"Love locks" started appearing years ago at Purgatory Chasm in #MiddletownRI. Local resident Sheri Arbige was on this month's "Where Am I?" and responded almost immediately with the Tuckerman Avenue site. Congrats to Sheri and thanks for participating.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Sheley at (401) 842-6543 or msheley@middletownri.com
“WHERE AM I?” ANSWER— JULY 2023
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (JULY 12, 2023) — Like a lot of places in Middletown, there’s a story about how Purgatory Chasm got its name.
According to popular lore, two star-crossed lovers visited the Tuckerman Avenue property with a sweeping view of Second Beach and beyond.
There, the man again professed his love for the young heiress, but she rebuffed his advances. Instead, as a show of his undying love, the story goes that she said he could prove his devotion to her by leaping across the chasm.
Moments later, he launched himself across the 10 foot wide span, tipped his cap and told her while she was beautiful, she had a poor character and left, never to be seen again.
For years, the chainlink fencing part of a wooden bridge spanning the chasm has been host to dozens of “love locks,” placed by similar lovers.
Although located within Middletown’s borders, the chasm is actually owned and overseen by the state Department of Environmental Management.
According to the town’s latest Comprehensive Plan, the chasm has been a well known spot for centuries.
“Purgatory Chasm is a natural chasm, or cleft, in the cliffs along Sachuest Bay,” the document reads. “The opening in the conglomerate rock ledge is about 10 feet wide, 50 feet deep, and 120 feet long.
“Purgatory is of geological importance because the chasm is a good example of erosion due to wave action and because of the conglomerate beds, of 'stretched pebbles and boulders,’ which were flattened and elongated by compression millions of years ago. Initials and dates inscribed in a layer of sandstone, dating from the 18th century, indicate that Purgatory was known from an early time.”
Document Link: https://www.middletownri.com/DocumentCenter/View/9050/WAI-Clue-July-2023-Answer
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