Pawtucket, Rhode Island - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Pawtucket is a city in Providence County

Providence County, Rhode Island

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 621,602 people, 239,936 households, and 152,839 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,504 people per square mile . There were 253,214 housing units at an average density of 613 per square mile...

, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.

History

Pawtucket was a major contributor of cotton textiles during the American Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

. Slater Mill

Slater Mill

A National Historic Landmark, the Slater Mill is located next to the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Modeled after cotton spinning mills first established in England, the Slater Mill is the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in North America to utilize the Arkwright system of...

, built in 1793 by Samuel Slater

Samuel Slater

Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...

on the Black River

Blackstone Valley

The Blackstone Valley or Blackstone River Valley is a region of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution...

falls

Pawtucket Falls (Rhode Island)

Pawtucket Falls is a waterfall on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Below the falls, the river becomes tidal and changes its name to the Seekonk River...

in downtown Pawtucket, was the first fully mechanized cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

-spinning

Spinning (textiles)

Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...

mill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

in America. Slater Mill is known for developing a commercially successful production process not reliant on earlier horse-drawn processes developed in America. He constructed and operated machines for producing yarn

Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...

. Other manufacturers continued, transforming Pawtucket into a center for textile

Textile

A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

s, iron working and other products.

The textile business in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

declined during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

with many manufacturers closing or moving their facilities South

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

where operations and labor were cheaper. But unlike numerous older mill town

Mill town

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...

s in the region, Pawtucket retained much of its industrial base. Today, goods produced in the city include lace

Lace

Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...

, non-woven and elastic woven materials, jewelry, silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

ware, metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

s and textiles. Hasbro

Hasbro

Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...

, one of the world's largest manufacturer of toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

s and game

Game

A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...

s, is headquartered in Pawtucket.

Originally, there were two Pawtuckets. Pawtucket west of the Blackstone River

Blackstone River

The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi...

used to be part of nearby North Providence. East of the Blackstone River was originally settled as part of the Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

town of Rehoboth

Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Rehoboth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,172 at the 2000 census.-History:It was incorporated in 1643 making it one of the earliest Massachusetts towns to be incorporated. The Rehoboth Carpenter Family is among the founding families...

. Once East Pawtucket (another alternate name for the area of Pawtucket east of the Blackstone) was transferred to Rhode Island in the 1860s, both sections (West and East Pawtucket) merged. It was later incorporated as a city.

Geography

Pawtucket is located at 41°52′32"N 71°22′34"W.

According to the United States Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 9 square miles (23.3 km²), of which, 8.7 square miles (22.5 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it (2.89%) is water. Pawtucket lies within three drainage basins. These include the Blackstone River

Blackstone River

The Blackstone River is a river in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately 48 mi and drains a watershed of approximately 540 sq. mi...

(including the Seekonk River), the Moshassuck River

Moshassuck River

The Moshassuck River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows from the town of Lincoln to the city of Providence. There are six dams along the river's length.- History :...

and the Ten Mile River

Ten Mile River

The Ten Mile River is a river within the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It flows approximately and drains a watershed of .The North Attleborough National Fish Hatchery is located in its upper reaches, and the river offers stocked trout fishing in the spring.The Ten Mile River was...

Demographics

As of the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 72,958 people, 30,047 households, and 18,508 families residing in the city. Pawtucket was the fourth most populous of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

was 8,351.2 people per square mile (3,223.0/km²). There were 31,819 housing units at an average density of 3,642.2 per square mile (1,405.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.39% White, 7.31% African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.85% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 10.75% from other races

Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 5.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.90% of the population.

There were 30,047 households out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.7% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

living together, 16.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the city, the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,775, and the median income for a family was $39,038. Males had a median income of $31,129 versus $23,391 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

for the city was $17,008. About 14.9% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.5% of those under age 18 and 15.2% of those age 65 or over.

According to the 2000 census, 20.6% of Pawtucket residents are French or French-Canadian. Like nearby cities Providence, RI; East Providence, RI; Fall River, MA; & New Bedford, MA; Pawtucket hosts a significant population from across the Portuguese Empire

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

(11.6%) plus an extremely significant Cape Verdean

Cape Verdean

Cape Verdean may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to the country of Cape Verde* A person from Cape Verde, or of Cape Verdean descent. For information about the Cape Verdean people, see Demographics of Cape Verde and Culture of Cape Verde. For specific persons, see List of Cape Verdeans.*...

population.
The segment from Cape Verde Islands was featured in this Zip Code USA article from National Geographic magazine.

Pawtucket is also one of the few areas of the United States with a significant Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

n population, mostly refugees from Charles Taylor's regime. Rhode Island has the highest per capita Liberian population in the country. Pawtucket has a very high concentration of West Africans.

Transportation

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Northeast Corridor

Northeast Corridor

The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...

and the MBTA

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...

's Providence/Stoughton Line

Providence/Stoughton Line

The Providence/Stoughton Line is a line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system running southwest from Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The main line was originally built by the Boston and Providence Rail Road, and now carries service between Boston and T. F. Green Airport, Rhode Island...

run through Pawtucket, though there is no stop for either in the city. Train service at the Pawtucket/Central Falls train station terminated in 1959. Recently there have been discussions to have the "T" stop in Pawtucket at the old train station (which would be substantially refurbished) or at a platform elsewhere on the line. Federal funding has been provided for preliminary planning of a MBTA station in the city, with a request for proposals expected in early 2011. Commuters can currently board MBTA trains at the South Attleboro

South Attleboro (MBTA station)

South Attleboro is the southernmost station in Massachusetts on the Providence/Stoughton Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail, and was the southernmost station on weekends, until June 29, 2006, when Rhode Island began funding weekend service to Providence...

stop, located off Newport Avenue just over the state line. The MBTA operates a layover facility in Pawtucket for trains on the Providence/Stoughton Line where the trains are kept overnight. The closest Amtrak station to Pawtucket is Providence Station.

Public bus transportation is available in the city. RIPTA

Rhode Island Public Transit Authority

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority provides public transportation, primarily buses, in the state of Rhode Island. The main hub of the RIPTA system is Kennedy Plaza, a large bus terminal in downtown Providence, Rhode Island...

operates a hub in downtown Pawtucket with routes to various parts of the city and to parts of nearby towns. Riders can also access RIPTA buses to Providence at the downtown hub, or on the Smithfield Avenue (#53) or Pawtucket Avenue (#99) routes. At Kennedy Plaza

Kennedy Plaza

Kennedy Plaza is a transportation hub in downtown Providence, Rhode Island next to the Providence City Hall and Providence Federal Building. It serves as the nexus of the state's conventional-bus and trolley-replica bus public transit services operated by Rhode Island Public Transit Authority , as...

, Providence's hub, riders can access routes to most parts of the state.

Highways and roads

Interstate 95

Interstate 95 in Rhode Island

Interstate 95, the main north–south Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States, runs generally southwest-northeast through the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It runs from the border with Connecticut near Westerly through Warwick and Providence and to the Massachusetts state line...

and U.S. 1

U.S. Route 1 in Rhode Island

In the U.S. state of Rhode Island, U.S. Route 1 is a major north–south state highway through Providence. Staying close to the Atlantic Ocean and Narragansett Bay, it is a longer route than Interstate 95, and many portions are a four-lane divided highway....

also traverse the western part of Pawtucket. Some of the slowest posted speeds on I-95 are in the city due to the "S-curves" near downtown. In order to preserve certain buildings in the city, planners snaked I-95 creating sharp bends in the highway.

Downtown Circulator

Pawtucket's Downtown Circulator was a one-way loop through downtown; it is similar to British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

concepts of ring road

Ring road

A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...

s. A similar concept was also tried in Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

.

The circulator used East Avenue, High Street, Summer Street, Goff Avenue, Dexter Street and Park Place West. Each half of the Circulator carried one direction of U.S. 1

U.S. Route 1 in Rhode Island

; sections also carried westbound RI 15 and northbound RI 114. It was signed with a big 'C' on overhead signs.

The circulator is no longer signed, though the road configuration remains. Providence's Downtown Ring Roads have suffered a similar fate.

Culture

The City of Pawtucket hired Researcher Ann Galligan, of Northeastern University, to create an arts and cultural plan. Allowing the city to become more proactive in retaining and attracting artists will enable city officials to allocate resources more effectively to meet the needs of Pawtucket's growing artist community.

Pawtucket is becoming known as a center for arts and culture. This reposted 2004 NY Times article describes the city's efforts to attract artists as well as its continuing problems with red tape. The 2008 documentary Pawtucket Rising
Pawtucket Rising
Pawtucket Rising is a 2008 documentary film directed and produced by Jason Caminiti.The film tells the decade-long story of how the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island revitalized itself and became known as "Rhode Island's Creative Community."- Plot :...

also chronicled the influx of artists and cultural activities into previously blighted areas of the city.

Each September, the city, in conjunction with members of the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, produces an annual Arts Festival. The city also hosts Riversing, an independently-produced, day-long musical event.

The American-French Genealogical Society was founded in Pawtucket in 1978.

Public schools

Public education in Pawtucket is directed by the Pawtucket School Department and contains these schools:

Senior high schools

William E. Tolman
William E. Tolman High School
William E. Tolman Senior High School is one of two public high schools located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States. It was built and opened in 1926 along the east bank of the Blackstone River as a "state of the art" educational facility...
Charles E. Shea
Shea High School
Charles E. Shea High School, commonly known as Shea High School, is an American secondary school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Shea is part of the Pawtucket School Department. The mascot is the "Shea High Raider". The school was named after a well-known Pawtucket resident, Charles E...
Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing & Visual Arts
Blackstone Academy Charter School
Blackstone Academy Charter School
Blackstone Academy Charter School, commonly known as Blackstone Academy or BACS, is an American secondary, public charter school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.- External links :*...

Junior high schools

Samuel Slater
Joseph Jenks
Joseph Jenckes
- Joseph Jencks I : Joseph Jencks settled in Lynn, Massachusetts by 1643, arriving as a widower. On March 6, 1646, he was awarded the first patent in North America by the General Court of Massachusetts, for making scythes. This basic scythe design remained in use for over 300 years...
Lyman B. Goff

Elementary schools

Elizabeth Baldwin
M. Virginia Cunningham
Flora S. Curtis
Curvin McCabe
Fallon Memorial
Nathanael Greene
Agnes E. Little
Potter Burns
Francis J. Varieur
Henry J. Winters

Catholic schools

The Quality Hill section of Pawtucket is home to St. Raphael Academy

St. Raphael Academy

Saint Raphael Academy is a Roman Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. It was founded in the tradition of Saint John Baptist de Lasalle and rooted in the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Academy welcomes students that are academically, economically,...

. It is a private college preparatory school founded on the basis of St. John the Baptist de la Salle. "Saints" is a small school consisting of roughly 500 students with a student to teacher ratio of about 15:2. The "Saints and Lady Saints" are very successful in sports including baseball, football, basketball, and softball. St. Raphael Academy

St. Raphael Academy

is a rival of William E. Tolman

William E. Tolman High School

William E. Tolman Senior High School is one of two public high schools located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States. It was built and opened in 1926 along the east bank of the Blackstone River as a "state of the art" educational facility...

. They took part in a Thanksgiving Day football game that was played in McCoy Stadium for over 70 years. This game is no longer played, as William E. Tolman now competes annually against its fellow Pawtucket public high school Charles E. Shea, rather than against St. Raphael Academy, a private Catholic high school.

Pawtucket is also home to Bishop Keough High School

Bishop Keough Regional High School

Bishop Keough Regional High School is a private, Roman Catholic, all-girls high school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.-Background:...

, a small all-girls catholic high school located in the Fairlawn neighborhood.

The city also has three catholic elementary schools: St. Cecilia School, St. Teresa School and Woodlawn Catholic Regional School.

Sports

Pawtucket is home to the Pawtucket Red Sox

Pawtucket Red Sox

The Pawtucket Red Sox are the minor league baseball Triple-A affiliates of the Boston Red Sox and belong to the International League...

, the AAA affiliate/Minor League team of the Boston Red Sox and owned by Ben Mondor

Ben Mondor

Bernard G. "Ben" Mondor was a Canadian-born American baseball executive.Mondor was born in 1925 in St. Ignace-du-Lac, Maskinongé, Quebec...

. The longest professional baseball game in history, 33 innings, was played at McCoy Stadium in 1981. Pawtucket has a history

History of Pawtucket Baseball

Professional baseball has been played in Pawtucket, Rhode Island since 1892 and continually since 1970. The first team to call Pawtucket home, the Secrets of the New England League, disbanded on July 26, 1892 with a dismal 17-43 record...

of professional baseball dating back to 1892, including the Pawtucket Indians

Pawtucket Indians

For the tribe, see PennacookThe Pawtucket Indians were a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Cleveland Indians. Located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the Pawtucket Indians existed from 1966 to 1967, playing in the Eastern League. They came into existence after 1965, when the Reading...

.

In 1934 the Narragansett Race Track

Narragansett Race Track

Narragansett Park was an American race track for Thoroughbred horse races in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. On May 18, 1934 a special election was held, where by a 4-1 margin, pari-mutual wagering was made legal. Walter E. O'Hara formed the Narragansett Racing Association and was named president and...

opened for Thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

. Until its closure in 1978, the track hosted several important races that drew some of the top horses from around the United States including Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

rs War Admiral

War Admiral

War Admiral was an American thoroughbred racehorse, the offspring of the great thoroughbred Man o' War and the mare Brushup. He inherited his father's fiery temperament and talent, but did not resemble him physically...

, Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression...

, and Gun Bow

Gun Bow

Gun Bow was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. Owned and bred by cosmetics tycoon Elizabeth Arden at her Maine Chance Farm, Gun Bow was sired by Gun Shot, a son of Hyperion, the 1933 Epsom Derby winner and a six-time leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland. He was out of the mare...

Parks and recreation

Slater Memorial Park

Slater Park

Slater Park is the oldest and largest public park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The park is named after Samuel Slater, a famous American industrialist who constructed America's first water-powered mill in Pawtucket. The park lies on the banks of the beautiful Ten Mile River and features the 1685...

has full recreational facilities including, tennis courts and picnic areas.

In popular culture

In the 1999 film Outside Providence
Outside Providence
Outside Providence is an English language novel by writer, producer, and director Peter Farrelly, published in 1988.-Plot summary:Largely an autobiographical tale, the novel revolves around Timothy "Dildo" Dunphy, a ne'er-do-well from the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, which borders Providence...

, the movie's main character, Tim Dunphy, grew up in Pawtucket (a city just outside Providence). Many different Pawtucket locations are seen in the movie, including the police station.
American Buffalo
American Buffalo (film)
American Buffalo is a 1996 British/American drama film directed by Michael Corrente and starring Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz, and Sean Nelson...

, a 1996 film, was filmed in Pawtucket.
Pawtucket has been frequently referenced in the cartoon series Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

, specifically the "Pawtucket Brewery" and the character "Pawtucket Pat", though no brewery exists in real Pawtucket. The toy company that Peter Griffin worked for early in the series was called the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Co, the name a loose parody based on the name of the Hasbro toy company based in Pawtucket.
In December 1993, a character on the short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

sitcom "Nurses" called Pawtucket a pit. Then-mayor Bob Metivier appeared on the show months later in a cameo looking for an apology.
The indoor pool at Tolman High School was used for the movie "Mermaids."
Mermaids (film)
Mermaids is a 1990 comedy-drama film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder , and Christina Ricci in her first film role...

Sister city

Belper
Belper
Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England.-Geography:Belper is situated eight miles north of Derby and is centred in the valley of the River Derwent...

, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, England, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

Belper was where Samuel Slater had been apprenticed to Jedediah Strutt

Jedediah Strutt

Jedediah Strutt or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelt it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England.Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed the production of ribbed stockings...

, learning the secrets of Richard Arkwright

Richard Arkwright

Sir Richard Arkwright , was an Englishman who, although the patents were eventually overturned, is often credited for inventing the spinning frame — later renamed the water frame following the transition to water power. He also patented a carding engine that could convert raw cotton into yarn...

's Water Frame

Water frame

The water frame is the name given to the spinning frame, when water power is used to drive it. Both are credited to Richard Arkwright who patented the technology in 1768. It was based on an invention by Thomas Highs and the patent was later overturned...

(and is sometimes known in that area as "Slater the traitor").

Notable residents

Adam J. Barlow, basketball player
Willard L. Beaulac
Willard L. Beaulac
Willard Leon Beaulac was a United States Diplomat. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, Colombia, Cuba, Chile and Argentina.-Biography:Ambassador Beaulac was born Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and was a graduate of Georgetown University ....

, diplomat
Don Bousquet
Don Bousquet
Don Bousquet is a Rhode Island-based cartoonist. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His cartoon Bousquet regularly appears in the Providence Journal, and his work has also appeared in numerous other publications, such as Yankee Magazine. Most of Don's best sellers were published by Covered...

, cartoonist
Jon B.
Jon B.
Jon B. is a Grammy nominated American R&B singer and songwriter.-Early life:...

, singer and songwriter
Ernie Calverley
Ernie Calverley
Ernest A. "Ernie" Calverley was an American basketball guard for the University of Rhode Island. His famous "shot heard round the world," a midcourt shot, as time expired at Madison Square Garden in the National Invitation Tournament moved URI past Bowling Green State University into the semifinal...

, basketball player
Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...

, composer and electronic musician
Aram Chobanian
Aram Chobanian
Aram V. Chobanian was president ad interim of Boston University from 2003 until June 9, 2005, when, in recognition of Chobanian’s work, the Board of Trustees voted to remove “ad interim” from his title and designate him the ninth president of Boston University. He had succeeded controversial B.U...

, cardiologist
Ruth Clifford
Ruth Clifford
Ruth Clifford was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from silent days into the television era.-Biography:A native of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, she attended St...

, silent film star
Jim Connors
Jim Connors
Jim "JC" Connors was a popular radio personality of the 1960s through 1980s in the United States.-Highlights:...

, radio personality
Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
Thomas Gardiner Corcoran was one of several Irish American advisors in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's brain trust during the New Deal, and later, a close friend and advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson....

, presidential advisor
Michael Corrente
Michael Corrente
Michael Corrente is an American film director and producer from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His films include A Shot at Glory, American Buffalo, Outside Providence, Brooklyn Rules and Federal Hill.-Biography:...

, independent film director
Alice Drummond
Alice Drummond
Alice Drummond is an American actress of stage and television.Drummond was born as Alice E. Ruyter in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, daughter of Sarah Irene , a secretary, and Arthur Ruyter, an auto mechanic. She graduated from Pembroke College in 1950.She played Nurse Jackson on the TV series Dark...

, actress
Jack Duffy
Jack Duffy (actor)
Jack Duffy was an American film actor. He appeared in 85 films between 1916 and 1937.He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and died in Hollywood, California. His sister was actress Kate Price....

, actor
Joseph L. Fisher
Joseph L. Fisher
Joseph Lyman Fisher is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He was a Democrat from Virginia....

, congressman
Joel Garreau
Joel Garreau
Joel Garreau is an American journalist, scholar and author of Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies – And What It Means to Be Human, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier and The Nine Nations of North America.In 2010, Garreau became the Lincoln Professor of Law,...

, journalist, editor and author
David Hartman
David Hartman (TV personality)
David Downs Hartman is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He currently anchors and hosts documentary programs on cable TV's History and on PBS. Hartman is best known as the first host of ABC's Good Morning America, from 1975 to 1987. As an actor, he...

, television personality
Julian Bosompem, music producer
Raymond Hood
Raymond Hood
Raymond Mathewson Hood was an early-mid twentieth century architect who worked in the Art Deco style. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, educated at Brown University, MIT, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the latter institution he met John Mead Howells, with whom Hood later partnered...

, architect
Galway Kinnell
Galway Kinnell
Galway Kinnell is an American poet. He was Poet Laureate of Vermont from 1989 to 1993. An admitted follower of Walt Whitman, Kinnell rejects the idea of seeking fulfillment by escaping into the imaginary world. His best-loved and most anthologized poems are "St...

, poet
Armand Lamontagne
Armand LaMontagne
Armand LaMontagne ranks as one of America's pre-eminent sculptors of celebrated personalities.-Education:LaMontagne is a graduate of Worcester Academy and Boston College. He is a self-taught artist who has honed his skills through practicing his profession.-Body of work:He is best recognized for...

, sculptor
John LaRose
John LaRose
Henry John LaRose is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the season. Listed at 6' 1", 185 lb., he batted and threw left-handed....

, baseball player
Irving R. Levine
Irving R. Levine
Irving Raskin Levine was an American journalist and longtime correspondent for NBC News. During his 45-year career, Levine reported from more than two dozen countries. He was the first American television correspondent to be accredited in the Soviet Union...

, journalist and foreign correspondent
Kevin Lima
Kevin Lima
Kevin Lima is an American film director who has directed a number of Disney films including his debut film A Goofy Movie in 1995, Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians, and Enchanted. He is married to Brenda Chapman, an animation Director at Pixar.-Life and career:Lima studied film and animation at the...

, film director
Peter Manfredo
Peter Manfredo
Peter Manfredo Jr. is a professional boxer. He is the IBO Middleweight champion. He held the NABO Light Middleweight IBU Light Middleweight EBA Light Middleweight...

, boxer
Rosario Mazzeo
Rosario Mazzeo
Rosario Mazzeo was an American clarinetist and clarinet system designer. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, and afterward lived in Boston, Massachusetts...

, clarinetist
Louis Monast
Louis Monast
Louis Monast was a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island.Born in Marieville de Monior, Iberville, Province of Quebec, Canada, MonastIn the spring of 1865 immigrated to the United States with his father, who settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.He attended parochial and night schools.He was employed...

, congressman
Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy may refer to:* Sean Murphy , cartoonist* Sean Murphy , professor at Royal Holloway, University of London* Seán Murphy , retired Irish football player...

, Musician
Abraham Nathanson
Abraham Nathanson
Abraham Nathanson was an American graphic designer. He created the game Bananagrams, a game that uses letter tiles similar to Scrabble with the addition of the element of speed....

(1929–2010), developer of the game Bananagrams
Bananagrams
Bananagrams is a word game invented by Abraham Nathanson of Narragansett, Rhode Island, wherein lettered tiles are used to spell words.Nathanson conceived and developed the idea for the game with the help of his family...

.
Morris Nathanson, architect
Chet Nichols, Jr.
Chet Nichols, Jr.
Chester Raymond Nichols, Jr. is a former professional baseball player. He was a pitcher over parts of nine seasons with the Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds. He was the National League ERA champion as a rookie in 1951 with the Braves...

, baseball player
Sam Patch
Sam Patch
Sam Patch , known as "The Yankee Leaper", became the first famous American daredevil after successfully jumping from a raised platform into the Niagara River near the base of Niagara Falls in 1829.-Biography:...

, daredevil
Gerry Philbin
Gerry Philbin
Gerald John Philbin is a former American collegiate football defensive tackle and four year starter from the University at Buffalo where he earned several honors including Second- team All-American, Little All-America, and All-American Academic team...

, football player
Red Pollard, Jockey
David Rawlings
David Rawlings
David Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli....

, musician
Charles Reilly, novelist
Al Rockoff
Al Rockoff
Al Rockoff is an American photojournalist made famous by his coverage of the Vietnam War and of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. He was portrayed in the Academy Award winning film The Killing Fields by actor John Malkovich, although he has never been happy with this...

, photojournalist
Ken Ryan
Ken Ryan
Kenneth Frederick Ryan, Jr. , is a retired professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1992-1999. He is currently working for NESN as a baseball analyst....

, baseball player
Walter Schroder
Walter Schröder
Walter Schröder is a German rower who competed for the Unified Team of Germany in the 1960 Summer Olympics.In 1960 he was a crew member of the German boat which won the gold medal in the eights event.-External links:*...

, author and lecturer
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...

, industrialist
Hank Soar
Hank Soar
Albert Henry Soar was an American football running back and defensive back in the National Football League who went on to have a long career as an umpire in Major League Baseball...

, football player, baseball umpire
Anne Morgan Spalter
Anne Morgan Spalter
Anne Morgan Spalter is a new media artist working from Anne Spalter Studios in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. Spalter is also the author of the widely used text The Computer in the Visual Arts...

, artist
Samuel Starkweather
Samuel Starkweather
Samuel Starkweather was mayor of Cleveland from 1844–1845 and served a second term from 1857–1858....

, politician
Minton Warren
Minton Warren
Minton Warren , American classical scholar, was born at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on 29 January 1850, a descendant of Richard Warren, who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620.-Biography:Warren was educated at Tufts College and subsequently at Yale...

, scholar
Craig Watjen (1936–2010), assistant treasurer at Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

.
Tim White
Tim White (wrestling)
Timothy Rhys White is a former professional wrestling referee. He worked with World Wrestling Entertainment as a producer on the SmackDown! brand...

, professional wrestling referee
Gary Whitehead
Gary Whitehead
Gary Joseph Whitehead is an American poet, painter, and cruciverbalist. He is the author of Measuring Cubits while the Thunder Claps , The Velocity of Dust , After the Drowning , A Cool, Dry Place , and Walking...

, poet and painter
Jeff Xavier
Jeff Xavier
Jeff Xavier is a Cape Verdean American basketball player, and a 2009 graduate of Providence College. Xavier transferred to Providence after two years at Manhattan College. Xavier is a member of the Cape Verde national basketball team. He is a graduate of St...

, basketball player
Les Pawson
Les Pawson
Les Pawson was an American marathon runner. Pawson worked in the mills of Rhode Island and for the city of Pawtucket parks department while he was one of the finest road runners in the United States.Pawson's major competition was provided by John A. Kelley, Ellison Brown, and Gerard Cote...

, 3-time Boston Marathon winner

External links

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