Haines Memorial State Park 3.19

Haines Memorial State Park is a state park 6mi south of East Providence, Rhode Island on the northeastern side of Narragansett Bay. The park offers picnicking, play fields, fishing and boating facilities and is a stop on the East Bay Bike Path. The park's boat ramp provides access to Bullock Cove. From there, boaters can reach the lower Providence River and the headwaters of Narragansett Bay.HistoryThe site of Haines Memorial State Park was donated by the estate of Dr. George B. Haines (1843-1910). Haines was a medical doctor who practiced medicine in Valley Falls, in Cumberland, and was a public health officer there. Haines suffered from asthma, and was a proponent of the healthy benefits of fresh air.Haines purchased the Humphrey Farm in 1909, a "wooded retreat" of 83 acres, and moved there. Unfortunately, Haines died the following year. His sister, Ida M. Haines, sold the property to Rhode Island's Metropolitan Park Commission for the sum of one dollar, in accordance with George's wish that the land be used for "parks, parkway, or boulevard uses only."Initially, the park featured picnic groves and ball fields, and was accessible by train or trolley from Bristol. Those train tracks later became the East Bay Bicycle Path, which runs through the park.Between 1911 and 1915, the Park Commission increased the size of the park to 101.7 acres. Fireplaces and a boat ramp were installed. A pedestrian footbridge once connected Haines with nearby Crescent Park, but this bridge was destroyed in the 1938 New England Hurricane. A bath house was added in 1940, and a seasonal farmers market began in 2002.