Bodhi Gerlach, an eighth grader at the Pennfield School in Portsmouth, has been working on a summer service project deep within the Weetamoo Woods in Tiverton. When he's done, an often-overlooked part of the system's history will once again see the light of day.

Apart from remains of an old mill, cart paths and other remnants of the area's early colonial history, the site also contains a cellar hole that during the 18th and early 19th centuries was associated with a freed slave, Sippo Cook. The area has long been informally known as 'Sippo's Garden.'

“Before I started this project, I’ve walked past this plenty of times and I never knew what it was, but now I do,” said Gerlach, who lives with his family in Tiverton. He says that he hopes that by clearing out the brush, it’ll make way for an informative sign that will allow other people to learn what the site is all about when they pass by.

Students entering eighth grade at The Pennfield School are required to complete at least 20 hours of community service over the summer, and at the beginning of the school year. Gerlach and his father Bill got their hands dirty by clearing the site through removing overgrown bushes, invasive plants and weeds, to allow for easier access to the site and for better visibility from the trail.

“I was thinking about community service opportunities and thinking with my dad,” said Gerlach. “My dad came up with this, and I thought because this was in Tiverton, it would be a pretty cool opportunity to clear out an old piece of history.”

The site marks the home of Sippo Cook, a slave who was freed on July 5, 1784, after being owned by a Little Compton farmer, David Cook. After gaining his freedom, Sippo moved to Tiverton to live near his wife and children, who were owned by a Tiverton farmer and not freed until 12 years later. By 1800, the census record listed Sippo as the “head of the household for 13 free people of color.”

Garry Plunkett, with the Tiverton Open Space Commission, has been working with Bodhi and his father to develop the project ad the commission is working to develop interpretive signs for the cellar hole. The area surrounding the site shows a much flatter plane than the rest of the trail, enclosed with a stone wall that could give clues to where animals were kept or where Sippo tended to his garden. Plunkett said that there are at least three other cellar holes similar to this one in Weetamoo Woods, and a few more scattered across the Pocasset Ridge Conservation Area.

“I really have an appreciation for what it represents, the black community surviving amongst all of this,” said Plunkett. “I’m glad to be able to share that with others.”

“The story is super interesting,” said Bodhi's mother, Sara Gerlach. “It is an amazing historical part of Tiverton. I knew this was called Sippo’s garden, we’ve walked by this a million times, but I never knew who Sippo was, or what the story was behind it. And hearing the story, it’s really amazing.”