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Feeling adventurous as the weather turns warmer? Then perhaps a trip to the town of Burrillville, Rhode Island is the perfect way to spend a spring day.
That is where you’ll find an abandoned textile mill offering hikers a glimpse into New England’s Industrial Revolution days along with stunning views of the man-made dam that sent water cascading through the building.
Bring your walking shoes and your camera when you head to the ruins of Oakland Mill.
Sitting just where the Branch River meets Mill Pond, John L. Ross built a dam across the river in 1849, followed by his Oakland Mill in 1850. The property also featured housing for the mill workers and over the years various owners added a company store, barbershop and even a recreation hall for billiards, reading and stage shows.
It was a thriving community in the mid-1800s, now it’s an amazing abandoned site worth exploring.
READ MORE: Abandoned Plane From 1971 Crash Found in Rhode Island
Though the housing and other buildings are long gone, the stone skeleton of this mighty mill remains.
Here’s a few pics of when I visited the Oakland Mill ruins in Burriville. It’s like exploring a castle in RI
byu/ToadScoper inRhodeIsland
Getting there isn’t all that tricky either.
Just off of Mill Street in the Oakland section of Burrillville there are two trails out to the former mill site. There’s also a small parking lot so you don’t have to leave your vehicle by the road.
The trails are pretty well maintained and the property has lots to explore, but visitors definitely need to do so with caution.
READ MORE: Explore Buzzard’s Bay on this Beautiful Westport Hiking Trail
Along with the mill ruins is a building that once housed offices. This area is a little more dangerous, with sections of the office building roof having caved in and floors have collapsed as well.
There was at one time a smoke stack still standing on the site, but it recently collapsed as well.
Still the site if like a step back in time and well worth the short hike to some incredible photos.
Take a walk through the quiet woods of Little Compton, Rhode Island and hit the reset button on life. Simmons Mill Pond Management Area can be accessed via Colebrook and John Dyer roads.
Gallery Credit: Gazelle
Mills across the SouthCoast have been converted into stores, apartments and even restaurants. But one former mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island is now home to a 10,000 square foot tropical plant paradise.
Need a getaway from the hustle and bustle of everyday life? The Pondhouse Airbnb in Ashfield, Massachusetts provides a WiFi-free, cell service-free space that is not only aesthetically pleasing and relaxing, but is also a great way to reconnect with yourself and with nature. Plus, if you’re searching for the perfect spot to check out New England’s stunning fall foliage without getting out of bed, search no longer.
Gallery Credit: Kari Jakobsen
TV
A former local news anchor. A pizzeria co-owner. Rhody’s “Cannabis Queen.”
New England, meet your Real Housewives.
Executive producer/dedicated Deadhead/Anderson Cooper’s BFF Andy Cohen revealed the cast and trailer for the first-ever New England-based “Housewives” Nov. 16 at BravoCon.
Bravo announced the Rhody-set show in May. “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” will premiere in 2026, with no specific date given. But, ’26 marks the 20th anniversary of the Real Housewives franchise.
The new trailer packages the Ocean State as a tiny, everybody-knows-everybody state full of secrets and drama. “Smallest state with the biggest attitude,” one cast member says in the official trailer, which debuted this weekend.
Rhode Island is “teeny. It’s a blip. But to us, it’s the center of the universe,” another cast member says.
The trailer is packed with all the shots you might expect— Newport mansions, polo games, tony beach shorelines, Adirondack chairs, sailboats in a harbor.
“Welcome to Rhode Island where nobody tells anybody the truth,” says a cast member, as we see, presumably, a Newport polo match. “Everybody just lies to each other’s faces and talks s*** behind their back.”
“It’s Rhode Island!” one cast member exclaims. “When someone says something, we all hear it!”
“You may not know Rhode Island, but here, secrets don’t stay buried for very long.”
It’s interspersed with classic Housewives drama and gossip (“Her husband’s a foot doctor, but I think he’s doing more than rubbing foot.”)
So pop the popcorn and grab coffee milk, reality fans. This looks juicier than a Del’s lemonade. (And yes, you’ll notice a shot of one cast member drinking a can of Narragansett’s Del’s Shandy.)
— Early risers may recognize Rosie DiMare, a former local “news anchor/reporter.” A scroll through her Instagram shows her with NBC 10’s Mario Hilario with the caption, “It’s like we’re real professionals or something.” Looks like she was part of Turn to 10’s “Sunrise Crew.”
She’s “not afraid to call people out,” we’re told. We then see her on pink bouncing sneakers gossiping about someone’s affair.
— Alicia Carmody: “Welcome to Rhode Island, b****, this is how we roll,” she says from an Adirondack chair, talking to someone off-camera in the trailer. Carmondy and her fiancé, Billy Kitsilis, run his restaurant, Pizza Mamma in Cranston.
— Liz McGraw: the “dominant figurehead here,” we’re told in the trailer, as we see her in black leather boots driving a boat. (“I’m scary,” she tells the camera. “Boo.”) Per Bravo, McGraw is “Rhode Island royalty… the state’s very own Cannabis Queen.” With her husband, Gerry, she owns and operates The Slater Center, a pot dispensary in Providence.
—Ashley Iaconetti: she’s “not from here,” we’re told. “This is not the kind of people I’m usually around,” she says in the trailer. Iaconetti married Warwick, R.I. native Jared Haibon, on “Bachelor in Paradise,” and is now “acclimating to her new life in her husband’s home state,” per Bravo.
— Jo-Ellen Tiberi, who we’re told in the trailer “knows everything.” Per Bravo, “Self-proclaimed town gossip Jo-Ellen knows everyone and everything worth knowing in Cranston.” The “aesthetic practice development manager … juggles a busy career with family life” with her husband Gary and their three kids, per Bravo.
— Rulla Nehme Pontarelli: “She’s a boss,” we’re told in the trailer. Per Bravo, Pontarelli “helms a financial empire as a Certified Financial Planner and Wealth Manager to some of the East Coast’s most distinguished families.”
“I opened my own branch office, Royal One Financial Group, in the historic downtown area of Providence,” she says, per her website.
— Kelsey Swanson says in the trailer she’s not with a sugar daddy: “My boyfriend is, like, actually attractive. The money’s just a plus.” The former Miss Rhode Island and University of Rhode Island alum is now a makeup artist, her Bravo bio says.
“Kelsey has been in a 10-year relationship with one of Rhode Island’s most notable figures, enjoying the lap of luxury while keeping her social calendar full,” the bio notes, without naming her boyfriend.
Watch the full trailer here.
Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.
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The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 16, 2025, results for each game:
03-11-26-32-45, Lucky Ball: 02
Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Midday: 9-5-9-1
Evening: 8-1-4-7
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
01-04-09-12-25, Extra: 19
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Cranston police have identified the man who was hit and killed by a car on Atwood Avenue Friday evening.
Major Todd Patalano said the man was 80-year-old Richard Viti, of Cranston.
Police were called Friday evening to the area of 700 Atwood Avenue for reports of a pedestrian who was hit by a car. Investigators say Viti was crossing the street to get to the San Bernardo Society.
The driver, who has not yet been identified, faces charges of operating on a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle, according to Patalano.
There may be more charges the driver is facing as the investigation is still in its early stages, Patalano explained.
Viti was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Patalano said the driver is cooperating with authorities.
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