Warwick, Rhode Island: First Presidential Phone Call

President Rutherford B. Hayes received a phone call from Alexander Graham Bell while at a clambake. It happened in June 1877. A sign marks the site.

Address:: Rocky Point Ave., Warwick, RI
Directions:: Hwy 117A south. Turn left onto Hwy 117. Turn right onto Warwick Neck Rd. Drive about a mile, then turn left onto Rocky Point Ave. Drive to the parking lot, then follow the walking path into the park. When you reach the Narragansett Bay on the right, walk past the arch on the left, and you'll see the Phone Call information placard ahead on the left.

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Historical marker.

Site of First Presidential Phone Call

In June 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes was at Rocky Point Park in Rhode Island, attending a clambake and addressing a gathering of Civil War veterans. While there, Hayes also participated in the first presidential telephone conversation. From the City Hotel 13 miles away, in Providence, Alexander Graham Bell called to tell the President it was an honor to present the telephone to him and that he would be glad to hear a reply.

Hayes did, and requested that the inventor speak more slowly.

140 years later, Leadership Rhode Island unveiled several informational signs at the site; one details the presidential phone call and shows a contemporaneous depiction of Hayes eating at the clambake.

[Kurt Deion, 07/29/2017]

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