Within its 30 square miles that stretch from the Narragansett Bay of the Atlantic Ocean to the pastoral hills of central Rhode Island, Cranston has always offered a wide range of contrasts. For the founders of the settlement in 1638, religious idealism competed with a sometimes ruthless desire for more land. Cranston was nicknamed the City of Farms, although in the mid-1800s it was known as the home of one of the greatest industrial empires in the nation. Cranston Revisited reveals how the residents worked, worshipped, socialized, traveled, learned, and governed themselves throughout their 375-year history. Cranston has much to be proud of, including the local farm boy who was the hero of a Herman Melville book, America’s first May Breakfast, the first site of a popular racing sport, and the textile company that at one time led the world in printing calico. Cranston Revisited showcases the rich heritage of this community through the historic photograph collection of the Cranston Historical Society as well as photographic contributions from the city’s citizens.