New England Wireless and Steam Museum
New England Wireless and Steam Museum is a museum in Rhode Island, at a modelled elevation of 70 m. Bald Hill stands 203 m to the west, 10 miles off. The nearest named place is Frenchtown Park, a park 0.4 miles away. Route 102 (Ten Rod Road) passes 3.3 miles off.
The story
The New England Wireless and Steam Museum is an electrical and mechanical engineering museum at 1300 Frenchtown Road in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, with working steam engines and an early wireless station and technology archives. The museum was founded in 1964 under the leadership of Robert Merriam. According to the museum's website, the New England Wireless and Steam Museum contains five buildings:
One museum building contains the wireless collection. The Massie Wireless Station, (PJ), was "built in 1907. It is the oldest surviving working wireless station in the world. It was moved to this site from Point Judith, Rhode Island, in 1982 to avoid demolition." Another museum building contains "the stationary steam engine collection. This collection includes the only surviving George H. Corliss engine running under steam today." The Mayes building houses the Mechanical Engineering library of historic engineering textbooks and the collection of steam engine models. A meeting house built in 1822 is used as the assembly hall for the museum. In 1972, the nearby Frenchtown Baptist Church in East Greenwich was going to demolish its building, so it was moved to this site to save the building. The meeting house is part of the Tillinghast Road Historic District and is available to rent for weddings and other events. The Museum is situated within the Tillinghast Road Historic District. It was designated an engineering history Landmark in 1992 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2001 the Massie Wireless Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places. As of August 2022, the president of the NEWSM board of directors is Randy Snow.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1964.
Wikidata Q7007432, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What to expect
How to reach it
- 3.3 mi off the Route 102 (Ten Rod Road)
- 9.3 mi off the Revolutionary Heritage Byway, National
- 10.0 mi off the Ministerial Road
- 12.6 mi off the Route 114 and High Street
Overlooks nearby
- Gaspee Point Overlook · 11 mi
- Prospect Terrace Viewpoint · 15 mi
- Lookout Point · 28 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Frenchtown Park: 0.4 mi
- Frenchtown Recreation Facility: 0.4 mi
- Shovlin Park: 1.6 mi
- Fry Brook Recreation Park: 1.7 mi
- McGinn Park: 2.6 mi
- Tillinghast Mill Ruins: 0.5 mi
- Tarbox Cemetery: 2.1 mi
- Armory of the Kentish Guards: 4.1 mi
- Varnum House Museum: 4.1 mi
- Station Fire Memorial: 4.1 mi
- Hunt River Glen: 1.5 mi
- Dead Swamp: 1.9 mi
- Eleanor Tremblay Preserve: 2.4 mi
- Queen River Preserve: 2.5 mi
- Potowomut Conservation Easement: 2.9 mi
- Andrews Hill: 2.5 mi
- Shrub Hill: 3.3 mi
- Hornbeam Chapel: 3.6 mi
- Spencer Hill: 3.8 mi
- Cocumcussoc: 3.9 mi
- Seabee Museum: 3.5 mi
- Varnum Memorial Armory: 4.3 mi
- Paine House Museum: 5.3 mi
- Warwick Center for the Arts: 5.9 mi
- Warwick Museum of Art: 6.0 mi
- Heritage Art Gallery and Glass Studio: 2.8 mi
- Giant Troll Iver Mudslider: 4.0 mi
- Florence Nightingale Statue: 9.3 mi
- Rhody the Ram: 9.7 mi
- Giant Troll Young Boulder: 10.1 mi
- Calf Pasture Point Beach: 5.5 mi
- Compass Rose Beach: 5.7 mi
- Buttonwoods Beach: 6.4 mi
- Sandy Beach: 7.8 mi
- Hope Pond Beach: 8.2 mi
- Jamestown Golf Course: 11.2 mi
- Labyrinth: 11.8 mi
- Temple to Music: 12.0 mi
- Roger Williams Park Carousel: 12.1 mi
- Japanese Garden: 12.1 mi
- Florence Nightingale Memorial Garden: 9.3 mi
- Heber W. Youngken Medicinal Garden: 9.4 mi
- Roger Williams Park Garden: 12.3 mi
- Herb Garden: 12.5 mi
- Janes Community Garden: 13.8 mi
- Rattlesnake Ledge: 11.5 mi
- Usher Rocks: 11.7 mi
- Tree Point Rocks: 13.2 mi
- Lion Head: 13.2 mi
- Ferry Cliff: 13.2 mi
- Payne's Pond Falls: 3.3 mi
- East Greenwich Falls: 3.3 mi
- The Falls: 8.3 mi
- Stepstone Falls: 12.8 mi
- Spencer Rock Waterfall: 14.1 mi
- Rest Area I-95 (North Bound): 9.2 mi
- Rest Area I-95 (South Bound): 9.3 mi
- Rest Area I-195 (East Bound): 17.2 mi
- Rest Area I-195 (West Bound): 17.2 mi
- Thirsty Beaver: 17.5 mi
- Big Beach: 2.2 mi
- Little Beach: 2.4 mi
- Picnic Pavilion: 19.3 mi
- Little Nini Pavillion: 19.3 mi
- Site #36: 19.8 mi
- Elizabeth Spring: 3.3 mi
- Plum Point Spring: 8.1 mi
- Roger Williams Spring: 15.2 mi
- Factory Pond: 16.7 mi
- Beavertail Light: 13.4 mi
- 1755 Lighthouse Foundation: 13.5 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 11.4 miles of New England Wireless and Steam Museum. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bald Hill | W 277° | 203 m | 10.3 mi |
| Weaver Hill | WNW 287° | 184 m | 8.2 mi |
| Weeks Hill | WNW 293° | 182 m | 10.0 mi |
| Raccoon Hill | W 267° | 181 m | 8.1 mi |
| Nipmuc Hill | NW 315° | 181 m | 10.6 mi |
| Tunk Hill | NNW 328° | 174 m | 10.7 mi |
| Bald Hill | NNW 348° | 161 m | 10.4 mi |
| Pine Hill | WSW 238° | 158 m | 7.2 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:50 | 18:22 | 18:58 |
| June solstice | 05:13 | 19:42 | 20:25 |
| September equinox | 06:34 | 18:09 | 18:45 |
| December solstice | 07:10 | 15:35 | 16:20 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 27 | 29 | 36 | 48 | 59 | 68 | 74 | 72 | 64 | 52 | 42 | 33 |
| Precip in | 4.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 4.4 | 5.5 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Coventry 2, 4 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element way/548470515
Day trips start here
- East Greenwich · 2 mi
- Wickford · 4 mi
- Goddard Memorial State Park · 5 mi
- Kent County · 5 mi
- Quonset Point · 5 mi
- West Warwick · 5 mi
Take the scenic way to New England Wireless and Steam Museum.
Byway plans around your taste, verified places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.