Up-Island's beautiful vistas encompass the wildness of wind, tide and space. Ancient paths and structures inform the traveller of times when the Wampanoag Indians hunted for white-tailed deer and colonists farmed the land.
South Road is in part the Indian footpath made before English settlement.
The King's Highway established in colonial days still runs unpaved in places, offering ideal trails for horseback riding. Stone fences, protected by law, are reminiscent of the sheep farming prevalent during the 17th century. The Indians called this place Mackkonnetchasqua, and it was included in the bounds of Christiantown, given by Sachem Josias in 1659. The Township was governed by the tribesmen under England's Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Many of the Wampanoag Indians adopted Christianity through the ministry of Thomas Mayhew Jr., one of the original colonists.