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First Blow for Freedom

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with (FIRST Exclusive Buyer's Office Providence-RI) RI BO5192

 

PAWTUXET Sign

 

PAWTUXET COVE'

Located at the point where the Pawtuxet River flows into Narragansett Bay is a section of both Warwick and Cranston, Rhode Island is an area called Pawtuxet Village.

PAWTUXET  (a river and village means "Little Falls" in the native language,  the Sononoce Pawtuxet tribe, part of the larger from Narragansett Indian nation, who used the area as a feasting ground Pawtuxet Cove, and originally occupied this area.

Pawtuxet Cove, called Fiddlers Rest, meaning the resting place of ships, was a good harbor. The water was deep and Pawtuxet Neck made good protection for vessels. In 1636 Roger Williams received his grant of land from the Indians.  There is a marker at the Cranston end of Pawtuxet Bridge.

The Village of Pawtuxet is historic in that its the oldest village in New England and is one of the very few villages that span two communities - the Cities of Warwick and Cranston. Founded in 1638, it is the site of the 1772 burning of the H.M.S. Gaspee - the first armed conflict of the American Revolution.

For the past 44 years the village of  Pawtuxet, RI has commemorated this act with our annual Gaspee Days Celebration. It is its proudest tradition Gaspee Days are a series of events in Pawtuxet, with the Gaspee Parade and  commemorating  the Burning of HMS Gaspee, the much hated British revenue schooner, that took place on Pawtuxet waters in June of 1772 by Rhode Island patriots - brave colonists

Gaspee SHIP

It was the first attack against the British in American colonies, a year before the Boston Tea Party, the first step towards the War of Independence. Hence the burning of Gaspee is often referred to as America's First Blow for Freedom and, naturally, the people of Pawtuxet (and of Rhode Island in general) are very proud of it. This  has become recognized as the first overt action leading to the American Revolutionary War.

GASPEE DAYS EVENTS

Gaspee Days Colonial Encampment
Friday Night,  June 12th
All Day, Saturday, June 13th
Sunday Morning, June 14th

Pawtuxet Park, Narragansett Parkway, Warwick

           Encampment gives visitors a feel for colonial military life.         

Dozens of Militia camp out for the weekend in authentic Revolutionary style.   

                                                 Hosted by the Pawtuxet Rangers,RIM.                                                  

militia

 

                                                                       Gaspee Days Fireworks Extravaganza

fireworks

 

                                                                       Friday, June 12th at dusk (9 pm ish)
                                          Salter's Grove Park, Narragansett Parkway, Warwick
                                                            Courtesy of the City of Warwick
                             A recreation, of sorts, of the fireworks that went off when the ship's powder
                            magazine blew up after Colonists burned the Gaspee in 1772. 

 

                                          5K Gaspee Days Road Race Allan & Edna Brown
                                                Saturday,June 13, 2009At 9:45 a.m.
                        begins on Broad Street at the corner of Chiswick Road, Cranston.
                               check-in is at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center on Broad Street


                                                                    44th Annual Gaspee Days Parade
                                                  Saturday, June 13th at 10:00 am
                                 Along Narragansett Parkway, Warwick into Broad Street, Cranston

                    Colonial fife & drum corps, Civil War era units, modern day drum & bugle corps, & much more!
                                            The Mummers are the grand finale unit.

                                                                       
          The forecast for the 2009 Parade is: sunny and clear!

rangers

 

Mummers

MUMMERS


                                                                         Gaspee Days Sunday in the Park
                                                   Sunday, June 14th Noon to 3:00 pm
                                              Pawtuxet Park, Narragansett Parkway, Warwick
                                         Music by The Arthur Medeiros Orchestra  12:30 to 3 pm
                                                   Please bring your own pic-a-nic basket


                                 Gaspee Days Military Maneuvers & Uniform Fashion Show
                                                    Sunday,  June 14th at  3 pm
                                          Pawtuxet Park, Narragansett Parkway, Warwick

                                             Those pesky Redcoats and the Patriots
                               Preceded by the Revolutionary War era uniform fashion show
                               wherein our Colonial Combatants strut their stuff on the boardwalk.



                                                   The Burning of the Gaspee
                                                Sunday, June 14th at 4:00 pm
                                 Pawtuxet Park Cove, Narragansett Parkway, Warwick

                 Ending the Gaspee Days Festivities, the symbolic burning of the ship that
                                           sparked the American Revolution.

                     Please join us as we celebrate America's 'First Blow for Freedom.
                                  401-781-1772 or visit www.gaspee.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

                                          We want to be your "Personal Realtors for Life"

                                                      http://www.thebuyerschoice.com

 

Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbettfacebooktwitter

                                                      realbird

                                                 KATHLEEN ANN PACHECO-CORBETT

                               Office 401-725-5608     Cell 401-556-6911   Fax 401-423-4377

Steve Hoffacker
Steve Hoffacker LLC - West Palm Beach, FL
Certified Aging In Place Specialist-Instructor

Kathleen,

Thanks for that history lesson. You have a right to be proud of this heritage and celebration. Great post. :)

Steve

Jun 13, 2009 03:29 PM
Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett
(FIRST Exclusive Buyer's Office Providence-RI) - Providence, RI
Realtor, RI-MA, CEBA, Master, e-Pro, ABR, ABRM, GR

STEVE: Our New England area is so filled with American history. I love this annual GASPEE celebration, I plan on being there at the re-enactment of the burning of the Gaspee at 4pm tomorrow,

Jun 13, 2009 03:33 PM
Steve Hoffacker
Steve Hoffacker LLC - West Palm Beach, FL
Certified Aging In Place Specialist-Instructor

Kathleen,

This post has been featured in the group "Observances and Celebrations." Congratulations. :)

Steve

Jun 14, 2009 01:25 AM
Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett
(FIRST Exclusive Buyer's Office Providence-RI) - Providence, RI
Realtor, RI-MA, CEBA, Master, e-Pro, ABR, ABRM, GR

Thank you Steve, greatly appreciated. Have a Super duper Sunday:)

Jun 14, 2009 05:13 AM
Sandra White
John L Scott Real Estate - Port Townsend, WA
Experienced Residential Resale Broker

Kathleen, very interesting information and good photos.  What a lovely setting.  I was not aware of that incident.  I am new to this group and glad I found it.

Jun 15, 2009 03:44 AM
Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett
(FIRST Exclusive Buyer's Office Providence-RI) - Providence, RI
Realtor, RI-MA, CEBA, Master, e-Pro, ABR, ABRM, GR

SANDRA:  New England is such an historic area and Rhode Island being the last of the 13 original colonies  has so many cities and towns with their own history of people and events that makes us so proud of our heritage.

Jun 15, 2009 09:53 AM
Not a real person
San Diego, CA

I went to read about the Gaspee Affair of 1772. One of the sentences at the Warwick web site said, "The majority of these men, who comprised the social elite of Providence, were disguised with black-smeared faces or Indian headdresses." Apparently they were hoping the British would lay the blame on Negroes and Indians, and he we are over 200 years later and we're still blaming things on other people -- LOL.

Jun 15, 2009 09:29 PM
Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett
(FIRST Exclusive Buyer's Office Providence-RI) - Providence, RI
Realtor, RI-MA, CEBA, Master, e-Pro, ABR, ABRM, GR

RUSSEL: Isn't that a fact. Why must we blame people? Why do we not accept the consequences for our own actions? look at the mess the economy is in and the people that  are getting blamed for this financial situation. Blaming people who took out mortgages they couldn’t pay back is the wrong way to look at the problem.

Times wrote an interesting article on the top 25 individuals to blame this financial crisis on:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1877351,00.html

Jun 16, 2009 05:03 AM
Terry Chenier
Homelife Glenayre Realty - Mission, BC

Kathleen,

I did not know this. Great history lesson you taught today. Thank you.

Jun 20, 2009 05:35 PM
Kathleen Ann Pacheco-Corbett
(FIRST Exclusive Buyer's Office Providence-RI) - Providence, RI
Realtor, RI-MA, CEBA, Master, e-Pro, ABR, ABRM, GR

TERRY: It is not amazing what we can learn from our AR community. Each day as I read posts I am learning some new, too. Glad I provided some historical RI Information for you.

Jun 20, 2009 08:34 PM
Anonymous
Diane Whipple
We'll take credit for it, thank you. It was a pre-emptive strike at a minimum, yet a long time coming.
Feb 10, 2014 04:06 AM
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