Heritage Alliance of Pawtucket

06/05/2026

Here's a debrief of what happened during this week's Planning Commission meeting. We're grateful to the Local Insider for providing such great coverage of the meeting! Their article is linked in this document.

The Pawtucket Planning Commission had a special meeting on June 2 to review two components of the Tidewater development project. Proposed residential building at 45 Division Street This Local Insider article covers the meeting pretty well, so we have only minor notes to add. This buildin...

06/03/2026

On the agenda for next week's meeting of the Historic District Commission is a review of the proposed pedestrian bridge across the river, which is part of the Tidewater development project. If you can't attend in person, you can watch online via Zoom.

05/25/2026

Here's this week's news and updates...a lot of interesting things going on!!

Tidewater Riverway Symposium We had the privilege of being a sponsor for the Tidewater Riverway Symposium, a day of conversations with five city governments (Central Falls, Cumberland, East Providence, Pawtucket, Providence) and many other organizations whose work is focused on the river. The...

05/11/2026

You've seen and heard the news that the Tidewater developments are happening. Here are details about the most recent actions taken by the City Council, related to the Tidewater sites.

During its meeting on May 7, 2026, the City Council voted on the following: 1. Authorizing a 20-year tax stabilization agreement (TSA) for Rise Above All Properties, LLC for the apartment buildings to be built at 258 Pine Street, adjacent to the Pawtucket-Central Falls MBTA station. This t...

05/10/2026

This by no means a comprehensive history of Germans and Swedes in Pawtucket, but just a reminder that our city's heritage is richly diverse. We hope this is both interesting and informative, and that it encourages you to learn more.

Germans and Swedes in Pawtucket The settlement of Pawtucket began in 1671 when Joseph Jencks came here looking for bog iron, after supplies had been nearly depleted in his previous home of Saugus, Massachusetts. The foundry there was massive and needed a lot of people to keep it functioning,...

05/08/2026

We are heartbroken to be posting this story, but very happy to highlight the history of this magnificent church.

Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary 103 Pine Street St. Mary’s, as it is commonly known, is Rhode Island’s second-oldest Catholic parish. It was formed in 1829, just one year after Saint Mary, Our Lady of the Isle in Newport. The beautiful church on Pine Street is ...

05/06/2026

Here is an update on last week's news, with regard to the Downtown Gateway Project and the Riverside Cemetery Land purchase.

1. The agenda for the April 28 meeting of the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency (PRA) included an update on the Downtown Gateway Project, but this was discussed in Executive Session. (Pursuant to RIGL 42-46-5(a)(7). A matter related to the question of the investment of public funds where the prem...

05/05/2026

Private Lawrence E. Redmond was the very first of Rhode Island’s servicemen to be killed in World War 1. Larry was born in Fall River, the son of a machinist who moved his family to Prairie Avenue in Pawtucket in 1906. He attended the St. Joseph’s School, got a job as a bottler, and then became an auto mechanic. He enlisted in the Rhode Island National Guard and was attached to the 103rd artillery regiment in the 26th “Yankee Division,” which was formed by the joining of National Guard units from all the New England states. They were activated in August 1917 at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod and then sent to France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces to fight on the Western Front. Their transport vessel was a former German cargo ship that the U.S. had seized and renamed the USS Suwanee. During the journey the soldiers had to care for the horses and mules on board. Private Redmond’s unit arrived at the Chemin de Dames Ridge where the Germans had been trying to hold back the Allied forces in what was called the German Spring Offensive. During a heavy bombardment in the village of Soissons, France, a piece of artillery shell hit Redmond in the head; he was taken to a French hospital and died there on March 21, 1918. Private Redmond was buried in an American cemetery in France, but his family petitioned to have him brought home. Of the 40,000 American soldiers killed in France during the war, 30,000 are still buried there. Larry’s casket was exhumed and shipped to Hoboken, NJ in February of 1921, and traveled back to Pawtucket with a military es**rt. The Manning Funeral Home facilitated the reinterment in the Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery with military honors arranged by the Walter G. Gatchell VFW Post. A chapter of the Disabled American Veterans was named for Redmond; it dissolved within a few years, but then was reinstated in 1933. After settling on a suitable place for a permanent memorial, Redmond Square at the corner of Exchange Street and Roosevelt Avenue was dedicated in October 1932, almost fifteen years after Larry was killed. Today, the current Redmond Chapter of the DAV holds an annual remembrance ceremony at the site.