Father & Son Café, An Apponaug landmark
One of Apponaug's longest continuously used buildings is the one
known to thousands of Rhode Islanders as the Father & Son Café.
It's history as a restaurant began before World War II and has continued
through two World Wars, the Korean Conflict and Vietnam. For 60
years the Father and Son Café was a popular dining and drinking
establishment. Its patrons were residents from all walks of life,
including the rich and the poor of the state as well as politicians
and famous actors and actresses from the Warwick Musical Theatre.
It has survived not only the major wars, but also Prohibition, Depression,
the rush to suburbia, hurricanes and blizzards. Eventually, near
the close of the century, the old restaurant at 3301 Post Road had
run its course and today it is the Eastern Star restaurant.
Blackmar's store
Long time Apponaug activist and historian, Dorothy Mayor, tells
us that the building came into existence in 1832. This was a time
of serious expansion in Apponaug, as the village was fast becoming
the hub of Warwick's growing industries. The textile industry had
been well established in the Pawtuxet Valley by this time and while
Apponaug was no longer the thriving seaport it had once been, it
was the municipal and retail center of the town of Warwick. Josiah
Westcott, who saw Apponaug as a fast growing village, used the building
as his house and store. Dorothy Mayor tells us that the structure
was once on the south side of the street before being moved to its
present location.
In 1880, the dwelling became Blackmar's store and a handsome porch
was added to it. Blackmar did well in this post Civil War period
as the mills attracted businessmen and workers. Stores during this
time sold a great variety of goods and served as a communication
center for the town. As the mills prospered, immigrants from Ireland,
French-Canada and Italy changed much of the ethnic background of
the town. Many of these newcomers were males, looking for places
to room and board. A number of the householders in the area rented
out spare rooms and provided meals for the mill hands. It soon became
obvious that a restaurant close by would be a welcome addition.
Father & Son
Albertine Coutu, recognizing the potential for a restaurant near
Apponaug's Four Corners, purchased the building in 1914 and the
Father and Sons Restaurant became a reality. At first, only a small
part of the property was used as a restaurant. The section of the
building closest to the Four Corners was a post office for a number
of years before the Coutus changed it to a poolroom and then a bar.
Felix Coutu, Sr. drastically changed the appearance of the restaurant
by bringing the front out to the width of the porch. He built a second
story above this, removed the pitched roof and gave the building the
appearance it has today. As was common during the early twentieth
century, the second story of the building was used by the Coutu family
as their dwelling.
During the difficult 1930s, when many of Warwick's mill hands were
desperate for work, Felix Coutu added a light touch to the times
by painting his Austin motor car to advertise the Father & Son
Café in the 1930s. At that time, the café's address
was 250 Main Street. When Main Street became Post Road, it was changed
to 3301 Post Road.
The car became a familiar sight and the advertising was a morale
booster. The idea of good food and plenty of it, at a very reasonable
price, kept the Father & Son Restaurant a popular spot for many
decades. During the post World War II years, when many were leaving
the city for the suburbs and Warwick was growing at an unprecedented
rate, new residents quickly learned that Coutu's restaurant was
one that could be counted upon for good food and service.
Much of the same might be said today as the area supports a number
of restaurants, including the Greenwood Inn on Jefferson Boulevard
and the newly renovated Remington House (formerly the Boathouse
Tavern) on Post Road as well as the state's oldest McDonald's and
a relatively new Burger King.
The Arnold Tavern became the Apponaug Hotel
Unfortunately, the twentieth century saw the demolition of many of the
finer buildings of the village. In the late 18th and early 19th
centuries, there were two taverns, a blacksmith shop and a house owned
by Samuel Greene on the Four Corners.
The most famous tavern was the old Arnold Tavern. It was a stagecoach
stop in the 1700's and a favorite place for town meetings before
the 1835 Town Hall was built.
Apponaug historian, Dorothy Mayor, in her booklet, "I Remember
Apponaug", notes, "It is difficult to accurately date
this old tavern which stood on the northeast corner of the Four
Corners. It existed in the 1700's and the east end, which was the
manor house of Joseph Stafford, was probably erected in the late
1500's". Other historians, such as L. Hazard Knowles, point
out that the function of a tavern in Colonial times was a great
deal more than what the term implies today. He indicated that it
was a welcome stop for weary travelers, and a place to get fresh
horses. While serving as the equivalent of our hotels and restaurants
of today, it also functioned as a meeting place for town officials
and a gathering place for the citizens of the area. In order to
run a tavern, a man had to have a very good reputation and be a
man of quality.
The Arnold Tavern, which was on the north east corner where until
recently there was a Shell gas station, became the Apponaug Hotel in
the mid-19th century. It was rebuilt in the Victorian Style with a
Mansard roof, and was one of the village's most important landmarks
until it was torn down in the 1960's. At its height, many salesmen and
textile industry representatives found it a very convenient place to
stay while doing business with the Oriental Print Works and the
Apponaug Company. During the 20th century there were a number of shops
in the old hotel.
Unfortunately, the old Arnold Tavern, which later became the Apponaug
Hotel, was demolished to make room for a gasoline station. Early in the
21st century, the Shell gasoline station closed and at the present
time, the lot is unoccupied.
The Harrop-Moore house
Beyond the gas station, until it was demolished in the closing years of
the twentieth century, was another Mansard roofed building. This was
the Harrop-Moore house, which had a long and colorful history. Around
the time of the Civil War, there was a demand for rooming houses and
other commercial buildings. It is generally believed the house was
built by Orin Kinne, a well-known merchant, who ran a general store
there in 1870. At that time, the house was a two-story structure with
the third floor and the handsome mansard roof of the Second Empire Era
was added, circa 1882. A number of other buildings in Apponaug acquired
Mansard roofs at about this time. One fine example is the present day
Chamber of Commerce building, which was once the Abbot Hotel.
Eventually, the house was owned by George Harrop, one of Apponaug's
most colorful characters. Under Mr. Harrop, the house was used as
a rooming house for men boarders from the Apponaug Print Works,
as a millinery shop, and as his private residence. Harrop, one of
Apponaug's early plumbers, was often seen driving around town well
into the 1930s in his old Model T Ford with solid rubber tires.
Despite the fact that he was a plumber, he never got around to adding
bathrooms in the old house. George Harrop died in May 1938 and the
house became the property of his niece, Beatrice Hunter. She recalled
that the Hurricane of that year did a great deal of damage to the
old building and knocked down the old outhouse. Harrop was also
the man who was the projectionist at the movie theatre in the village
for many years.
He is most remembered, however, for his refusal to allow the state to
remove his front porch when they wanted to widen the road in the 1930s.
Harrop, then in his 80s, camped on the porch and refused to move. After
a number of threats and attempted bribes, the state relented and the
road was built with a jog in it around the house, leaving the front
porch intact. When he died in 1938, the state again widened the road
and this time, the Harrop porch was removed. In 1983, Charles A. Moore,
III did a wonderful job of renovating the old building. In time,
however, the need for space and the demands of the modern era witnessed
the demolition of the old house shortly before the end of the twentieth
century. .