(bright piano music) - [Narrator] Coming up next, visit a small museum on Block Island that puts the community's history with shipwrecks front and center.

Learn about the stories behind this collection of quilts.

And later, the Bristol Train of Artillery Museum opens its doors to show off some of their valued pieces of American history.

This is "Treasures Inside the Museum."

(bright music) (bright music continues) (water lapping) (upbeat guitar music) Block Island, with its quaint harbor and iconic coastline, has long been a popular summer tourist destination.

Just a short walk from the ferry dock, nestled between the shops and beaches is the Block Island Historical Society, where a museum chronicles the island's history.

- The scope of this little island is really quite broad.

- [Narrator] Galleries on the second floor have been curated to reflect the different chapters of the story.

It begins with the Manissean tribe, the indigenous people who originally inhabited the island.

A number of artifacts here offer insight and understanding into the lives of these Native Americans who were here centuries before any European settlers arrived.

(bright music) There is a gallery that focuses on fishing, and another about farm life.

There is a display about the island's distinctive architecture, and a room dedicated to hotels, tourism, and some of the fashions that were brought here by those coming to visit.

A map from 1661 shows an original settlement plan created by 16 families from the English colony of Massachusetts.

Another gallery features life saving stations and harbors.

Early photographs show what was known as Pole Harbor, aptly named because of all the poles that were stuck into the water to secure boats.

Perhaps no part of Block Island history has been more written about than the life saving stations.

- We had three life saving service stations on the island, which is more for the landmass than anywhere else, I believe, on the East Coast, because the waters were treacherous.

(waves lapping) - [Narrator] And those treacherous waters were unavoidable.

- Long Island Sound into Block Island Sound is a major thoroughfare for shipping.

- [Narrator] But all of that shipping didn't go without mishaps, often in rough weather.

For Block Island, that meant numerous shipwrecks, rescues, and salvage operations.

- Well, shipwrecks became part of the culture and economy of the island.

Because of the location of the island, the shoals surrounding the island's currents and weather, there have been many, many shipwrecks on Block Island.

- [Narrator] Those shipwrecks were the historical society's inspiration for creating a major exhibit recently, one that covers every aspect of the history.

The brave men from the local life saving stations are recognized in numerous photographs, as are many of the memorable wrecks that occurred around the island.

One of the most noteworthy of all the stories is that of the Larchmont.

- In 1907, steamship travel was at its height.

Steamships were leaving from Providence going to New York.

They were leaving from Boston going to New York, New York, of course, being a hub.

Oftentimes the boats were night voyages because you would board in Providence, every Wednesday and Saturday the boat left from Providence, and you'd get on in the evening, and by morning you'd be in New York.

So that was the routine.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] But that routine was interrupted on February 12th, 1907.

On a stormy evening, the steamship Larchmont left Providence for New York.

Later that night, as the ship was approaching Watch Hill, the skies cleared, but the air was still bitter cold.

That's when the schooner Harry Knowlton, on its way north from New Jersey, collided with the Larchmont.

- There were very few survivors.

And because of the winds and currents that night, the survivors spent a good 10 or 12 hours drifting to Block Island.

Some survived on the hurricane deck, which is in this postcard here, which broke away from the ship.

The other survivors were crew members that were on lifeboats.

- [Narrator] Because the collision happened late at night, most passengers had already retired to their cabins, were in their night clothes, and never made it out to the lifeboats.

Today, the traumatic stories of what happened that night and in the days that followed are remembered in this exhibit that features a number of artifacts recovered from the Larchmont.

- What we have here are bits of the Larchmont disaster.

We have a piece of lace.

To me that just, you know, I think of the woman who would've had this in her trunk.

You know, maybe she was shopping in Providence and on her way to New York.

We have a room number.

So this would've been the plate that was on the door number, and a decorative lock.

The porthole was recovered from the shipwreck.

These two are trunks that people, passengers would have been carrying on to the ship.

It would've held their personal items.

And these items were washing ashore on Block Island.

It's just little bits of people's lives that would have been on the ship.

The passenger that we have the most information about is Virgil Stanley Milliken.

And he was on his way to go talk to McClure's Magazine in New York, an editor there, about a piece he was going to write.

And what we have is this diary from his sister Myrtis who grew up on the island.

She was living in Providence at the time, attending Pembroke.

We have her entry on February 11th where it was a normal entry.

And it looks like maybe the next morning she penciled in, in addition, Larchmont disaster.

- [Myrtis] Tuesday, February 12th.

Tom called me up this morn and told me of the terrible catastrophe last night when the steamer, Larchmont, of the Joy Line, sank in a collision off Block Island about 10:45.

Frank Milliken of the Boston Transcript is reported as missing, but we can't put much credence in the newspapers at a time like this.

- Having a diary will put a human face to the story.

It's not just someone, a statistic.

(waves lapping) They recovered 66 frozen bodies from the surf and from floating debris.

The life saving stations became makeshift morgues.

The North Lighthouse keeper, his wife and his daughters were roused out of bed to care for people that were washing ashore.

And they became the first responders in triaging people.

And when they passed away, they moved them to another room and brought the next one in.

And there were just so many.

(waves lapping) - [Narrator] Another object in the collection also has a unique connection to the disaster at sea.

- Before people had cameras and they were taking their own photographs, they used to send a lot of postcards of shipwrecks, which seems morbid to us now, but it was a way of sharing information.

And this is, you know, what happened.

These postcards, there's many of them out there, were made from the sail of the ship that collided with the Larchmont.

It was called the Harry Knowlton.

It's a very tragic tale.

Probably more people would know about the Larchmont if a few years later the Titanic hadn't happened.

- [Narrator] Exhibits like this with a rich collection of objects and photographs helped to preserve a record of the island's relationship with the sea.

It's a connection that is explored in other items that have survived from centuries past.

This small wooden board with detailed instructions was once part of something called a Lyle gun, used by one of the life saving stations.

- This would be part of the line that was shot out when there was a shipwreck.

The life saving crew would come to the beach as close as they could get with their Lyle gun, which was a small cannon that shot a dart out to the wreck with a line, and the survivors of the ship would haul in the line.

And attached to the line would be this paddle, which had instructions for attaching the line to the mast, the highest point they could reach on the mast, so that they could rig up what's called a breeches buoy to rescue people individually.

It was like a life ring with a little seat in it, and the life savers would haul the people in one by one.

But this paddle had the instructions for what to do.

And in case it was an international vessel, it also was written in French.

- [Narrator] Additional stories about the island's life saving stations can be found here, in a museum at the Southeast Lighthouse.

- The Southeast Lighthouse Foundation is actually a sister organization, an outgrowth of the historical society.

We're now three separate organizations.

But much of the collection that's at the Southeast Light in our newly opened museum is on loan from the historical society.

And the same is true with the exhibit at the North Light as well.

- [Narrator] Both the North Light and the Southeast Lighthouse Museum are ways for the historical society to expand its reach.

Inside what was once one of the keeper's quarters, visitors can catch a glimpse of what life would've been like for families in the lighthouse service.

Photographs and newspaper clippings from the past 150 years, as well as personal belongings, are all a part of the archives.

Also on display is some of the essential equipment used at the lighthouse, including this wooden box that would've been used during emergencies.

- On the top, there's a brass plate that is inscribed USLSS, U.S.

Life Saving Service.

So it's the genuine article.

(bright music) This chest, which is considered a medicine chest used by the U.S.

Life Saving Service, was brought along with the crews when they would go to the scene of a wreck.

There are various bottles and other implements that no longer exist in here that would've been carried to the site.

And if they had any survivors that had fainted or were too cold, had gotten a chill, they would address it with some of these medicines in this chest.

I find it amusing that most of the medicines in the chest were in fact alcohol.

They had sherry and rum and a few antiseptic things, but mostly liquor to revive the the people.

- [Narrator] The small chest is believed to have been with a single family on the island since the Life Saving Service was disbanded, and now is on display at the Southeast Lighthouse.

The large Victorian gothic revival brick structure also has its own story to tell.

After more than a century of helping to guide mariners to safe passage, it was the building itself that needed rescue.

- When the lighthouse was first built in 1873, the locals did inform the government that although it was necessary to have a lighthouse in that location, that the bluffs were unstable and that there was eventually going to be an issue.

And that issue eventually was that the lighthouse had to be moved back.

So in 1993, after 10 years of fundraising and talking to people in Washington and the state, lots of grants, and even hundreds of private $5 and $10 donations, we were able to move the lighthouse back.

- [Narrator] It's a testament to the community's shared commitment to preserving its past.

That sentiment is shared by the historical society, where a textile collection offers insight into some of the women on the island.

- We have lots of historic clothing that has been donated from the Surf Hotel when it changed owners.

These are items that were left behind by hotel guests.

The textiles are a really important part of the collection, but they require probably the most care, the most maintenance.

- [Narrator] Through the years, the historical society has also amassed a significant collection of quilts, which collectively are like a library of local stories.

- One of the reasons that I find quilts so fascinating is it's just another avenue towards tracing people's lives and the history.

It is not just creative outlet.

It's not the utility of the item, although they're used for blankets.

But it is more than that.

It is women's legacy.

It is a way of remembering them, especially women without children.

In a rural community, people would gather to finish off quilts, to tie quilts.

We have stories of quilters talking about when they would spread out the quilt rails in their house and as a child, they would go underneath and listen to the women gossip.

And it was community activity.

This is one of our very treasured quilts that we have in our collection.

We have over 60 quilts.

And the reason they're important in our collection is because they represent the women's work that often we have no other evidence of women's work from the 1800, 1900s, sometimes even earlier.

Part of the reason that they're interesting is that in an island where they needed to use every resource available to them, we have what islanders nicknamed wrecking cloth.

That is fabric that came from shipwrecks, either recovered from the beach or from the hulls of ships.

And calico was an incredibly valuable commodity.

Calico is a kind of printed fabric originally from India that later became produced in all of the textile mills in the northeast.

This particular quilt that we have is made by Myrtis Milliken, and she is the sister of Stanley Milliken who died in the Larchmont disaster.

When she donated this quilt in the 1950s, she identified it as, she called it the Spartan quilt.

She made the quilt out of fabric that she got from the Spartan shipwreck.

The Spartan was a shipwreck in 1905.

The ship had left from Fall River loaded with goods from half of the mills in Fall River, and immediately got stuck under the Southeast Light.

(waves lapping) Fortunately, everybody was safe on the ship, but 300 tons of cargo went back to Providence for auction, and enough of it remained on the island.

- [Narrator] Another quilt made by Jeanette Littlefield was also created with Spartan wrecking cloth.

(mellow music) Also in the gallery, this statue titled Rebecca at the Wall is currently on display and being preserved at the Block Island Historical Society.

- Our statue of Rebecca, which is sort of a symbol of the island, was raised with money from a fundraiser from the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

They ordered Rebecca from a foundry, and evidently there were a choice of four different statues representing each season, and Rebecca was autumn.

The reason they chose her, we believe, is because she has this vase that she is pouring something out of.

And they wanted to represent Rebecca of the Well, a biblical figure who pours out water instead of wine to encourage sobriety and a healthier family life.

- [Narrator] Today, a replica of the original statue sits in the center of the Old Harbor traffic circle.

One more chapter of Block Island history waiting to be explored.

(waves lapping) (bright music) The town of Bristol, Rhode Island not only celebrates American history, but actually played a role in the American Revolution.

On nearby State Street, you can find a direct lineage to that period at the Bristol Train of Artillery.

- The Bristol Train of Artillery came into being in February 12th of 1776, and at that time were ordered to and funded to bring a artillery unit together and to recruit to defend Bristol and Bristol Harbor.

- [Narrator] That unit has been active continuously ever since.

Today, they are most often seen with two of their prized cannons.

(majestic music) - A lot of these cannons were captured by the American forces and stored after the Revolutionary War.

(majestic music) The history of these two cannons here, they were given to the Bristol Train of Artillery in 1797 for ceremonial purposes, and they've been used that way ever since.

We actually have five artillery pieces.

Four of them are on wheels, two of them are the brass cannons that you're looking at now.

We still use these brass cannons in parades, supporting the URI football games, and spend a lot of time maintaining and caring for them, even though we're using them today.

They are such wonderful historical pieces.

- [Narrator] The cannons have been kept at this armory since 1843.

It's a space that has been completely restored after almost falling victim to time.

- What you see inside of this room right now is the way it was back in 1843.

We've been fortunate over time here at the armory where we've made a few surprise discoveries, if you will, as we've gone through the process of restoring the hall itself and the building back to its original state.

And one of the things that was a surprise for us as we were recreating the gun cabinet, the gun rack, if you will, behind me, during that process, that portrait of George Washington, which has been there for well over a hundred years, fell and we broke the glass.

So we wanted to make sure that we preserved that.

We took that to a local framing company, and they discovered underneath the George, and we had no idea that it was there, that underneath George was a beautiful lithograph of Abraham Lincoln.

So this was a freebie for us.

And, you know, a really, really great and exciting find.

So now both have been properly mounted with, you know, the appropriate glass for a museum.

But we've got those now as part of the museum.

(gentle music) (singers vocalizing) - [Narrator] The main hall of the museum is full of pages from the American story and Bristol's role in that story.

There are artifacts and photographs from different conflicts through the centuries.

(gentle music) (singers vocalizing) At the top of the walls are a collection of shields memorializing all of the commanders, dating back to the time of the American Revolution.

Among the documents and photographs is a meticulously restored flag, recognizing the year when the Bristol Train of Artillery officially became part of the state militia.

- As you can see, that is the Hope Anchor that's in the middle of the flag.

The bottom cross cannons are the designation of artillery.

And on the top it says the Bristol Train of Artillery.

And on the bottom it says Incorporated 1794.

This is the flag that was presented by the state recognizing us as a incorporated militia.

I believe it was a four-by-six silk flag with the artwork painted on it.

Over the years, in lack of proper maintenance, the silk deteriorated, so we sent the remnants of that flag to the URI textile facility, and they told us the silk was a total loss.

The best we could do is preserve the artwork on that flag, which as you see, this is the current form as it stands today.

(gentle music) (singers vocalizing) - [Narrator] At the heart of the artillery company's collections are two sets of unique rifles.

- These are single-shot, very unique guns that required a significant amount of maintenance compared to other rifles that were being modernized at the time.

Ambrose Burnside was a Civil War general that has some notoriety.

He was from Bristol, and like the Colt family, he decided that after the Civil War, during the end of the Civil War, he'd get involved in the manufacturer of arms.

And here in Bristol, he started a rifle company, and he made the first prototypes of the guns here in Bristol.

Once he felt that he might have a contract from Congress, he moved the manufacturing to Providence where he could expand his manufacturing capabilities.

They had a very unique round, a bullet, if you will.

It was a large caliber, very heavy, but also very cumbersome to load.

The action of the gun is very easy to contaminate and to dirty.

And you think about that in a combat environment where soldiers have to keep their weapons clean, not an easy thing to do with this particular gun.

(gentle music) This is part of our .45-70 rifle collection.

They're 1873 Springfields.

They came to the Bristol Train of Artillery around the turn of the last century.

This is a single-shot gun.

And it's a trap door style rifle.

And that's your trap door.

The soldier or the firer would load in one brass cartridge at a time, lock, and then aim and fire.

Same type of gun used infamously at Custer's Last Stand.

(gentle music) If you wanna talk about the accuracy of this gun compared to the flintlocks, many of the flintlocks, most of them, they were smoothbore.

And the ball, if you will, that would travel through the barrel probably wasn't the most tight fit.

So they didn't have a lot of accuracy for any great distance.

This came along.

The barrels were rifled.

They also had sights for the first time built in that were adjustable, so soldiers could get quite good, you know, out to a hundred yards and beyond.

And the rifle itself had enough powder in the shells to project that projectile, or to shoot that piece of lead well down range and whatnot.

So yeah, it was a big improvement in accuracy.

The only thing it didn't have was it was still a single shot, but you could load it much quicker than loading through the bore and pouring powder in and whatnot.

- [Narrator] It's taken 250 years to build this collection, and anyone with even a passing interest in American history will find a visit here time well spent.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (chiming music) (lively guitar music)