...Swansea village is pleasantly situated on the southern border of the town and has a population of 590. It contains three stores, a blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, a shoemaker shop, and newspaper, the Swansea Record, which is one of a number, all published in this county, started in 1885 by Samuel E. Fiske, the heading and local matter being different in each, while the same general matter is used in all. A half mile from the village is a bleachery and dye works on the site of a former paper mill. James Lloyd Wellington, M. D., practices medicine here and has during the past fifty-five years- a professional career that probably is not equaled in length by any other in the county. A new town hall, built of rough stone work, was erected in 1800, on the site of the former Union church; it was a gift of Frank Shaw Stevens, a sketch of whose life is given in another part of this work.

Barneysville is a hamlet in the extreme northeastern part of the town on Warren River, where there has always been a large fishing industry. In early years considerable shipbuilding was carried on here by Mason Barney. A jewelry manufactory is located here nd one store and post-office (Hortonville). North Somerset is a hamlet that is practically one with Barneysville. It has a Baptist church and the post-office.

Hortonville is situated in the northern part of the town, where a post-office was procured by Nathaniel B. Horton. It has a Universalist church, three stores and a wagon maker.

Swansea Center is a hamlet with post-office, two stores and the Fist Christian church. South Swansea is a small settlement where there is a post-office and a store. Considerable gardening is done in this town for Fall River and Providence markets, and milk is produced and sold in Fall River. Much of the land in the northern part is poor and stony and large tracts are covered with trees and undergrowth. The southern part is very fertile. Among prominent farmers are E. C. Gardiner, Job Gardiner, jr., Frank S. Stevens, James Easterbrook, James Eddy, Job Gardiner, sr., Samuel Gardiner, James Newhall, Leland Gardiner, Frank G. Arnold, Philip Manchester. A large Portuguese element has come into the town, settling chiefly in the northern part. A large business is done in growing hot-house products for the Boston market. The village population according to the last census for North Swansea, 273; South Swansea, 162; Swansea Center, 313; Swansea village, 590.

Our County and Its People..., The Boston History Company, Publishers 1899

Visit Swansea, Massachusetts, USA (Ocean Grove)
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.