Providence, RI June 18

Providence/Woonsocket Falls, RI

Roger Williams, an exiled Puritan from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settled Providence in 1636, advocating separation of church and state.  Expected to fail, he developed good relations with the natives, who helped him survive the early years.  His settlement attracted many others and eventually succeeded.

We visited a museum in Woonsocket, RI dedicated to the immigrants who came to this area to build a better life for themselves and their families.  The Blackstone River was ideal for water power, dropping 438 feet over 46 miles.

 


Samuel Slater, an English American industrialist, brought British textile technology to the US, becoming "The Father of the American Industrial Revolution".  He set up the first successful water powered roller spinning textile mill in America here around 1790.

The Museum of Work and Culture highlights the life of immigrants who came to this area.  Over 35,000 French Canadians came here from the Quebec area from 1860-1900.  They were preceded by the Irish, and followed by Eastern Europeans, then Central/South Americans. Just another story of how immigrants have built this country.  It's a shame we can't find a way to develop a common sense immigration policy.  They deserve better and we deserve better.

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The exhibits were first class; above an example of textile manufacturing.



Woonsocket Falls today.


Newport Car Museum

Gunther Buerman, after a very successful career as a lawyer, and his wife, Maggie, decided 5 years ago to either sell their car collection or open a museum.  Fortunately they decided on the latter.  About 90 pristine cars to date, arranged in an artful way, with relevant music, video and pictures, has made this a top attraction in the area.  We visited on a Sunday and the place was packed.  Every car was in top condition from an 1886 Mercedes Benz reproduction to a 2017 Lamborghini GT Aventador (value roughly $500,000) and a 2019 Porsche Spyder ($900,000).  Saw my original 1969 GTO with a Beach Boys song in the background, great memories.  Total value of the collection $40,000,000 and growing.  Buerman's goal, everyone leaves with a smile.  We sure did.










First internal combustion car, 1886 Benz, financed and driven by Bertha Benz, who used her garter belt to fix an electrical short.  Reproduction.









Italian greatness, 2017 Lamborghini, beautiful





Little Iso, highly fuel efficient, easy to drive on narrow, crowded European streets, this car helped BMW recover from their near total devastation during WWII.



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