I was in Waldenbooks yesterday and saw a book on waterfalls in New England which said Rhode Island has only one waterfall worthy of your attention. However the book neglected to mention that there are some man made waterfalls associated with mill towns worthy of your attention, so today’s picture is one of them. This waterfall is located off of route 2 south, just after a Sunoco, and down Old Shannock Road beside a narrow white-fenced bridge just a little ways before the town of Shannock. Which was the Indian name for squirrel apparently.  Â
The descriptive language of the Indian is credited with the origin of the name “Shannock.” “Mishanneke” was the Indian word for “squirrel.” The word then allegedly evolved to “Mishanneke falls” to “Shanneke” and finally “Shannock.” In an ambitious and lengthy work entitled “A Historical and Legendary Poem,” Millen S. Greene, a nineteenth century poet, local historian and teacher, subscribed to the Indian theory of the origin of Shannock’s name. Â
And Shannock, too! But this a squirrel means
When rendered into Yankee phrase I ween;
(By the way, our friends might think it quite ill
to change “Shannock” into “Squirrel Hill”.)
Â
Check out this site for more information about Shannock
Beautiful. Will check it out sometime. Please tell me? what waterfall in RI are they speaking of, mentioned in the book as being the only worthy one in the state???
There are hidden ones here and there. Fort Barton in Tiverton has an awesome one. And then, I think it is Burreville or nearby….another awesome one. Somewhere out in the woods. I moved long ago, but when we would hike around in RI, we would discover beautiful spots along the way.
They are here.
Thanks for posting. Appreciate all waterfalls. Little ones, big ones, natural and manmade.
Thank you for your comment Corey I agree that even man-made waterfalls can be nice. I guess some people are just purists, in the sense that the only real waterfall they ankowledge is a natural one. I believe the one they are talking about is Stepstone Falls (although I don’t think they even explicitly mentioned any), which is located in West Greenwich and is part of the Arcadia Wildlife Management Area of Rhode Island. It is off of Falls River Road I believe. http://maps.google.com/maps?so.....38;iwloc=A
HI thankyou for wet you did
HI……….
lol
Hi!
I think a natural water fall is absolutely spectacular and has alot more meaning then a manmade one. Grant it, they are also pretty but nothing compared to years in the makings …like a naturally formed waterfall!
[...] Horseshoe Falls [...]