Warwick, Rhode Island

Warwick (/ˈwɒrɪk/ WORR-ik or /ˈwɔːrwɪk/ WOR-wik) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States, and is the third-largest city in the state, with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 census. Warwick is located approximately 12 miles (19 km) south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, 63 miles (101 km) southwest of Boston, Massachusetts, and 171 miles (275 km) northeast of New York City.

Warwick was founded by Samuel Gorton in 1642 and has witnessed major events in American history. It was decimated during King Philip's War (1675–1676) and was the site of the Gaspee Affair, the first act of armed resistance against the British, preceding even the Boston Tea Party, and a significant prelude to the American Revolution. Warwick was also the home of Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, George Washington's second-in-command, and Civil War General George S. Greene, a hero of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Today, it is home to Rhode Island's main airport, T. F. Green Airport, which serves the Providence area and also functions as a reliever for Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Warwick was also home to Rocky Point, which closed in 1995 and is now a state park.

Warwick was settled by Samuel Gorton in 1642. Narragansett Sachem Miantonomi sold him the Shawhomett Purchase for 144 fathoms of wampum. This included the towns of Coventry and West Warwick, Rhode Island. However, Sachems Sacononoco and Pumham claimed that Miantonomi had sold the land without asking for their approval. They took their case to Boston, where they placed their lands under Massachusetts rule. In 1643, Massachusetts Bay Colony sent a militia force to Shawomett to arrest Gorton and his followers. After a tense standoff, all but three of the Gortonists surrendered to the Massachusetts forces. Gorton then sailed back to England and sought a charter from the King. He was greatly assisted in gaining it by Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, so Gorton and his fellow settlers changed the name of their colony from Shawumet to Warwick.

The ongoing harassment from Massachusetts Bay Colony, however, caused the other three colonies on Narragansett Bay (Providence Plantations, Portsmouth, and Newport) to unite with Warwick and get a British royal charter allowing them to form the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

In 1772, Warwick was the scene of the first violent act against the British Crown in the Gaspee Affair. Local patriots boarded the Gaspee, a revenue cutter that enforced the Stamp Act 1765 and Townshend Acts in Narragansett Bay. It was here that the first blood was spilled in the American Revolution when Gaspee's commanding officer Lt. Dudingston was shot and seriously wounded during the struggle for the ship. The Gaspee was stripped of all cannons and arms, then burned.

During the Revolution, Warwick militiamen participated in the battles of Montreal, Quebec, Saratoga, Monmouth, and Trenton, and they were present for the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781.

Major traversing highways include: