| The History of the
Sabin Tavern by
Dr. John Concannon
Webmaster, Gaspee Virtual Archives |
 The Sabin Tavern, built in 1763, was a popularly hostelry owing to the fact that is was located directly opposite the Fenner's Wharf, from which a packet ship plied the waters between Providence and Newport on a daily basis. It was in the South-East room of this tavern on the evening of June 9, 1772, Rhode Island patriots met and made plans to burn the British revenue schooner H.M.S. Gaspee. The patriots even cast their bullets in the tavern. It was from across the Main Street at Fenner's Wharf that the brave men from Providence departed in their longboats to attack the Gaspee.  Right: Colorized
postcard of Sabin
Tavern photo. Providence
Public Library collection pc7142.
Pictures taken of the of what is purported to be the Sabin Tavern show
a Victorian style mansion that had been extensively renovated
since the times of the Revolution. The site of the Sabin Tavern was originally part of the 1640
grant
to
William Burrows. According to An Address by Edward
Field entitled "A
Night at Sabin's Tavern", Sabin's tavern was the
former home
of
Captain
Woodbury Morris, mariner, he having purchased the estate from Joseph
Whipple, 13 Jun 1757 for ₤1200 and built the house soon after. Seven
years later Captain Morris, while
on a voyage to sea, died on the coast of Africa. On the second day of
December,
1765, Mary Morris, the captain's widow, wrote in a little memorandum
book,
wherein her husband had formerly kept his accounts, and which she had
continued
to use: "Then Mr. Sabin moved into my house. From this time until
December,
1773, James Sabin lived here, and catered to the wants of man and
beast,
but on this date he purchased a tract of land on the west side of the
river,
near the Great Bridge, about where the Merchants Bank Building now
stands,
and left the tavern." James
Sabin took the name with him and reestablished the the Sabin Tavern
nearer Market Square. The house was then purchased
in
1785 by Welcome
Arnold, a distinguished merchant of Providence, whose first house
still
stands further up on Planet Street. He made many additions to the
structure,
and occupied it as his residence until his death in 1798. It remained
in
the Arnold family for more than a hundred years. During their occupancy
of the house, the room wherein the 'Gaspee' party met was used as a
dining
room, and there, on the wall, hung, for many years, an account of the
affair,
prepared by Colonel Ephraim
Bowen,
the last survivor of the party, and engrossed by the hand of his
daughter. Welcome Arnold passed the ex-tavern onto his
eldest son,
Samuel Greene
Arnold, who then passed it on to Samuel's younger brother Colonel
Richard
James Arnold, for which it was used as his personal residence in the
1830s.  According to an article appearing in the Newsletter of the Warwick Historical Society, May 1990, The house was originally constructed as a double wooden framed house of two stories. There was a wide hall inside which extended completely through the house from front to rear. This was very beautiful because of the rich paneling, about four feet high. From this hallway a fine old staircase with old-fashioned balustrade and a paneled side led to the second floor.....In 1820, [Richard J. Arnold] added an ell of brick to the house with an entrance through an archway into the "Gaspee Room". A good many years afterwards he built a third story to the house and put an octagonal end on the famous southwest room.
Over time the
river front was filled in and what is now Water Street
was created, in effect moving South Main Street one block further away
from the Woonasquatucket River that was central to the town.
Fenner's
Wharf most likely lied below what is now The Packet Building at 155
South
Main Street. In 1772 there was probably one Main Street which only
later
was differentiated into North and South Main Street based on their
directions
from the city center at Market House. The Sabin Tavern lot adjoined
that
of the later Abial Brown
House
on Planet Street. Abial Brown was also one of the known participants in
the attack. Circa 1780 Welcome Arnold also had another house built that
still
exists on the other side of the where the Abial Brown House once stood.
 Left: Old
photograph of the
interior of
the Gaspee Room, now part of the Mary Arnold Talbot house -
Providence
Public Library Collection gc 2653. At the World's Columbian
Exposition of 1893 which took place in
Chicago,
the Rhode Island exhibition displayed the fireplace and marble mantel,
taken from the old Sabin Tavern. By 1889, the building had
fallen into disrepair. The Providence
Journal said that "the house was dilapidated, and the bank had
foreclosed on the mortgage with the building to be demolished." Right: Commemorative plaque on outside of the Gaspee Room, 209 Williams Street, Providence.
HISTORIC GASPEE ROOM TAKEN FROM THE GASPEE HOUSE SOUTH MAIN STREET IN 1891 AND MOVED TO THIS LOCATION IT WAS IN THIS
ROOM ON JUNE 9, 1772
THAT THE PLOT WAS FORMED TO DESTROY THE BRITISH NAVAL SCHOONER GASPEE
OWNED AND
PRESERVED BY GASPEE CHAPTER
Following his
[Richard J. Arnold] death in 1873, the
house became the property of
his two sons; but before long a mortgage on the house had to be
foreclosed and the old historic dwelling was taken over by the
Providence Institute for Savings.
That bank held the house until a suitable purchaser could be found, but it was finally sold at auction to W. R. Talbot. At this point it is interesting to note that Mr. Talbot had married Mary Cornelia, the third daughter of Richard J. Arnold, and that because of this the house came back into possession of one of the Arnold family. However, only the house was bought by Mr. Talbot and it had to be removed from its site at South Main and Planet Streets. But no lot could be found to hold the house, and all plans and negotiations failed. Consequently it was decide to pull it down. Still, if the house was not saved, the famous "Gaspee Room" was. It was detached very carefully from the rest of the structure, along with the adjoining portion of the hallway and even the staircase itself. Placed on rollers as one unit, it was moved up and over the crest of the hill to Mr. Talbot's own home at 209 Williams Street. There it was just as carefully attached to the Talbot house, becoming an integral part of the latter. All the wainscoting and paneling from the original hallway had been studiously saved and was used over again. A new chimney had to be built, but it was put together out of the old brick of the old chimney, and the same square tiles and hearth were used. The mantel above the fireplace was re-constructed out of the timbers from the kitchen of the old house, in which the patriots had molded bullets. Upon this mantel were cut inscriptions which told the history and significance of the room. On January 11, 1892, Mrs. William R. Talbot organized Gaspee Chapter, D. A. R. , in the historic "Gaspee Room". The Gaspee Chapter attained its ambition of buying the house with the famous shrine, the "Gaspee Room". The purchase was made December 16, 1929. The Chapter dedicated its new home on January 12, 1931 in honor of its founder, Mrs. Talbot, and a bronze tablet with her head in relief was placed in the famous "Gaspee Room". The remnants of the "Sabin Tavern" were demolished in 1891. A Providence Journal article of 1975 relates that by 1975 the membership of the Daughters of the American Revolution had dropped and the building was given to the Rhode Island Historical Society. The Society sold the building in 1983 and it is now used as an apartment house.  Left: Sabin
Tavern Door
installed into wall
of the current Pawtuxet Rangers Armory. In 1961, the Gaspee Building, a large old structure that had been built c1891 on the site of the original tavern at the South Main Street and Planets Street was being demolished when beneath the rubble the wreckers discovered parts of the old Sabin Tavern. A Warwick resident salvaged the original door and gave it to the Gaspee Day Committee c1970. The Rhode Island Historical Society stored the door for many years before it was loaned to the Warwick Museum. In 1988, the Gaspee Day Committee voted to let the Pawtuxet Rangers keep the old door in their headquarters, the old Masonic Hall at the corner of Remington and Bank Streets, Warwick. The old Gaspee Building (c1891-1961) that had built over the Sabin Tavern site at 182-198 South Main Street, of which we have no pictures, apparently had a slate historical marker attached to an outside wall. This plaque was saved during demolition of the building, and was kept in a Warwick location for a time, exposed to the elements in someone's backyard. Later, it was rescued by a man who proudly displayed the slate plaque affixed to his living room wall on Bridge Street in Pawtuxet Village. Below: The original Sabin Tavern slate marker  ------------------------ UPON THIS CORNER STOOD THE SABIN TAVERN IN WHICH ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 9TH 1772 THE PARTY MET AND ORGANIZED TO DESTROY H.R.M SCHOONER GASPEE IN THE DESTRUCTION OF WHICH WAS SHED THE FIRST BLOOD IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
Right and below: Present (2004) Sabin Tavern
memorial granite
marker in parking lot of Partridge, Snow, & Hahn law firm at 180
South
Main Street. Wording
is kept exactly as original.
Sometime coincident with the construction of the current building on
the
site of the old Sabin Tavern, a large granite memorial stone containing
brass plaques was erected. The beautiful
granite marker was restored, engraved, and re-dedicated in
June 2004. The Gaspee Days Committee extends its sincere appreciation to the following organizations that contributed to the funding of this project::
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