USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Pawtucket > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 5
USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Central Falls > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 5
USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Lincoln > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 5
USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Cumberland > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 5
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water from the Abbott Run stream to be pumped from the Abbott Run stream to the Stump Hill reservoir. The work progressed until in 1878 this reservoir at Stump Hill was put into operation. The location of this reservoir has since been called Reservoir Heights.
The demand for water from this system, which supplied both Pawtucket and Central Falls, increased rapidly, so that in 1885 it became necessary to arrange for a storage reservoir at Diamond Hill from which the water descended by gravity through the Abbott Run stream, Robin Hollow and Happy Hollow ponds to the pumping stations located at Valley Falls and adjacent portions of Pawtucket.
THE FRESHET OF 1886
On February 12, 1886, there occurred a disastrous flood which washed away a portion of the newly built dam at Diamond Hill and did great damage all along the Abbott Run stream and particularly at Valley Falls where the Happy Hollow dam and bridge and the mill at that location were carried away. With reference to this event, the following quotation is taken from the report of the Superin- tendent of Pawtucket Water Works, December 1, 1886:
"Our works in common with the whole country round about us did not escape the effects of the flood on February 12, 1886. The heretofore almost unknown rainfall of more than eight inches in less than thirty-six hours with a body of snow already on the ground that, when melted by the rain, made at the least estimate ten inches, was something more than human foresight could prepare for."
The work of reconstruction was immediately done and with the passage of time the areas supplied by the Pawtucket Water Works included not only Central Falls and Paw- tucket but Valley Falls, Lonsdale, Ashton, Berkeley, and a
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portion of East Providence. In 1927 an additional reservoir was constructed south of the original Diamond Hill reservoir at Arnold's Mills so that, at the present time, the lower Blackstone Valley is adequately supplied with water and should so continue for years to come.
THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT
The new City Government, since its inauguration on January 1, 1886, had its headquarters and City Hall in the old Town House, built by the Town of North Providence in 1871 on High Street, and that building continued to be used as the City Hall until the building of the new City Hall, which was dedicated on February 10, 1936, and is located on Roosevelt Avenue, formerly North Main Street. When the Masonic Temple building was constructed in 1895, arrangements were made to connect the southerly end of the same with the City Hall and thus enable the City to use such portions of the Masonic building as it required in the conduct of its municipal business.
THE COTTON CENTENNIAL
In 1890, in recognition of the successful reproduction in Pawtucket by Samuel Slater in 1790 of the famous Arkwright machinery for the spinning of cotton by water power, the week commencing Sunday, September 28th, and continuing through Saturday, October 4th, was set apart as the Cotton Centenary Celebration in which the City, churches, schools, civic, military and other societies all participated, an industrial exhibition being held in a building called, for this purpose, Centennial Hall, on Broad Street.
GRADE CROSSINGS ABOLISHED
With the passage of time a movement developed, which culminated in 1914, for the abolition of the railroad grade
crossings with the result that the route from the Boston switch in Central Falls, through Central Falls and Paw- tucket, was altered so as to diminish the sharp curve that formerly existed when the railroad went through what was then called Railroad Avenue but now called Goff Avenue. With the abolition of grade crossings, the old depots at Central Falls and Pawtucket were abandoned and the new Pawtucket and Central Falls Depot, located partly in Central Falls and partly in Pawtucket, bounded by Broad, Clay, Montgomery and Barton Streets, was constructed and opened for use in 1916.
PUBLIC PARKS
It is worthy of note that Pawtucket has a number of beautiful parks, the largest of which, Slater Park, is a source of great pride to the citizens of Pawtucket. Other parks are Wilkinson Park, Collyer Park, and Peoples Park. Slater Park was purchased by the City in 1894 and contains the historic Daggett House, now maintained by the Daughters of the American Revolution as a museum, showing the colonial home of the 18th Century with period furniture and household effects.
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS OLD
In 1921, the City celebrated the 250th Anniversary of the founding of Pawtucket by Joseph Jenks, Jr. This cele- bration began on Friday evening, October 7th, with the production of a play in four acts by the Community Players.
On Saturday, October 8th, various athletic events were held, including the baseball game between the American and National League stars.
On Sunday, October 9th, historical sermons were preached in the various churches and in the afternoon a Biblical
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pageant was given at Slater Park with an introductory pageant descriptive of the first Sunday School in New England, which was organized by Samuel Slater in the year 179I. In the evening a grand union mass meeting was held at the Imperial Theatre, formerly the Pawtucket Depot, at which addresses were given by the Right Reverend James DeWolf Perry, D. D., Episcopal Bishop of Rhode Island, and the Right Reverend William A. Hickey, D. D., Roman Catholic Bishop of Rhode Island.
Monday, October Ioth, was celebrated as Founders Day with a parade in the morning consisting of a War Division, Peace Division and Industrial Division, and in the afternoon a parade of historical and patriotic societies and pupils, representing the schools, at which bronze tablets were unveiled marking Jenks' Forge (which was located just south of the Main Street bridge, the marker being placed on the bridge), the First School House (on High Street, near the old City Hall), the house of Governor Jenks, located on Main Street, near where the Music Hall now stands, and the first house of Joseph Jenks, Jr., located on East Avenue, at or near the site of the Pawtucket Boys' Club.
In the evening an anniversary banquet was held at the State Armory on Exchange Street with Mayor Robert A. Kenyon as Chairman and Honorable James L. Jenks as Toastmaster, addresses being made by prominent persons including President Alexander Meiklejohn of Amherst College and Major General Clarence R. Edwards, command- ing Northeastern Department, U. S. A.
Tuesday, October IIth, was observed as Carnival Day with races, a carnival parade, a tennis exhibition at the Oak Hill Tennis Courts, and a costume ball at the State Armory, Exchange Street.
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Wednesday, October 12th, was Columbus Day, and was celebrated by a parade of the Knights of Columbus of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island State Sunday School Convention in the First Baptist Church, corner of High and Summer Streets, and a band concert at Slater Park in the evening.
William McGregor was Chairman of the committee in charge of this 250th Anniversary of the founding of Paw- tucket, which proved to be a most successful affair.
LATER BRIDGES
Mention has already been made of the early wooden bridges, across the river, at the falls, which were rebuilt from time to time until finally the stone bridge known as Main Street Bridge was constructed in 1858. This was, however, widened a number of years ago and recently has been resurfaced with asphalt but is still in good condition. In 1876 and 1877 the Division Street Bridge was erected, and, although many at the time thought it was unnecessary, the wisdom of building the same soon became apparent. Prior to 1872 there was no bridge across the Blackstone at Exchange Street but in that year an iron bridge was built at that point which was replaced in 1929 by the present cement bridge.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
In recent years the public school system has undergone a considerable change. Over eighty years ago in Pawtucket, on the east side of the river, a high school was established on School Street with William E. Tolman as principal. Pawtucket, on the west side, however, had no high school until 1874 when the discarded building of the Second Baptist Church on High Street was acquired and used until 1893, when for a few years the school was housed in various
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Exchange Street Bridge in 1872
Division Street Bridge
buildings. In 1896 a new brick high school building (the present Joseph Jenks Junior High School) on Broadway was ready for occupancy and was the Pawtucket High School until the present Senior High School on Exchange Street, facing westerly towards the Blackstone River, was completed and occupied late in the school year 1926 and 1927, the class of 1927 being the first to be graduated there- from. This building is a magnificent structure containing besides the numerous school rooms and administration offices, a gymnasium, swimming pool, cafeteria, laundry, work-shops and an auditorium capable of seating 1,500 persons, with a large stage and organ. There are also, in addition to the Joseph Jenks Junior High School, two other Junior High Schools, one on Mineral Spring Avenue, named after Samuel Slater, and one on Newport Avenue, named after Lyman B. Goff.
CIVIC BODIES
During the last fifty years or more numerous civic bodies and public institutions have come into being, and, in developing, proved their worth. Among these are the Pawtucket Free Public Library, opened in 1876 (succeeding the Pawtucket Library Association chartered in 1852) and now located in the beautiful building known as the Deborah Cook Sayles Library; the Pawtucket Business Men's Association, organized in 1881 (now known as the Pawtucket Business Men's Association and Chamber of Commerce); the Pawtucket and Central Falls Young Men's Christian Association; the Pawtucket and Central Falls Young Women's Christian. Association; the Memorial Hospital, which opened its doors October 1, 1910; the Pawtucket Boys' Club; the Associated Charities; the Pawtucket Day Nursery Association and numerous others.
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Military headquarters in Pawtucket, from the middle of the nineteenth century, consisted of Armory Hall (since torn down) at the southeasterly corner of High and Exchange Streets, and Infantry Hall at the northeasterly corner of Exchange and Hamilton Streets (later known as Grand Army Hall and now occupied by the Spanish War Veterans), but on June 12, 1895, the present State Armory on Exchange Street was dedicated and has since been the military headquarters in Pawtucket.
PAWTUCKET, A SEAPORT
Pawtucket, at the head of the tidewater of Narragansett Bay, always has been and still is a seaport. Although in recent years it has been more or less bottled up by three drawbridges across the Seekonk River, between Pawtucket and Fox Point, in Providence, there is still a considerable amount of freight traffic by water between Pawtucket and other points on the Atlantic Coast, but principally New York. For years, prior to shipments by rail, the coal and lumber dealers of this section received all of their coal and lumber by means of vessels and barges coming up Narra- gansett Bay, Seekonk River and Pawtucket River to Pawtucket. In days gone by the Pawtucket Steamboat Company ran regular excursion steamers from Pawtucket to various points on Narragansett Bay as well as Newport, and occasionally, weather permitting, just outside of the Bay. Pioneer, Pontiac, Peerless, Petrel and City of Paw- tucket, are some of the names of these pleasure craft that are still remembered by the members of the various Sunday Schools that yearly booked excursions on these, as well as by the members of various other organizations that arranged daylight and moonlight excursions on the placid waters of the Seekonk and the protected expanse of Narragansett Bay. At the present time there is a State pier on the
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easterly side of the River, which is the receiving and dispatching point for freight to and from Pawtucket by water, but no passenger service is now in operation. It would seem that, with the widening and deepening of the channel, Pawtucket, notwithstanding the drawbridges already erected, should always in the future protect its access to the sea and retain its manifold advantages.
THE CITY'S GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
During the days of February 9th to 12th inclusive, 1936, the City of Pawtucket officially celebrated its "Golden Anniversary" marking the completion of the fiftieth year of its incorporation as a City. This observance began on February 9th, in the evening with the Golden Anniversary dinner at the State Armory. On February Ioth, the official exercises of the dedication of the new City Hall took place at 2:00 P. M., and the official lighting of the same at 8:30 P. M., followed by a fire works display, and an open house throughout the city. On Tuesday, February IIth, a public reception was held in the new City Hall, with the Dedication Ball at the State Armory in the evening. On Wednesday, February 12th, the public inspection of the City Hall was continued from 9:00 A. M. to 12:00 midnight. There were also miscellaneous events including a military and naval parade, manufacturers' exhibit, art contest display and air maneuvers.
In connection with this celebration there was also issued a Golden Anniversary program of 143 pages with an historical cover in colors illustrating events in the development of Pawtucket from its founding up to the present time. This program in the form of a magazine contained numerous pictures of officials, past and present, and articles of an historical nature, together with photographs of prominent
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buildings and places in the community, and a manual of the City of Pawtucket for the year 1935 and 1936.
THE FRESHET OF 1936
Reminiscent of the disastrous flood or freshet of February 12, 1886, reference is here made to the recent flood of March 12th to March 2Ist, 1936, when the waters of the Blackstone River rose again to unusual heights and fears were felt for the safety of dams, bridges and buildings along its course. In fact all of New England and other points in the eastern part of the United States were afflicted with dangerous, and in many cases, disastrous floods, due to excessive rainfall and melting snow, but fortunately the dams on the upper Blackstone held and ultimately the danger disappeared.
BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, PAST AND PRESENT
Pawtucket, during its rise as an industrial center to its present proportions, has been the home of many business enterprises and concerns, some of which have prospered and are still here, some of which have ceased to exist or moved elsewhere, while many newer enterprises and concerns have in recent years located here to take the place of those that formerly existed, and to a certain degree to increase the industrial activity and importance of this city.
An enumeration of the business enterprises and firms formerly located here would be too lengthy to include in this history but among those of importance during the past fifty years and now discontinued or removed elsewhere are the following: Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company, D. Goff & Sons, Greene & Daniels Manufacturing Company, Slater Cotton Company, Fales and Jenks Machine Company, Manville-Jenckes Company, James Brown Machine Com-
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pany, Carpenter Tap & Die Co., and Gage Manufacturing Company. Likewise an enumeration of the present business enterprises and firms of this locality would be altogether too long to set forth in this book but among the largest and most important are the following: J. & P. Coats, Inc., of Rhode Island, Lebanon Mill Company, Royal Weaving Company, Greenhalgh Mills, Lumb Knitting Company, Potter & Johnston Machine Company, American Textile Company, Seekonk Lace Co., Anaconda Wire & Cable Company, Lorraine Manufacturing Company, United States Finishing Company, Hope Webbing Co., Glencairn Mfg. Co., Collyer Insulated Wire Company, Dempsey Bleachery & Dye Works, Acme Finishing Co., Union Wadding Com- pany, Pawtucket Manufacturing Company, William H. Haskell Manufacturing Company, and just over the line in Attleboro, Crown Manufacturing Company and H. & B. American Machine Company.
At the present time the banking facilities in Pawtucket are provided mainly by the Pawtucket Institution for Savings, established in 1836, the Pawtucket Branches of the Industrial Trust Company and the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, Rhode Island Hospital National Bank, and the Slater Branch of the Industrial Trust Com- pany, together with branches of Old Colony Co-operative Bank, the Morris Plan, and the M-A-C Corporations.
THE RHODE ISLAND TERCENTENARY JUBILEE
In celebrating this Tercentenary year of 1936, the Ter- centenary Committee of the Lower Blackstone Valley, under the auspices of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc., has projected, in addition to the publication of this history, an historical and industrial exhibition held in the Old Slater Mill, and a festival concert, held in the auditorium of the Senior High
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School, both of which were free to the public. The Paw- tucket Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, cooperated with the Tercentenary Committee by keeping the Daggett House in Slater Park open one day each week for four months.
Mrs. Howard P. Chase, Regent of the Chapter, and Mrs. Edward L. Fifield, Chairman of the Daggett House Com- mittee, also took school children and other visitors through the House on special days. The Chapter loaned articles of interest and historical value to the exhibition in the Slater Mill.
SLATER MILL EXHIBITION
The exhibition opened August 27, 1936, and continued until October 17, 1936, during which thousands of people visited the Mill and viewed the exhibits, many of the people coming from distant points. This feature of the Tercentenary observance was in reality a joint enterprise of the Tercentenary Committee of the Lower Blackstone Valley, the Old Slater Mill Association, and the Pawtucket Business Men's Association and Chamber of Commerce. The opening exercises on August 27, 1936, were attended by a large number of citizens, Roscoe M. Dexter, Chairman of the Committee and Secretary of the Old Slater Mill Asso- ciation, presiding, with addresses by Honorable John F. Quinn, Mayor of Pawtucket, Arthur L. Philbrick, Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc., Robert L. Anthony, President of the Rhode Island Tercentenary Association, Honorable John H. Powers, representing the mill workers of the Blackstone Valley, Walter H. Pilcher, Executive Secretary of the Pawtucket Business Men's Association and Chamber of Commerce, and Albert E. Noelte, Chairman of the Sub-Committee that arranged the exhibition.
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The lower floor of the mill contained the exhibits of present day firms, located in the Lower Blackstone Valley, a list of which is as follows:
Korite, Inc. Hemphill Co. Berry Clothing Co. Acme Finishing Co. Priscilla Braid Co. Seekonk Lace Co.
J. A. Gowdey Reed & Harness Co. Wardwell Braiding Machine Co.
Blackstone Valley Gas & Electric Co. Pawtucket Institution for Savings.
Wm. H. Haskell Mfg. Co. Robinson Rayon Co. Newell Coal & Lumber Co.
Berkshire Fine Spinners.
Cooley, Inc. Anaconda Wire & Cable Co.
New England Telephone & Telegraph Co.
Waypoyset Mfg. Co.
E. L. Freeman Co. Lorraine Mfg. Co. Pawtucket Mfg. Co. Atwood Crawford Co. J. & P. Coats (R. I.), Inc. Triad Mfg. Co. Rhode Island Warp Equipment Co. Adam Sutcliffe Co. National Fabrics Corp.
American Express Co.
The second floor was devoted to historical exhibits showing many rare antiques and articles of historical
interest, including an old colonial kitchen, spinning wheels, hand looms, early machinery of various sorts, old books, documents and prints, and various other objects.
FESTIVAL CONCERT
The festival concert was given on Tuesday evening, October 13, 1936, by a Jubilee Chorus of 150 voices, organized for the occasion by William Meiklejohn, Chairman of the Concert Committee, and was attended by an audience of I,200 music lovers. The program was as follows:
TERCENTENARY CONCERT
Lower Blackstone River Valley Rhode Island
PAWTUCKET SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Tuesday, October 13, 1936-8:15 P. M. William Smithson, Conductor Joseph Paul Smith, Baritone Corina Papino, Accompanist Cyril Owen at the Organ
PROGRAM
Address . Judge Roscoe M. Dexter Chairman of Pawtucket Tercentenary Committee
"Star Spangled Banner" O'Hara
"Song of the World Adventurers" Converse
CHORUS
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Blackstone River at the Slater Mill in Mid-Summer
.
.
...
--
...
1
1 1
"
Blackstone River at the Slater Mill during Flood of March 12 to 21, 1936
"Eri Tui" from the Masked Ball Verdi
JOSEPH PAUL SMITH
"Now Let Every Tongue Adore Thee" Bach
"Lord We Pray in Mercy Lead Us" Sibelius-Sammond
CHORUS
INTERMISSION
"Cradle Song" ยท
Brahms
"Pilgrims' Chorus"
Wagner
CHORUS
"The Hills of Home" Fox
"She Never Told Her Love" Haydn
"The Abbot of Derry" Weaver
JOSEPH PAUL SMITH
"Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones" Bach
"Old Folks at Home" Foster
"Hail Bright Abode"
Wagner
CHORUS
CONCLUSION
As Pawtucket on the easterly side of the river was incor- porated in 1862 and Pawtucket on the westerly side of the river set off from North Providence in 1874, and joined with Pawtucket on the other side, to constitute the territory of the Town of Pawtucket, R. I. (the present City of Paw- tucket), it is difficult to relate very much in the way of statistical information. Its population in 1875 was, as given in the Rhode Island Manual, 18,464; in 1885 when incorporated as a city, 22,906; and in 1930, 77,149. The
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total tax valuation of its real estate and personal property in 1934 was $144,013,465, the tax rate being $2.25 on each $100.00.
Now at the end of three hundred years from the founding of the State by Roger Williams, in 1636, of two hundred sixty-five years from the founding of Pawtucket by Joseph Jenks, Jr. in 1671, and of fifty years from its incorporation and existence as a city, in 1886, Pawtucket with pardon- able pride looks back at its contribution to the developments that have taken place in the city, state and nation for the advancement of human knowledge, enterprise, happiness, and welfare, and with its past as a criterion of its future, expects more great things in the years to come. There will be inaugurated in January, 1937, a newly elected city government with Hon. Thomas P. McCoy as Mayor. All wish his and every succeeding administration success in continuing the advancement of everything that is best for the citizens of Pawtucket and vicinity as well as for the State of Rhode Island.
The Story of Central Falls
The little more than a square mile of Rhode Island territory called the City of Central Falls, like the other territorial divisions of the Lower Blackstone River Valley, discussed in this narrative, finds its entire development closely associated with the streams that mark its eastern and western boundaries. Bounded on the east by the Blackstone River, on the west by the Moshassuck River, and on the north by Valley Falls Pond, Central Falls, probably the most densely populated city, for its physical
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size, in the United States, is chiefly an industrial community, composed of many manufacturing and business establish- ments and the dwelling places of thousands who find employment near at home, or elsewhere in this river valley that has played so important a part in the history of American industry.
Going back to the origin, this area of Rhode Island, now the City of Central Falls, is found to have been first a part of Providence Plantations. Then, as described in the portion of this narrative devoted to Lincoln, certain pioneers decided to seek their fortunes in the northern and northwestern sections of the wilderness beyond the Town of Providence, and these men and their families became, in 1730, the first citizens of the three towns called Smith- field, Scituate and Glocester. And, these three divisions originally included what are now known as the towns of Scituate, Foster, Burrillville, Glocester, North Smithfield, Lincoln, a large part of the city of Woonsocket, and the City of Central Falls. At this point Central Falls was in the original Town of Smithfield. Lincoln was incorporated in 1871, and the area set apart to be included in that new township embraced Central Falls. Lincoln lost its largest village on February 27, 1895, when the act incorporating Central Falls as a city was accepted, the organization of said city being completed on March 18, 1895.
CAPTAIN PIERCE'S FIGHT
Back in the days when the site of this city was a part of Providence Plantations a tragic event occurred there that has been retold many times in connection with the record of King Philip's War. Following the nearly complete annihilation of the Narragansett Indians, and of other natives who had sought refuge with them, in the Great Swamp Massacre of 1675, the surviving Indians sought
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