Hard Scrabble and Snow Town facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hard Scrabble
|
|
|---|---|
|
Former neighborhood
|
|
 Hard Scrabble
Location in Rhode Island
|
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Rhode Island |
| City | Providence |
| Established | circa 1800 |
Hard Scrabble (Addison Hollow) and Snow Town were two neighborhoods located in Providence, Rhode Island in the nineteenth century. They were the sites of race riots in which working-class white residents destroyed multiple black homes and businesses in 1824 and 1831, respectively.
Hard Scrabble
Hard Scrabble was a predominantly black neighborhood in northwestern Providence in the early 19th century. Away from the town center, its inexpensive rents attracted working class free blacks, poor people of all races and marginalized businesses. It was perceived by many white neighbors as a blight the town. Tensions developed between the residents of Hard Scrabble and other residents of Providence. Hard Scrabble was one of several similar neighborhoods in urban centers in the Northeast where free blacks gathered to further themselves socially and economically. Other African American communities created in cities with growing job markets in the same time period include the northern slope of Boston’s Beacon Hill, Little Liberia in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Sandy Ground on New York's Staten Island.
On October 18, 1824, a brawl started in the neighborhood after a black man refused to get off the sidewalk when approached by some whites. The following evening a mob of white residents attacked the homes and businesses of Black residents while many more looked on. Eyewitness accounts describe between 40 and 60 people actively tearing apart homes, some armed with axes and clubs. In total approximately 20 buildings were destroyed by the rioters. The Violence lasted from between 7pm and around 2 or 3am when the rioters voted to adjourn.
Location and memorialization
.jpg)
The exact location of the Hard Scrabble and Snow Town neighborhoods within northwestern Providence has been a matter of some dispute, which complicated efforts to memorialize Hard Scrabble. Partly this is due to the neighborhoods being poorly recorded in state records. From the records of the riot, Hardscrabble may have stood around the corner of Smith Street and North Main street, though other theories have been suggested. In 2006, a memorial plaque was installed in a grass-covered traffic island at the corner of North Main and Canal Streets near the State House. This plaque has since been moved to Francis Street south of Gaspee Street as of 2024.
Snow Town was located on Smith Hill where the State Capital and the Providence Train Station sit today. Several buildings that belonged to the neighborhood still stood during the Capital's construction, though all have since been torn down. A memorial for the Snow Town riot is located nearby at the Roger Williams National Memorial.
Images for kids
-
Map of Providence in 1823, one year before the Hard Scrabble Riot.
