292 Walter Street

Is it the smallest house, in the smallest town, in the smallest county, in the smallest state? Quite possibly so! Its small sign states, “Captain Charles Collins House, c 1780” but that’s a half truth. (You can’t always trust the plaque.) The shed is likely an outbuilding for the larger home it’s next to, but it has its own address today. The larger home was owned by Captain Charles Collins and was built in the 1770s – so one has to ask, what kind of captain was he? The town shares the story on a board across the street, not shying away or hiding the fact that Warren was once a port for human slavery. Could this charming home have once housed the enslaved? We can’t know for sure, but it’s an important question to ask so that we don’t hide devastating stories under the interesting and beautiful.