp is nearby. Mount Hope Farm is also nearby.

The first battle of King Philip's War took place near here in 1675. Philip was eventually defeated.

Metacom, a main road in Bristol was named after him, derived from his Wampanoag name Metacomet.

King Philip made nearby Mount Hope his base of operations. "King Philip's Chair," a rocky ledge on the mountain, was a lookout site for enemy ships on Mount Hope Bay. It can be seen as part of the Haffenreffer Museum grounds. The site where Captain Benjamin Church's men killed King Philip in 1676 is located in nearby Miery Swamp. Church eventually became an owner of Mount Hope.

After the conclusion of King Philip's War, the town surrounding Mt. Hope was settled in 1680 as part of the Plymouth Colony. Mt. Hope remained a part of Massachusetts until the Crown transferred Bristol to the Rhode Island Colony in 1747.

External links

Rhode Island portal

• The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University

References

1. ^ Elevation of Mount Hope

Coordinates: 41°40′26″N 71°14′24″W / 41.67389°N 71.24°W / 41.67389; -71.24