Rhode Island Tercentenary Issue First Day Cover
300th Anniversary of the Settlement of Rhode Island
Issued on May 4, 1936 in Providence, RI - Scott #777

First New Arcade Stamp Company - Planty #39
Unofficial Town Cancel for Warren, RI

The Warren Post Office, (Warren Township, Bristol County) was established around 1791-92 under Postmaster Nathaniel Phillips. (The first official records date to July 31, 1792.) This Post Office is currently in operation.

This cover has an unofficial City First Day Cancel from Warren, RI and was doubly of interest as a collectable to me as I grew up in Saunderstown, RI and worked on the farm of Irving R. Hazard. Irving was also an avid stamp collector and it was he who first introduced me to the joys of stamp collecting. Frank Hazard was a stamp dealer and the owner of First Arcade Stamp Company. The Hazard family is an old Rhode Island family dating back to the founding of the colony. I believe that Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of  The Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812 is also related.

SEE: The Hazard Family Letters, Covers & History

The area where Warren now stands was once home to Massasoit, Chief of the Wampanoag Tribe. A trading post was established there around 1632 by the Plymouth Colony and in 1636 Roger Williams took refuge there with Massasoit when he was banished from Salem.

During King Philip's War (1675-1676) the town was completely destroyed, however after hostilities ended the town was quickly rebuilt. By the mid 1700s the town was well established as a major whaling port and shipbuilding center. During the Revolutionary War; Warren was raided and sacked in 1878 by the British. Warren's first Cotton Mill was established in 1847 by the Warren Manufacturing Company.

Sources:
Check List of Rhode Island Post Offices 1790-1994 - Del Beaudreau
Rhode Island Postal History: The Post Offices - Merolla, Jackson & Crowther