The Old Harbor

The Old Harbor. taken from Rhode Island History, Volume 48, Number 2, May 1990. , Early Years: Providence is a city with a long waterfront tradition. In 1636 Providence was established on the banks of the Providence River. During the 1600's, Providence, initially a farming community, grew slowly, spreading out along the waterfront. Nearly 50 years passed before Pardon Tillinghast constructed the first wharf in 1680 south of here near James Street. Ship building first began in 1712 in a yard over there at what is now the corner of Pine and Organ Streets. For the next 200 years shipping would become a major source of the city's economic growth. First trade, then manufacturing brought ships by the hundred to the Providence waterfront. By the 1730's several merchants had established trade routes to the West Indies. In 1764 a packet ship began passenger service to Newport from Hacker's Wharf at the foot of Planet Street., 1780-1840 The High Seas Years: At the conclusion of the war in 1783, Providence's waterfront and fleet were intact and its merchants were in a position to assume Newport's predominant place in trade., Between 1780 and 1815 there was no mistaking the fact that Providence was a major seaport. The American China trade began with the voyage of the ship "Empress of China" from New York in 1784. Three years later John Brown sent his ship "General Washington" to the orient with a cargo of anchors, cordage, sailcloth, cannons, gun carriages, shot, bar iron, sheet copper, steel, spruce spars, rum brandy, Teneriffe wines, claret, porter, cordials, cider, hams, chocolate, spermaceti candles, and Narragansett cheese. The return cargo from the Orient included 240,000 pounds of tea, silks, cotton goods, porcelain, lacquered wre, cloves and flannels. By 1791 there were 129 ships in Providence's merchant fleet which sailed around the globe. The 1798 tax list for Providence includes fifty-eight wharves, one bank, four ropewalks, seven distill houses, one shipyard, fifteen cooper's shops, and four blockmakers., The east side of the Providence River with its gangways Bullion, Gold, Silver, Coin, Dubloon, Sovereign, Cent, Dime, and Dollar Streets soon became overcrowded with wharves brooming with sloops, schooners, and brigantines, vessels primarily engaged in coastal and West Indian trade. The expansion of foreign trade to the Orient and other distant shores necessitated the use of larger ships, and because of the crowded conditions along the east bank of the river John Brown headquartered his East India trading business at India Point., During the period form the American Revolution to the War of 18 12, Providence was in direct commercial contact with every quarter of the globe, including every major European port from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, the Guinea coast of Africa, India, Batavia (Java), the Philippine Islands, China, Latin America, and the Atlantic seaboard from Canada to the Caribbean., To meet the demands of the shipping trade the process of "wharfing out" on the west shore began with the construction of Long Wharf (present-day Custom House Street) in 1792, with shops, warehouses, distilleries, and shipyards located nearby., By 1817 the addition of Anthony's Wharf, Butler's Wharf, Lippitt's Wharf, and Central Wharf created a new profile for the waterfront between Long Wharf and Dorrance Street which remained until the I-195 access roads replaced it in the 1950's., Most Providence vessels between 1800 and 1830 carried cargoes of American agricultural, animal, marine, and forest products. A dramatic change occurred with the introduction of power looms in 1817 and the development of Providence's manufacturing sector. Cloth, jewelry, and other finished products soon took their place on the ship's manifests alongside pork, flour, onions, potatoes, and barrel staves., The Age of Steam: The first impact to shipping caused by the steam engine occurred in the 1820's when more reliable steam-driven "night boats" assumed much of the coastal packets' business in passenger travel and in the shipping of certain valuable types of cargo for which speed was more important than cost. In 1837 railroad service was established between passengers and goods. Brown and Ives sold their last trading ship in 1838 and directed their energy and fortunes to manufacturing., After 1841, the only large-scale foreign trade that remained in Providence was coal, lumber, and raw cotton: coal to fuel the steam engines in factories, to power the steam locomotives making inroads in the seaport, and to feed the rising number of coal stoves in area homes; lumber to build the homes and workplaces of the growing city; and cotton for the textile industry. The glory days of Providence's worldwide shipping had passed.