Founded in 1667 on the premise of religious tolerance for all (much like neighboring Rhode Island), this charming town is located on Mount Hope Bay.
Swansea was named for the Welsh city of the same name. Swansea Town Beach offers picnic tables, restrooms, seasonal lifeguards, and lovely views of the Bay and Aquidneck Island (the original “Rhode Island”) beyond. The Martin House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an example of an early 19th-century farm; it has a furnished farmhouse, two barns, and cultivated fields surrounded by dry stone walls and woodlands. The northern part of Swansea features rolling hills, farms and forests, and rural New England at its finest.