Portsmouth, RI. The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee (BHFRC) is inviting volunteers to our Fall Cleanup on Saturday, Oct 28th (Rain date is Oct. 29th). Cleanup starts at 9 AM and goes on until 1 pm. Come anytime. The meeting point is the Fort gate on Butts St. off Sprague Street. Google “26 Butts Street” for directions to the Main Gate. No parking is allowed on Butts Street. Participants are asked to park along Dyer Street. Parking will also be available at the PHS Tennis Courts.
Designated as “Col Burton C. Quist USMC Commemorative Clearing” in memory of BHFRC “Founding Father” who passed away in January. We welcome all US Marines to join the volunteer brush fight as a way to celebrate the Corps 248th Birthday on November 10th.
The target area for cleanup will be the Southern Fort Rampart and surrounding path areas, working to clear brush and invasives, to improve public access and enhance visual vantage points. We will be partnering with Bristol Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, whose Memorial to the Battle was placed there in 1922.
Every participant will need to sign a town liability form upon arrival. Butts Hill Fort Committee officials will be on hand throughout the day, so if you join in progress, please sign in with a team member for accountability. Participants are also asked to bring gloves, protective eye gear, loppers, shears, weed whackers, and rakes. Please RSVP to publicrelations@battleofrhodeisland.org
The largest Revolutionary War earthwork still standing in southern New England, Butts Hill Fort, is in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. It was started by Patriot militia in 1776, enlarged and completed by British troops occupying Aquidneck Island. It served as the headquarters for General John Sullivan during the Rhode Island Campaign in 1778 and was occupied and enlarged by allied French troops under Comte de Rochambeau during 1780-1781. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and on the National Park Service’s Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail. The goal of the Restoration Committee is to return it to public use as an historical, educational, and recreational asset.
