On the evening of June 9th, 1772, over 50 patriots from the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations met at the house of Mr. James Sabin in Providence to discuss a unique opportunity. The troublesome British revenue ship, H.M.S. Gaspee, had run aground and would be stuck until at least 3:00 AM. Seizing the opportunity, the patriots boarded eight longboats and rowed out to Namquid Point off the coast of Warwick. There, they boarded the vessel, removed the crew of the Gaspee, and burnt the ship to the waterline. Rhode Island had just fired the first shot against the British in the war for Independence. The Burning of the Gaspee is still celebrated each June in Rhode Island with a parade, a muster of colonial troops, and a reenactment of the ship’s burning.
Sabin’s home, which doubled as a tavern at the time, no longer exists in its original location. Before it was demolished, the room in which the patriots met was moved to the corner of Williams and East Streets, about a mile from the water front, and attached to the house that was already standing in that location. This room where Rhode Islanders planned the assault on the Gaspee is shown in today’s photo. The house is now a condominium, and there is a plaque in that room commemorating the event. Expect to see more photos related to the Gaspee Incident, as it was known in Colonial times, the closer we get to this year’s 240th anniversary of the event.
I wanted to show age in today’s photo. To start that effect, I placed a texture layer that has numerous scratches and blotches above the background layer, and used a hard light blend mode at 70% opacity to produce the faded and scratched effect you see here. I then layered a black and white gradient map in color blend mode to convert the image to black and white. I adjusted the levels to bring the image brightness and contrast back to a desired value. I added a sepia photo filter, and then, to produce the final weathered look for the photo I added a yellow to brown gradient map in soft light blend mode at 72% opacity. If they had cameras in 1772, this is how I would imagine a surviving image to look.
To think people may be drinking coffee and having their breakfast in that same room. Very interesting narrative, and I love the shot.....you've given it that perfect aged look......it looks like it's come straight out of an old book :-)
@calm Thanks, Cathy! Even more amazing is that they thought to do this in the 1890s. That's before preserving history became fashionable. @allisonrap Thanks, Allison! That was my feeling when I had brunch at the White Horse Tavern in Newport. The sense of history was astonishing.
@tabithasyear Thanks, Tabitha! The East Side of Providence has tons of homes that go back to the early-to-mid 1700s. Then several blocks away, there are tons of Queen Anne style Victorian homes. I could spend two years of 365 just shooting on the East Side!
April 20th, 2012
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@allisonrap Thanks, Allison! That was my feeling when I had brunch at the White Horse Tavern in Newport. The sense of history was astonishing.
@megsy Thanks, Megsy! I only wish the umbrella wasn't in the scene. LOL