The site of the Sabin Tavern was originally part of the 1640 grant to William Burrows and then subsequently owned by the Lanham family.  According to An Address by Edward Field entitled "A Night at Sabin's Tavern",

Sabin's tavern was the former home of Captain Woodbury Morris, mariner, he having purchased the estate from Joseph Whipple, 13 Jun 1757 for ₤1200 and built the house soon after [1761]. Seven years later Captain Morris, while on a voyage to sea, died on the coast of Africa. On the second day of December, 1765, Mary Morris, the captain's widow, wrote in a little memorandum book, wherein her husband had formerly kept his accounts, and which she had continued to use: "Then Mr. Sabin moved into my house.  From this time until December, 1773, James Sabin lived here, and catered to the wants of man and beast, but on this date he purchased a tract of land on the west side of the river, near the Great Bridge, about where the Merchants Bank Building now stands, and left the tavern."  James Sabin took the name with him and reestablished the Sabin Tavern nearer Market Square.  (See more about James Sabin and his later Sabin's Tavern)

The house was then purchased in 1785 by Welcome Arnold, a distinguished merchant of Providence, whose first house still stands further up on Planet Street. He made many additions to the structure, and occupied it as his residence until his death in 1798. It remained in the Arnold family for more than a hundred years. During their occupancy of the house, the room wherein the 'Gaspee' party met was used as a dining room, and there, on the wall, hung, for many years, an account of the affair, prepared by Colonel Ephraim Bowen, the last survivor of the party, and engrossed by the hand of his daughter. Welcome Arnold passed the ex-tavern onto his eldest son, Samuel Greene Arnold, who then passed it on to Samuel's younger brother Colonel Richard James Arnold, for which it was used as his personal residence in the 1830s. 

"It is probable that the basement contained fully-usable space not counted as a story and the hip roof contained an extra half-story or at least a good garret.  It is also probable that the main entrance was situated well above the South Main level (a characteristic of surviving nearby houses)." 

The house was originally constructed as a double wooden framed house of two stories.  There was a wide hall inside which extended completely through the house from front to rear.  This was very beautiful because of the rich paneling, about four feet high.  From this hallway a fine old staircase with old-fashioned balustrade and a paneled side led to the second floor.....In 1820, [Richard J. Arnold] added an ell of brick to the house with an entrance through an archway into the "Gaspee Room".  A good many years afterwards he built a third story to the house and put an octagonal end on the famous southwest room.

Right: Painting of the Sabin Tavern based on the above photo c1880. Providence Public Library collection pc7142, original at the RIHS John Brown House Museum.  These images of the Sabin Tavern show an Italianesque-Victorian style mansion that had been extensively renovated since the times of the Revolution. The house to the extreme right (behind the tree) is probably the "Half-a-house" of Gaspee raider Abial Brown.

Over time the river front was filled in and what is now Water Street was created, in effect moving South Main Street one block further away from the Woonasquatucket River that was central to the town.  Fenner's Wharf most likely lied below what is now The Packet Building at 155 South Main Street. In 1772 there was only one Main Street which only later was differentiated into North and South Main Street based on their directions from the city center at Market House. The Sabin Tavern lot adjoined that of the later Abial Brown "Half-House" on Planet Street. Abial Brown was also one of the known participants in the attack. Circa 1780 Welcome Arnold also had another house built that still exists on the other side of the where the Abial Brown House once stood.

By 1889, the old Sabin Tavern building had fallen into disrepair, and shifting demographics had made the neighborhood less desirable  The Providence Journal said that "the house was dilapidated, and the bank had foreclosed on the mortgage with the building to be demolished."  Again, per The Gaspee Room, pamphlet, Providence, Old Stone Bank, 1931, later republished in Warwick Historical Society Newsletter, May 1990

Following his [Richard J. Arnold] death in 1873, the house became the property of his two sons; but before long a mortgage on the house had to be foreclosed and the old historic dwelling was taken over by the Providence Institute for Savings.
        That bank held the house until a suitable purchaser could be found, but it was finally sold at auction to W. R. Talbot.  At this point it is interesting to note that Mr. Talbot had married Mary Cornelia, the third daughter of Richard J. Arnold, and that because of this the house came back into possession of one of the Arnold family. 
        However, only the house was bought by Mr. Talbot and it had to be removed from its site at South Main and Planet Streets. But no lot could be found to hold the house, and all plans and   negotiations failed. Consequently it was decide to pull it  down.  Still, if the house was not saved,  the famous "Gaspee Room" was.
        It   was detached   very carefully from the rest of the structure,  along with  the adjoining portion of the hallway and even the staircase itself. Placed on rollers as one unit, it was moved up and over the crest of the hill to Mr. Talbot's own home at 209 Williams Street. There it was just as carefully attached to the Talbot house, becoming an integral part of the latter. All  the  wainscoting  and paneling from the original hallway had been studiously saved and was used over again. A new chimney had to be built, but it was put together out of the old brick of the  old chimney, and the same square tiles and hearth were used. The mantel above the fireplace was re-constructed out of the timbers from the kitchen of the old house, in which the patriots had molded bullets. Upon this mantel were  cut inscriptions which told the history and significance of the room.
        On January 11, 1892, Mrs. William R. Talbot organized Gaspee Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in the historic "Gaspee Room". The Gaspee Chapter attained its ambition of buying the house with the famous shrine, the "Gaspee Room". The purchase was made December 16, 1929. The Chapter dedicated its new home on January 12, 1931 in honor of its founder, Mrs. Talbot, and a bronze tablet with her head in relief was placed in the famous "Gaspee Room".

Left:  Old photograph of the interior of the Gaspee Room, now part of the Mary Arnold Talbot house - Providence Public Library Collection gc 2653.  At the World's Colombian Exposition of 1893 which took place in Chicago, the Rhode Island exhibition displayed the fireplace and marble mantel, taken from the old Sabin Tavern. Note the inscription on the fireplace mantel which reads: "June 9,1772, was formed the plan for destruction of the British Naval Schooner, 'Gaspee'".  Click to enlarge.	Right:  Commemorative plaque on outside of the Gaspee Room, 209 Williams Street, Providence. Text Reads: THIS HOUSE CONTAINS THE HISTORIC GASPEE ROOM TAKEN FROM THE GASPEE HOUSE SOUTH MAIN STREET IN 1891 AND MOVED TO THIS LOCATION IT WAS IN THIS ROOM ON JUNE 9, 1772 THAT THE PLOT WAS FORMED TO DESTROY THE BRITISH NAVAL SCHOONER GASPEE OWNED AND PRESERVED BY GASPEE CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Left: The Gaspee House incorporated the original room from the old Sabin Tavern as an attachment, seen on the left. Providence Public Library Collection pc 7180 --South aspect	Right: The Gaspee Room (2001) as currently located at 209 Williams Street is now a condominium. Note that Providence City tax assessors maps list these 4 condos at 207 Williams Street, not 209.-- East aspect

SONS OF LIBERTY
------------------------
UPON THIS CORNER
STOOD THE SABIN TAVERN
IN WHICH ON THE EVENING OF
JUNE 9TH 1772
THE PARTY MET AND
ORGANIZED TO DESTROY
H.R.M SCHOONER GASPEE
IN THE DESTRUCTION OF
WHICH WAS SHED THE
FIRST BLOOD
IN THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Left: Present (2004) Sabin Tavern memorial granite marker in parking lot of the office building at 165-180 South Main Street. Wording is kept exactly as original.

Sometime coincident with the re-construction of the IBM Building in 1962 (now an office building) a large granite memorial stone containing an inset slate marker was erected.  The engraved slate section was pried out and stolen c1980, but the beautiful granite marker was restored, engraved, and re-dedicated in June 2004.

Right: Recovered Sabin Tavern Slate Marker

In 2010 the newer slate plaque was recovered from a home being renovated by the City of East Providence. The plaque is now kept securely in the Aspray Boat House, the headquarters of the Gaspee Days Committee.

The Champlin Foundations
Partridge, Snow, & Hahn, LLP
Rhode Island Supreme Court Historical Society Fund
Stanley Granite Company, Inc.
City of East Providence.
Pawtuxet Rangers, RIM