Gaspee Days Committee History Files
The History of the Original 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.

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: Sabin Tavern. The South-East Room, where the Gaspee Raiders met, can be seen behind the tree on the right side of the picture.  Providence Public Library Collection wc 688.1  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. 
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."  Again, per The Gaspee Room, pamphlet, Providence, Old Stone Bank, 1931, later republished in Warwick Historical Society Newsletter, May 1990,
        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.
WilliamsSt280
Left: The Gaspee House incorporated the original room from the old Sabin Tavern as an attachment, seen on the left. - Providence Public Library Collection pc 7180 Right: The Gaspee Room (2001) as currently located at 209 Williams Street is now a condominium.
WilliamStb280
Left: Rear and side view of the Gaspee Room, 209 Williams Street. This is the original room of the Sabin Tavern in which patriots plotted the destruction of the Gaspee in 1772 Right:  Old photograph of the interior of the Gaspee Room, now part of the Mary Arnold Talbot house - Providence Public Library Collection gc 2653
SabinMantle
 Left: 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.  Its current whereabouts are uncertain, but may still exist in the Gaspee Room. Ref: <http://columbus.iit.edu/dreamcity/00044061.html>  Note the different mirror above the mantle in this view as apposed to the one seen in the entire room view.

Left: Commemorative plaque on outside of the Gaspee Room, 209 Williams Street, Providence.

Text Reads:

THIS HOUSE CONTAINS THE
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
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
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.


Left:  Sabin Tavern Door installed into wall of the Pawtuxet Rangers Armory.  Right:  Commemorative plaque.
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. It has since been held by a man who proudly displays the slate plaque affixed to his living room wall in Pawtuxet Village.

SONS OF LIBERTY
------------------------
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
Left: Slate memorial tablet from the site, but currently installed in a private Pawtuxet home. Right: Wording of plaque as displayed on left.
Sabin001

Left: Present, restored marker for the Sabin Tavern site.  Wording is kept exactly as original.
 Right: Present (2004) Sabin Tavern memorial granite marker in parking lot of Partridge, Snow, & Hahn law firm at 180 South Main Street.
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 has now been restored and 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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Originally uploaded in 1998 as SabinTavernDoor.htm    Last Revised 11/2005    SabinTavern.htm