Warwick

Gaspee Affair Monument

Monument · Gaspee Point, Warwick, RI 02886

A monument near Gaspee Point commemorating the June 9, 1772 burning of HMS Gaspee. The event is celebrated annually in Warwick with the Gaspee Days festival, including a parade and reenactment. The monument marks one of the most significant acts of colonial resistance before the better-known events of 1773–1775.

Gaspee Point

Landmark · Gaspee Point, Warwick, RI 02886

The point on Narragansett Bay where HMS Gaspee, a British revenue schooner, ran aground on June 9, 1772, while chasing the colonial packet boat Hannah. That night, Abraham Whipple led eight boatloads of Providence men to the stranded vessel, wounded its captain William Dudingston, put the crew ashore, and burned the ship to the waterline. The Gaspee Affair was the first violent act of colonial resistance and led directly to the formation of the Committees of Correspondence.

Narragansett Bay at Warwick

Landmark · Narragansett Bay, Warwick, RI

The waters of Narragansett Bay off Warwick were the scene of the Gaspee Affair and the broader struggle over British customs enforcement that preceded the Revolution. Rhode Island's colonial economy depended on trade that sometimes violated British regulations; the revenue schooners like Gaspee enforced those regulations aggressively. The bay's geography — numerous coves, islands, and inlets — made it ideal for smuggling and for the kind of night raid that destroyed the Gaspee.

Pawtuxet Village Historic District

Landmark · Pawtuxet Village, Warwick, RI 02886

One of the oldest continuously settled communities in Rhode Island, Pawtuxet Village sits at the point where the Pawtuxet River meets Narragansett Bay. The village was home to several participants in the Gaspee Affair. Its 18th-century streetscape — compact houses close to the water — reflects the maritime commercial culture that produced both the men who resisted HMS Gaspee and the Whipple family who led the attack.

Warwick City Hall (Old Courthouse Site)

Government · 3275 Post Rd, Warwick, RI 02886

The area where colonial Kent County's governmental functions were conducted. Warwick's colonial government was one of the first to formally resist British trade enforcement, reflecting the broader pattern of Rhode Island commercial resistance to the Navigation Acts. The Gaspee Affair grew directly from this resistance culture.