History

almost two centuries in the making

The Mooresfield Estate was the farm and homestead of woolen mill owner Daniel Rodman (1805-1880), his wife Eliza, and their eight children. Though from a farming background, Rodman learned the textile business at local mills and in South Carolina. Returning to Rhode Island, he purchased the Taylor Mill on the Saugatucket River in South Kingstown in 1835 and began a successful operation.

In 1841 he built a small house in the Greek Revival style to the east of the mill and added onto it as his family grew and prospered. An 1853 renovation expanded the space, and an 1869 addition added a spacious parlor, more bedrooms, and a Gothic Victorian roofline to unify the design.

Mooresfield and the Rodman Mill were the center of the nineteenth-century village of Mooresfield, on the main road between Kingston and McSparren Hill. Rodman built a company store in 1836 which still stands by the mill pond, and in 1842 gave land to establish a public school, which later served as the First Colored Baptist church. The Mooresfield mill prospered during the Civil War and in 1866 Rodman purchased the Barber mills in Glen Rock, seven miles to the west, and built a large, new woolen mill of Westerly granite, which his oldest son ran. In 1954 that mill became the home of Peter Pots Pottery, the Greene family business, which continues to operate there today. After Rodman retired in 1876, his second son took over the operation of the Mooresfield mill. His house still stands on the north side of Mooresfield Road, opposite the mill pond.

In recent years Mooresfield underwent an extensive, award-winning restoration to return it to its original appearance. Mooresfield is owned by Jeffrey and Christine Greene, who have a lifetime of experience owning and furnishing historic properties. Jeffrey is an author and maker of historic furniture, and Mooresfield is furnished with a collection of original antiques of the period and Jeffrey Greene’s handcrafted furniture.