Editing Pawtucket, Rhode Island (section)

==History==
The name "Pawtucket" comes from the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] word for "river fall."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=13446|title=Profile for Pawtucket, Rhode Island, RI|publisher=ePodunk|access-date=August 24, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006102654/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=13446|archive-date=October 6, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Bird's eye view of Pawtucket & Central Falls, R.I. 1877. LOC 75696564.jpg|thumb|left|Panoramic map of Pawtucket and [[Central Falls]] (1877)]]
[[File:Pawtucket, RI 1886 engraving.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Pawtucket in 1886|Pawtucket in 1886 viewed from the steeple of the [[Pawtucket Congregational Church]]]]

The Pawtucket region was said to have been one of the most populous places in New England prior to the arrival of European settlers.<ref name=250years>{{cite book|last1=Greene|first1=Welcome Arnold|title=The Providence Plantations for 250 Years|date=1886|publisher=J.A. & R.A. Reid|location=Providence, RI|pages=375–379}}</ref> American Indians would catch the salmon and smaller fish that gathered at the falls.<ref name=250years /> The first settler here was [[Joseph Jenckes Jr.]] who came to the region from [[Lynn, Massachusetts]].<ref name=250years /> He purchased about 60 acres near Pawtucket Falls in 1671,<ref name=250years /> then established a sawmill and forge.<ref name=250years /> The entire town was destroyed during [[King Philip's War]].<ref name=250years />

Other settlers followed Jenks, and the area became home to manufacturers of muskets, linseed oil, potash, and ships by 1775.<ref name="250years" /> Also around this time, [[David Wilkinson (machinist)|Oziel Wilkinson]] and his family set up an iron forge that made anchors, nails, screws, farm implements, and cannons.<ref name="250years" />

By the 1920s, Pawtucket was a prosperous mill town. The city had a half-dozen movie theaters, two dozen hotels, and an impressive collection of fine commercial and residential architecture.<ref name="projo1997">{{cite news|publisher=The Providence Journal-Bulletin|page=D6|title=The Leroy Theatre, RIP|date=14 September 1997|location=Providence, RI}}</ref> Perhaps the most impressive public building in Pawtucket was the [[Leroy Theatre]], an ornate movie palace that was called "Pawtucket's Million Dollar Theater".<ref name="projo1997" /> Many wealthy mill owners such as [[Darius Goff]] built their mansions in the area.<ref name="Grieve">{{cite book |last=Grieve |first=Robert |title=Illustrated History of Pawtucket, Central Falls and Vicinity |date=1897 |publisher=Henry R. Caufield |location=Providence |pages=324–326|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/articles/103.html}}</ref>

In 1922, it was affected by the [[1922 New England Textile Strike#Pawtucket & Shooting|1922 New England Textile Strike]], shutting down the mills in the city over an attempted wage cut and hours increase.<ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last1=Foner |first1=Philip Sheldon |title=History of the labor movement in the United States. 9: The T.U.E.L. to the end of the Gompers era / by Philip S. Foner |last2=Foner |first2=Philip Sheldon |date=January 1, 1991 |publisher=Intl Publ |isbn=978-0-7178-0674-4 |location=New York |pages=19–31}}</ref><ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=E. Tilden |first=Leonard |date=1923 |title=New England Textile Strike |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41828627 |journal=Monthly Labor Review |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=13–36 |jstor=41828627}}</ref>

The textile business in [[New England]] declined during the [[Great Depression]], with many manufacturers closing or moving their facilities to the South where operations and labor were cheaper. Later in the 20th century, Pawtucket began to lose some of its architectural heritage to the wrecking ball, including the Leroy Theatre.<ref name=projo1997 />

Pawtucket retained much of its industrial base, however. Today, goods produced in the city include lace, non-woven and elastic woven materials, jewelry, silverware, metals, and textiles. [[Hasbro]], one of the world's largest manufacturers of toys and games, is headquartered in Pawtucket.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maffei |first1=Lucia |title=Activist investor Ancora pushes for sale of Everbridge |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2022/03/17/activist-investor-pushes-everbridge-sale.html |access-date=March 23, 2022 |work=[[Boston Business Journal]] |date=March 17, 2022}}</ref>

===Incorporation===
Originally, the land west of the [[Blackstone River]] was part of nearby [[North Providence]],<ref name="250years" /> and east of the Blackstone River was originally settled as part of [[Rehoboth, Massachusetts]]. The first Pawtucket to be incorporated was when Rehoboth gave up their land in 1828, and Pawtucket became a new town in Massachusetts.<ref name="250years" /> In 1862, the eastern portion was absorbed into Providence County, Rhode Island.<ref name="250years" /> On March 1, 1862, the area of Pawtucket and East Providence was shifted into Rhode Island, and the new border remains to this day—following a 225-year border dispute among the [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations|Rhode Island Colony]], [[Plymouth Colony]], the [[Rhode Island|State of Rhode Island]], and [[Massachusetts|the Commonwealth of Massachusetts]]. In 1874, the land west of the river was taken from North Providence and added to the town of Pawtucket, but it acted as two different towns. Finally in 1886, West and East Pawtucket were merged and the city was incorporated.<ref name="250years" /><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.city-data.com/city/Pawtucket-Rhode-Island.html|title= Pawtucket, Rhode Island |publisher= City-Data.com |access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref>