Blackall Family and Ballou Farm Preserve – January 30, 2022

Steve and Bill at the trailhead

The Blizzard of 2022 dropped 18 to 24-inches of light fluffy snow across much of southern New England. I knew that I wanted to take advantage of the snow and go snowshoeing, so when Bill suggested the Blackall/Ballou Preserve just a mile from my house, I jumped at the opportunity. This would be my third hike at a Cumberland Land Trust property. It was nice to have Steve join us as well.

When most people think about the early development of the Blackstone River Valley, they usually think about the development of textile mills along the Blackstone River. It is easy to forget that for generations before the development of the mills the people in the Blackstone River Valley were primarily farmers. The old farmland land that is part of this this Cumberland Land Trust property was previously owned by the Ballou and Blackall families.

Heading out on unbroken trails

As early as the seventeenth century, this part of Cumberland was known as the Ballou Neighborhood. The patriarch of the Ballou family was Maturin Ballou who was recorded as a settler in Providence as early as 1646. At his death around 1685 his estate included his Providence homestead that was left to his daughter Hannah, and a large parcel in the “Outlands” of the “Attleborough Gore” in what is now Cumberland that was left to his sons John, James and Peter.

Settlement of the “Outlands” increased dramatically after the end of King Philip's War in 1678. James, who lived in what is now Albion, owned the west side of the parcel on the border with what is now Woonsocket. We know this because he donated the land for the Elder Ballou Meeting House that was located there. The Elder Ballou Meeting House was erected in 1732 and was one of the oldest churches in the state when it was destroyed by fire in the 1960’s. His son Obadiah Ballou settled on the property and in 1749 donated land for the cemetery across the street that contains the graves of generations of the Ballou family.

Back at the trailhead

Today, the Blackall Family and Ballou Farm Preserve consists of 184-acres with about 3.3-miles of trails. Based on its location just southwest of the Elder Ballou Meeting House it was no doubt part of Obadiah Ballou's original homestead. For most of the 20th century the Blackall family owned and farmed the northern section of this property. The western half of the Blackall property was sold and developed as Highland Corporate Park. The eastern half of the property was conserved as open space.

We started at the trailhead on West Wrentham Road (there are also trailheads at the Dollar Tree Plaza and Old West Wrentham Road), and headed west through the woods on the blue blazed trail. The trail was unbroken until we reached the west side where people had hiked in from the Dollar Tree Plaza and the Highland Hills Apartments. There is another 1.5-miles of trails to the north on the on the red and yellow blazed trails, but we saved that for another day. We stayed on the blue trail and looped back to the cars. We did about 1.5-miles, but that was enough. I forgot what a workout snowshoeing can be!

Links:

My Pictures
Cumberland Land Trust
Trail Map
Trail description from Explore Rhode Island