GHOSTS ALONG THE ROAD

An octogenarian resident who only wanted to be known as “Richard” summed it up better than any writer could.  “Old Mystic is about my  people...my father, his father before him, and his father before him.  It’s about the Indian and the Fisherman,  the Millworker and the man of God. The painter and the poet.  And their good women and their strong children.  It’s about building up a place from nothing more than a heap of rock and making it something to be proud of.  But don’t tell too many people about Old Mystic.  We want to keep it the way it is...the way it was... and hopefully the way it’ll always be long after I’m dead and buried with the people who made this place.”

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If you love the history of a place even though the place isn''t very large, then the spirit of wanderlust should help you point your vehicle toward that tiny part of Richmond called Alton.

Most have heard of it; few know exactly where it is.  So hop in, fasten that seat belt, and head for the southwestern portion of Richmond, only a few miles up the road from Westerly.

From Dunns Corners, proceed on the Westerly Bradford Road through the village of Bradford framed on one side by the Pawcatuck River.  When you get to the junction of Rt. 91 and Woodville Alton Road you''ve more or less arrived.

Alton isn''t a thriving village as much as it is a statement of how history shapes an area and its people.  There are no tourist attractions here, no shopping centers, no obvious landmarks; but if you do a little searching, you can find the pearl in the oyster known as Alton Village.

In 1757 a section of the new township of Richmond was sold to Samuel Kinyon of Charleston.  This flat stretch of land contained just over 170 acres and had little more than bushes, trees, and a boundary of the Pawcatuck River.

After a history of many land transfers from one family to another, in 1860 a well known manufacturer named David Aldrich paid $350. for 36 acres of the land between the Wood and Pawcatuck Rivers so that he could build a mill village.  Aldrich accomplished this goal, and the mill ran strictly by water power for years.  He built a highway and even a few tenements.  Aldrich called the area Plainville after the area that had previously been known as "The Plains," and his own personal property, "Plainville Mill Estate."