Pontiac changes during the Depression Years
As the twentieth century progressed, Pontiac felt the impact of the
weakening of the textile industry. The strike of 1921 and the economic
depression that followed a brief period of prosperity changed the
village's concept toward the paternalism that dominated the village at
the turn of the century. Thanks to better education and methods of
communication, Pontiac's mill workers began to realize that there were
alternatives to living in the shadow of the mills.
A new Era begins
The trolley line, which was established in 1910, made it much easier to
commute to Providence and Cranston. New immigrants, some of them
working in Warwick's mills and others who found it easier to live in
Warwick, began to populate the area. Gradually, the close parochial
sections of Pontiac began to broaden and become more cosmopolitan.
World War I introduced Warwick and Rhode Island into a much larger
world, and new problems arose that showed the paternalistic mill
villages as dominated by the B. B. & R. Knight Company at a
disadvantage. Strikes, layoffs, and outside agitators convinced the
workers that they were being discriminated against economically and the
great textile industry began to weaken and totter.
Prohibition and Speakeasies
During the early part of the century, the Temperance Movement seemed to
have triumphed when the Eighteenth, or Prohibition, Amendment was
passed in 1919. It soon became obvious, however, that the law was
practically unenforceable. Warwick's small town police force could do
very little to stop the speakeasies that quickly came into existence.
Many in Pontiac made their own beer, wine, and other intoxicating
beverages. Nearby Arctic and sections of Warwick became notorious as a
"place to get a drink." It has been said that as one of the illegal
establishments was closed by the police, three others opened up.
Dark Clouds and Silver Linings
Of a more threatening nature to most Pontiac residents was the
beginning of economic depression. The mills slowed down in their
production and jobs were scarce. With very little work being offered,
the children in Pontiac, who earlier would have worked in the mills,
stayed in school and began taking a greater interest in what was
happening in areas beyond the village. Pontiac's young people were
growing up in a world of rapid changes and were anxious to be part of
the progress being made.
An Airport for Warwick
In 1929, Warwick's Hillsgrove section was selected as the site for the
State Airport, again creating the catalyst that would greatly alter the
town's environment. The new facility opened on Sept. 26, 1931. Many
from Pontiac, young and old, turned out for the festivities that
attracted a crowd of over 15,000.
Becoming a city
Warwick's population in 1930 had risen to 23,196, giving rise to a
general feeling that the town meeting form of government was no longer
adequate. In 1931, Warwick became Rhode Island's eleventh city when its
voters approved a charter for a mayor council plan of city government.
When Perce Brereton took office as Warwick's first mayor, Warwick was
still divided over becoming a city or remaining a small rural
community. Pontiac, as Warwick's most clearly identified mill village,
was going to be torn by a desire to retain the advantages of the past
and still enjoy the benefits of the late twentieth century. Merging two
different eras was not an easy task. Pontiac's mills, schools, and
churches were changed dramatically in the period that witnessed an
economic depression, a hurricane and a major war.
The story of Pontiac during the mid twentieth century will be continued.
One
of the most significant changes in Warwick came in the 1930s when the
State Airport came into existence. Workers, laid off from the mills,
welcomed the opportunity to work on laying the runways in Hillsgrove.
From the Henry A. L. Brown Collection.