Historical Society Plans Battle Of Rhode Island Commemoration

PORTSMOUTH, RI — Officials from the Portsmouth Historical Society have announced plans to begin preliminary planning to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Rhode Island, which was fought at Butts Hill Fort with an event next week to raise awareness of the historical significance of the site.

The Revolutionary War battle was fought in August 1778 at Butts Hill Fort in Portsmouth. The site remains the largest remaining Revolutionary War fort in southeastern New England, according to the historical society.

After the war, most forts were destroyed by farming, but, according to officials, but the Fort Butts area was much too rocky to be farmed. The area became overgrown and was taken over by the state of Rhode Island in 1934 before state officials turned the property over to the Town of Portsmouth in 1968 for one dollar.

The Portsmouth Historical Society will host an event at the fort on Saturday, August 29th to commemorate the battle to commemorate the battle and start a movement to develop the fort area into a public park to properly commemorate the 250th anniversary of the battle in 2028, officials announced in a news release.

Ad part of next week’s event, the Historical Society will have Revolutionary War memorabilia and exhibits and a lecture on the fort’s history by Town Historian Jim Garman. The event will be held between 9-10:30 AM with Garman’s lecture at 9:30 AM.

Visitors are encouraged to enter the site via Butts St off Sprague St. just east of Education Zne. For more information about the event or the fort, go to www.PortsmouthHistorical.org of email pHSInfo@PortsmouthHistorical.org.