Little Compton Historical Society & Wilbor House
The town of Little Compton, Rhode Island, was founded by a band of explorers from Plymouth Colony seeking to expand their settlement along the Massachusetts coastline. The land they chose, some twenty square miles situated on a peninsula sixty miles southwest of present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, was originally named Sakonnet (after the local Sogkonnite tribe of Indians). In 1682, Sakonnet was incorporated by Plymouth Colony and renamed Little Compton. In January 1746/47, Little Compton became an incorporated town of the state of Rhode Island, pursuant to a royal decree, and shortly thereafter was annexed to Newport County.
| Other Historic sites in this state by Type | ||
|---|---|---|
| Architecture, Historic | Buildings, Historic | Churches |
| Districts, Historic | Forts & Military | Homes, Historic |
| Living History | Monuments & Memorials | Museums |
| Navy Museums | Parks | Records & Research |
American Heritage is proud to host the
National Portal to
Historic Collections
Recently added:
- American Revolution Center
- National Museum of Civil War Medicine
- National Museum of the U.S. Navy
- Manassas National Battlefield
- Maryland State House
In association with the
American Association for State and Local History
Why do we need a national nonprofit membership society for American history?
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“Save America’s Treasures” has been totally eliminated—the largest Federal program supporting preservation of such treasures as the original Star Spangled Banner and George Washington’s tent.
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65% of Americans don’t know what happened at the Constitutional Convention, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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The “Teaching American History” grants—the largest Federal program supporting history education—have been completely eliminated.
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Visits to the Top 20 Civil War battlefields have dropped in half from 1970 to 2009 according to official National Park Service statistics.
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40% of Americans can’t identify whom we fought in World War II, according to a recent survey by Newsweek.
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A quarter of Americans believe Congress shares power over U.S. foreign policy with the United Nations, according to a recent Annenberg survey.
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“There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know than the history and traditions of his country,” John F. Kennedy wrote in American Heritage.
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The “We the People Program,” which touched some 30 million students and 90,000 teachers over 25 years, has been completely eliminated.
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Two-thirds of Americans could not correctly name Yorktown as the last major military action of the American Revolution, according to a recent national Gallup survey.
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The National Heritage Areas and Scenic Byways program, the only major Federal program encouraging visits to historic places, has been completely eliminated in Congressional committee.
