Joseph Jenks, Jr. (1632–1717), considered to be the founder of Pawtucket, left Saugus, Massachusetts, and built a house on the west side of the Blackstone River. The area was the northern boundary of Roger Williams’ settlement of Providence
American industrialists such as Moses Brown were struggling to build a consistently working spinning machine. Moses, with his son-in-law William Almy and his cousin Smith Brown, started a mill in Pawtucket and wanted to manufacture cloth for sale, using water-powered spinning wheels, jennies, and frames
Samuel Slater and Moses Brown opened their first factory in Pawtucket, now preserved as the Slater Mill Museum. This moment marks the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution and sets the stage for the waves of immigration that would bring soccer to Rhode Island.
Early 1800s — The Industrial Revolution was the time when machines gradually replaced manual labor in manufacturing and production. The water-powered spinning frame changed textile making in America from a home-based cottage industry to a large-scale mechanized production system.
Francis Cabot Lowell established the Boston Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts, where all aspects of production—spinning, weaving, dyeing, and cutting—were completed in a single plant. The Waltham mill also pioneered the process of mass production, which required large numbers of workers.
Pawtucket had thirteen textile mills and several machine shops.
Skilled workers from Scotland and England arrived to help establish Pawtucket’s industries, bringing with them a love for the game of football (soccer).
A collapse in the cotton goods market devastated Pawtucket’s manufacturing businesses; recovery started slowly but steadily increased in the subsequent twenty years.
Pawtucket had 3,300 residents.
With the increased success of steam power, factories were no longer bound to the river.