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Howland Ferry Timeline

May 29, 2026

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Portsmouth to Tiverton: Howland’s Ferry.

Also called Pocasset Ferry, Sanford’s Ferry and Wanton’s Ferry
First ferry established in Rhode Island

1640 Thomas Gorton chosen ferryman

June of 1647. John Sanford took over ferry. Thomas Gorton sold to John Sanford “all that my neck of Land.” This ferry site is at end of Almy’s Point.
Site changed to more of where Stone Bridge remains today.

1653 When Sanford died he left the house and ferry to his son John. He was still operating the ferry in June of 1666 when it is called Sanford’s ferry.

Town records show that the general assembly placed a cannon at Ferry Neck during King Philip’s war.

1687 – end of Sanford management. The property was deeded to William Wanton.

1703-4 : Wanton may have had others man the ferry, but the property was sold to Daniel Howland of Tiverton in January of 1703-4. At this point the ferry operated out of Tiverton. Daniel Howland, Jr. did seem to live in Portsmouth. in 1714.

1717 this ferry was called Pocasset Ferry.

1748 ferry land was sold to Peleg Slocum of Dartmouth along with Hen and Spectacle Islands. 1758 it was sold to Holder Slocum.
1771 Holder’s wife Rebecca left the property to her daughter Mary Tucker. They were living in Dartmouth so they must have leased the ferry out.

Mary Tucker sold the property to the Rhode Island Bridge Company.

October of 1795 a wooden bridge built on piles opened but was carried away by the tide, January of 1796.

It was rebuilt in November of 1796 but the piles were eaten by worms and it washed away in autumn of 1797.

Next bridge built of stone but was breached in the September Gale of 1815.

Bridge re-opemed in autumn of 1817. A September gale breached this bridge in 1869.

Ferry “West Side” took care of crossing until the new bridge was opened in August of 1907.

Ferry West Side

Source: Augusta, Anna and Chapin, Charles V., “A History of Rhode Island Ferries, 1640-1923” (1925).

Mt. Hope Bridge 1929

April 21, 2012

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The Mt. Hope Bridge was privately financed and opened in 1929.

As automobiles became more common, the Bristol Ferry became less practical.  The state of Rhode Island would not build a bridge, but private investors began construction in 1927.  At a cost of 4 million dollars, the 6,130 foot suspension bridge was the longest bridge in New England when it opened on October 24, 1929.  Opening parades and celebrations included up to 25,000 cars.

The Old Stone Bridge

April 15, 2012

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Howland’s Ferry went across the narrowest part of the Sakonnet River, and that is just where the first bridge off Aquidneck Island was constructed.  A toll bridge was constructed by the Rhode Island Bridge Company in 1795.  The bridge was rebuilt and washed away again in 1798 and remained closed until 1808.  The Great September Gale of 1815 destroyed it and it was rebuilt again under the name of the Stone Bridge.  The draw part of the bridge was washed away in 1869, and the owners sold the Stone Bridge to the towns of Tiverton and Portsmouth.  The towns, in turn, gave the bridge to the state to maintain.  The bridge was rebuilt and reopened in 1871 as a free bridge without a toll.  More damage was done by storms and ships that rammed the bridge and it closed after Hurricane Carol. Ferries such as the West Side were used while the bridge was out.   In 1957 it was replaced by the then new Sakonnet River Bridge. What remains of the Stone Bridge is used as a fishing pier today.

Howland Ferry area

The Stone Bridge began as a toll bridge.