STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL AT SMITH'S CASTLE: JUNE 16

n. ivanov

It's time for strawberries and the annual festival at Smith's Castle. The original Smith's Castle (155 Richard Smith Dr., Wickford, North Kingstown  401-294-3521), built by Richard Smith, was the first "English" residence in the area then known as Cocumscussoc. Home to the Narragansett tribe, Cocumscussoc is where Roger Williams established a trading post in 1637. The castle was burned in 1676 following a very bloody period between colonists and natives; Smith junior rebuilt in 1678. In 1740 the Updike heirs remodeled the home to what it looks like today. The history of Smith's Castle is a story of the good, the bad, the ups and the downs of Rhode Island fortunes over four centuries but only the good is celebrated in June when homage is paid to the local strawberry.

Saturday, June 16  12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Rain date: June 17

Smith's Castle, 155 Richard Smith Dr. (off Route 1), Wickford, North Kingstown. 401-294-3521  www.smithscastle.org/