Our History

The lands of Mount Hope Farm are steeped in history and we are proud to be on the National Register of Historic Places. From the earliest days, the Indigenous peoples of our region lived here and the heroes of our American Revolution walked here, including President George Washington, who visited Senator William Bradford in the 1790s. 

We invite you to learn more about the Pokanoket, the First People of the land of Sowams, by clicking the button below.

In 1680, Nathaniel Byfield, was one of four Boston merchants who purchased the Mount Hope Lands after the end of King Philip’s War (1675-1676). In 1702, Mr. Byfield sold the land to his son-in-law, Colonel Henry MacKintosh. The Colonel willed it to his granddaughter, Elizabeth, who was married to Isaac Royall, Jr. of Medford, Massachusetts. 

Mr. Royall built the original portion of our hallmark Governor Bradford House in 1745. Think back on our American history to recall that the Revolutionary War started in 1776, about 30 years after he built this home. He was well known at the time as being a Loyalist and a wealthy colonist who held positions in high offices and invested in real estate. Although a Patriot sympathizer, during the Revolution he fled to England, where he died seven years later of smallpox. 

His Mount Hope Farm property was soon confiscated by the State of Rhode Island, with the proceeds used to pay Continental soldiers. In 1783, the land transferred to Nathan Miller of Warren, a Brigadier General and member of the Continental Congress. Soon after that, the Farm was sold at auction to William Bradford. 

Mr. Bradford, a distinguished doctor and lawyer, served Bristol for 35 years. He was the last Deputy Colonial Governor serving until 1776, and first Deputy Governor of Rhode Island serving until 1778, then a member of the General Assembly. He became a United States Senator from 1793 to 1797, resigning to return to the quiet life at Mount Hope Farm, where he died in 1808. Mr. Bradford’s wife, Mary, had died in 1775, leaving him with eight children. He willed his estate to his daughter Ann. 

Samuel W. Church, a wealthy Taunton and Bristol merchant, purchased Mount Hope Farm in 1837 from the heirs of William Bradford. Mr. Church developed a model farm at Mount Hope and twice expanded the Governor Bradford House. Even after moving to the Church Homestead in the Poppasquash section of Bristol in 1855 to accommodate his family of 12 children, Mount Hope Farm continued in Church family ownership and produced Indian corn, Irish potatoes and butter. 

In 1916, Rudolf F. Haffenreffer II purchased the property, which by then had fallen into neglected state. The Haffenreffer family members were industry leaders in Rhode Island, owning the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company (1932-1942), Mount Hope Bridge (1931-1953), and Narragansett Brewery (1933-1965). In 1955, R.F. Haffenreffer III and his brother, Carl W., donated 220 acres of the original Mount Hope Farm to Brown University. This generous gift included Mount Hope, the historic seat of the Pokanoket Nation, and their father’s Native American relics, now housed at the private King Philip Museum.

The historic estate, a refuge for the Pokanokets, the First People of the area, a prized farm for Colonial settlers, and a superb example of “country life” in the 20th century, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1999, it was acquired by The Mount Hope Trust in Bristol, a nonprofit organization, which welcomes you today.