Warwick, Rhode Island
Kent county. This important town, the Indian Shawomet, is situated on the W. side of Narraganset bay, 5 miles S. from Providence. Population, 1820, 3,443; 1830, 5,529. It contains an area of 54 square miles. The surface of the town along the bay is generally level, but the westerly part is hilly, so much so that from some of the elevations, a large part of the state may be seen in a clear day. The prevailing soil is a gravelly loam, strong, and productive of grain, grass, fruits and vegetables. The town is well supplied with a great variety of fish, and forests of walnut, oak and chestnut.
Pawtuxet river washes the northern part of the town, and meets the waters of the Narraganset at this place, separating Warwick from Cranston. An arm of the bay extends westward, giving to Warwick and East Greenwich a number of excellent harbors. Vessels of 50 tons burthen pass to the flourishing village of Apponaug, between 4 and 5 miles from the bay. This village is pleasantly located, 10 miles S. from Providence, and is the site of a considerable enterprize in ship building, the fishery, and the coasting trade.
Pawtuxet village is at the mouth of Pawtuxet river, a port of entry, and lays partly in Warwick, and partly in Cranston. This beautiful village, 5 miles S. from Providence, is celebrated for its great hydraulic power on navigable waters. Warwick is eminently distinguished as a manufacturing town; but all we can at present state is, that but very few villages in our country can boast of a more valuable manufacturing interest, particularly in cotton goods. As early as 1822, there were 15 cotton and 2 woolen mills in Warwick.
Warwick is the birth place of two distinguished patriots and warriors.
Col. Christopher Green was born in 1737. He was in the ill-fated attack upon Quebec in which the brave Montgomery fell. He was afterwards selected by Washington to take charge of Fort Mercer, or Red Bank, N.J. For his gallant defence of that Fort, against a superior force, in 1777, he acquired the reputation of a brave, judicious and faithful officer. He was assasinated in the most brutal manner, in 1781, by a party of American royalists, while stationed on the border of Croton river, New York.
Major General Nathaniel Green was born in 1741. He died in Georgia in 1786. General Green early received the particular favor of Washington. This favor was continued throughout the war, and was strengthened by his ardent patriotism, undaunted courage, prudence, and superior military knowledge.
"Within a mile from the village of Apponaug may be seen a huge rock, so completely balanced upon another, and its equilibrium so exact, that a boy 14 years of age may set it in such motion that the contact or collision caused thereby, produces a sound somewhat like that of a drum, but more sonorous, which in a still evening may be heard a distance of 6 or 8 miles. Hence from time immemorial, it has gone by the name of the Drum Rock. From the ponderous weight of that part which is thus nicely balanced it is generally believed that no other than the hand of nature ever could have done it. Yet some are inclined to believe, that it was thus placed by the herculean labor or some tribe of the natives. There remains no doubt, but that this was a place of their resort or encampment; and that the Drum Rock served them either to give an alarm in case of danger, or to call the tribe together from their daily avocations. This rock is considered a great curiosity, excites much attention, and consequently is at the present day a place of much resort, particularly in the pleasant season of the year."
