Joe Fitz remembers

Joe Fitzpatrick, who later was the stage manager at the Theatre at Rocky Point, remembers the fine bathing beach between the baseball field and the dining hall and has especially fond memories of the Rocky Point Theatre. He recalled that the theatre had five dressing rooms for its performers and many of the top vaudeville stars performed at the park. Rocky Point was able to take advantage of the Providence ordinance that barred vaudeville in the city on Sundays. Top name acts on the Keith circuit, which came to Providence Keith-Albee Theatre, played at Rocky Point, as Warwick had no such ordinance.

In the years preceding World War I, the motion pictures were beginning to come into their own. As Rocky Point usually had the newest films, people came from miles around. It was not uncommon for chauffer-driven Rolls Royce or Packard limousines to drive up with their passengers on a regular basis. Admission was 10 cents, but the best seats in the center aisle cost an additional nickel.

In the first two decades of the 20th century there were still many more horses and carriages than there were automobiles, but the trend towards the motor car was sure and steady. The first automobile in the area was here in 1898 and it was a steam-powered car. By 1901 an electric “truck” was already making deliveries in Providence, and by 1920 the gasoline-powered automobile was here to stay. From less than 800 automobiles registered in Rhode Island in 1900, the number had grown to well over 40,000 by 1920. This meant an increased popularity of Warwick as a resort area and, as a result, the communities of Lakewood and Pawtuxet grew as suburban entities.

While much of Warwick was farmland, the mill villages of Apponaug, Pontiac and Hillsgrove were very important and Warwick’s prosperity depended upon them. After a number of difficult years when production nearly ceased, the Apponaug Bleaching, Dyeing and Print Works Co. concentrated on the printing of staple cotton fabrics and enjoyed a limited success until 1913 when, under the leadership of J.P. Farnsworth, it made a major change and began a period of unprecedented prosperity.

Farnsworth and his colleagues decided to direct the company toward the development of finishing processes for fine textiles instead of staple fabrics. This field, which eventually included the finer grades of cotton, rayon, Celanese and mixed fabrics, required a greater technical skill and more delicate workmanship. Fortunately, the company was able to acquire the skills of Alfred L. Lustig, one of the world’s foremost color chemists. In 1913, after a brilliant career as a chemist, he was persuaded to come to Apponaug as the general manager of the Apponaug Company. In 1917, when Farnsworth died, Lustig was made the president of the company. Under Lustig’s leadership, the Apponaug plant became a major employer in Warwick, attracting skilled workers from nearby Natick, Clyde and Riverpoint.

A complete transition from vaudeville to silent movies to the “talkies” took place in Warwick in less than 20 years. This rapid change came against a background of drastic departures from the lifestyle enjoyed in the 19th century mill villages. During this time, Warwick residents were thrust into a world far different from that of their fathers. Among the many political and economic changes they witnessed was a major war involving nearly every country in the western world. The use of telephones, which were now extended into the town, combined with a higher literacy rate helped to make townsmen more aware of national and world events.

The great optimism, patriotism and altruism spurred on by President Woodrow Wilson’s eloquent pleas to fight the “war to end all wars” and “make the world safe for democracy” prompted large numbers of volunteers from Warwick and the Pawtuxet Valley to join the more than 28,000 Rhode Island troops when America entered the war.

Many mill workers, feeling great sympathy for Italy and France, enlisted in the 11th Company, Coast Artillery Corps of the Rhode Island National Guard. In July 1918 they were inducted into federal service, and some were assigned to the Headquarters Co. of the 66th Regiment, Field Artillery. Because of their fluency in French, coupled with obvious intelligence, workers who held only the most menial jobs in the mills now found themselves in positions of responsibility and command.

Unfortunately, the enthusiasm and patriotism once felt by Rhode Islanders turned to bitter cynicism by the 1920s. Warwick citizens, predominantly pro-French and pro-Ally, were bitterly disappointed with the inadequate Treaty of Versailles, which saw our fondest dreams shattered as the European countries sought revenge and “divided the spoils” of war.

While there was some prosperity in the textile industry as a result of the war, many returning soldiers were no longer content with life in the paternalistic villages. In 1919 the Knight family sold their fabulous empire to the Consolidated Textile Corporation of New York for a reported $20 million, and within a year the prosperity that followed World War I disappeared.

The poor foreign policies of President Warren G. Harding’s administration, coupled with the failure of Rhode Island manufacturers to improve and update their holdings, saw the beginning of the end of the once predominant textile industry along the Pawtuxet River.