Oakland

In 1848 John Ross purchased 7 acres of land, constructed a dam and built a stone mill where he manufactured cotton yarn. In 1892 Ross sold the mill to the Wanskuck Company and the mill was known as the Oakland Worsted Company. The stone mill was 100 feet long, 53 feet wide and had 2 wings. The pond provided excellent water power and high quality worsted cloth was made here until 1957.

The remains of a trestle that once carried the train from Providence can still be seen crossing the Clear River in Oakland. Oakland was the only village in Burrillville to have two train stations. One line came from Providence, the other from Woonsocket.

A Look Back at Indian Acres Dairy

Indian Acres Dairy located on Sweet's Hill on East Avenue was one of the largest dairy farms in the State of Rhode Island. Thomas and Albert Sweet farmed and ran a saw mill on this 1200 acre farm and in the mid 1800's dairy operations began. They were the first to supply the Sanatorium at Wallum Lake with fresh pasteurized milk. Irving Sweet and his son Liston operated Indian Acres for many years. When Liston Sweet died suddenly in 1958, the cows were sold at auction and the land was sold off bit by bit.

Elmer Hopkins peddled milk to customers in Burrillville.