Slater Memorial Park

The Daggett House dates to the late seventeenth century, built by the Daggett family who were among the first English settlers of the area. It is the oldest house in Pawtucket and one of the older surviving homes in Rhode Island, a low, steep-roofed colonial dwelling of the kind that once filled the New England countryside.

The house stood through the founding events of the region, including King Philip's War, the brutal conflict of the 1670s between colonists and the region's Native nations that saw much of the area burned. The Daggett family lived on the land for generations, and the house passed eventually into public hands as a museum.

Furnished with period pieces and colonial-era objects, the house is maintained as a small museum of early Rhode Island life, giving visitors a tangible sense of how families lived in the first century of English settlement, centuries before the mills transformed the valley.

The park's carousel is the work of Charles I. D. Looff, a Danish immigrant who became one of the most celebrated carousel carvers in American history and who built the first carousel at Coney Island. This is one of his early machines, and it still runs, its hand-carved horses and animals circling to organ music much as they did when it was new.

Surviving antique carousels of this age and quality are increasingly rare; many have been scrapped, sold off animal by animal, or lost to fire. That this one remains intact and operating in its park makes it a genuine piece of Americana, protected as a historic treasure rather than a modern ride.

For generations of Pawtucket children, and now their grandchildren, a turn on the Looff carousel has been the centerpiece of a summer day in the park, a living link to the amusements of a century ago.

Beyond its landmarks, Slater Memorial Park is a working neighborhood park, with broad lawns, ballfields, tennis courts, a bandstand, gardens, and shaded walking paths threading along the Ten Mile River.

The river and its greenery draw ducks, herons, and songbirds, and the mature trees give the park its settled, canopied feel. It is a place for ordinary pleasures, a walk, a picnic, a game, a concert on a summer evening.

The setting also places it firmly within the Blackstone River Valley story, the corridor where the American Industrial Revolution began, so a stroll here can easily extend to the mills and heritage sites nearby.

Spring reopens the gardens and the carousel and greens the riverbanks, a fresh and lively time in the park.

Summer is the park's high season, with the carousel turning, concerts at the bandstand, and families filling the lawns and ballfields.

Fall colors the river trees and cools the air, a fine time for a quiet walk before the seasonal attractions wind down.

Winter closes the carousel and the house but leaves the paths and the river open for a bracing walk through the bare, quiet grounds.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.