Category:Nonquit School

English: The Nonquit School at 117 Puncatest Neck Road (Neck Road or West Road) in Tiverton, Rhode Island was built in 1928 and closed in 2004 or 2008, after which ownership was transferred from the Tiverton School Department to the Town of Tiverton.

In 1959, in the course of building an addition to the school, bulldozers uncovered the remains of 14 people. Numerous Native American artifacts have also been found on the grounds. In 1970, archaeologists from the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission began taking oral histories about the burials, and in 1981 and 1984 the commission requested soil testing to verify the graves, which were rejected by the Tiverton School Department. The disposition of the remains is unknown, but a retired schoolteacher told the Commission in 2011 that they had been re-buried under the addition.

In 2012, letters from the RIHPHC to the Tiverton Historic Preservation Advisory Board recommended that the town – which was attempting to auction off the property, which was valued at $1.07 million – conduct an archaeological survey, which could cost $20 - $25,000, and contact the Narrangansett and Wampanoag Gay Head tribes, which both have claims in the area. It also reccommended that the town consider the area to be a Native American Cemetery with undefined boundaries. The town acknowledged that any buyer of the property would have to conduct the recommended survey.

The auction generated bids of $40,000 and $51,000, so the property was not sold at that time. In January 2013, the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation sent notice to the Tiverton Town Council that it intended to assert tribal authority over the burial ground. In February 2013, the closing of the sale of the property was delayed.

As of 2021, a sign on the site said that it was private property, but that the parking lot could be used by the public for parking from dawn to dusk.

(Sources: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6])