There’s no doubt about it, “The Shops at Quonset Point” is a busy place. There’s hustle and bustle aplenty; and folks are coming and going at this attractive shopping plaza anchored by both Dave’s Marketplace and Kohls. But this has always been a busy spot — prior to the plaza, this location was home to one of the largest all-wooden office buildings in the world. With hundreds of thousands of square feet of floor space, it was the nerve center of the busy military complex that surrounded it.

But this high level of industrious activity did not even begin there. One hundred years ago, this place was a beehive of activity as well. The extended Romano clan — brothers Ernest, John, Carmine and Vincent, their wives and children and their in-laws, the deRienzis, went going all-out establishing the Romano Vineyard; the largest ever in Rhode Island.