“So Much Dam History Here” is a RISCA-funded project that gathers stories from throughout the Ocean State, but particularly, the ones that are a far reach from the ocean.
The Lymansville Dam has long been a kind of friend to me, it’s artificial waterfall shushing the stress of a day as I made my way to it along the tiny forest path that leads curious bikers to its predictable gush. In January 2021, I began to take videos of the tumbling water, focusing on the long slab that caught the the fall and turned it horizonal. The peculiar flow reminded me of the concrete creek near my childhood home outside of Philadelphia, where I raced to catch the school bus in the mornings, and in the afternoons, washed the day by tossing sticks under the short, almost imperceptible bridge. I never meant to record the yearlong construction project that rebuilt the spillway and transformed the wooded view, undoubtedly related to the subtler project behind that turned the old Lyman Mill into the next batch of used-to-be-factory lofts.
Waterfalls have always had a uniquely calming effect on me, and while I would love to hike each day to a post-glacial roar, the accessibility of these little dams throughout RI strikes me as a strange, incidental gift – a lead-white lining to the crumbling (and sometimes persistent) industrial heritage scattered throughout the state. The future parts of this project, whose own website will soon go live, will share stories of other dams through other eyes – and ears. Listen up – there’s a song beneath the water.
dan j ruppel 