Volunteers Needed for Butts Hill Fort Spring Cleanup

Portsmouth, RI. The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee (BHFRC) is inviting volunteers to our Spring Cleanup on Saturday, April 6th. (Rain date April 7th). 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 or at the Portsmouth High School Tennis Courts.

This will be a general cleanup of the parade grounds, pathways and open spaces. Every participant will need to sign a town liability form upon arrival. BHFRC staff will be on hand throughout the day, so if you join in progress, please sign in with a team member. Participants are 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 1775, 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.