Weird Island

60. FIRSTS: First Oyster Bar in Providence

Episode Summary

Long before the quahog became Rhode Island’s iconic shellfish, oysters dominated local waters. In this episode, I’ll be diving into the stories of black innovators and entrepreneurs who shaped the oyster industry–including Manna Bernoon, who established Providence’s first Oyster and Ale House in 1736, the year of his emancipation from slavery.

Episode Notes

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Episode Transcription

In Rhode Island, the quahog has to be the most iconic shellfish. I mean, the writers of Family Guy set the series in a fake Rhode Island town named Quahog, and the characters always drink at a bar called The Drunken Clam–and if you don’t know what exactly a quahog is, it’s called a chowder clam basically everywhere else but here. But before quahogs were the Rhode Island shellfish, another mollusk actually dominated local waters. The Oyster.
I don’t eat oysters very often. I’ve always seen them as kind of a delicacy, something you eat once or twice a year but don’t consume or enjoy on a consistent basis. In fact, I’m never completely sure I enjoy them at all. Because I’m so focused on the experience and texture of eating them raw right out of the shell, I’m not even sure I could describe what they taste like.
The sensation of slurping down or chewing on an oyster for the first time really is so unique, that you become focused on the experience. On the oyster itself. And you rarely consider the history of oysters–I mean, why would you? But as it turns out, oysters have an incredibly long, rich, and diverse history that has been largely forgotten today. And the very first Oyster Bar in Providence occupies a unique place in that story.
I’m Sara, and you’re listening to Weird Island. Each week, I’ll be telling you about the strangest stories I can dig up from my tiny, little state of Rhode Island. And this week, I’m going to be telling you the forgotten history of oysters and Providence’s first Oyster Bar - opened by a free Black man named Manna Bernoon in 1736, the year of his emancipation from slavery.
We don’t know a lot about Manna Bernoon. We don’t even know what year he was born. But we know that he lived in the early 1700s, and he would have gone by the name Emmanuel Bernon in his early life when he was enslaved by a French Huguenot settler named Gabriel Bernon. Emmanuel was legally freed from slavery in 1736, and while freedmen typically were known to take their master’s name, Emmanuel Bernon distinguished himself and marked his independence by changing his name to Manna Bernoon. Later that same year, Bernoon opened his first known Oyster and Ale house on Towne Street–which is South Main Street today. This is pretty remarkable, because this Oyster and Ale House was the first one in Providence.
Today, oysters have become a relatively expensive food to eat. But in the 1700s, they were everywhere. Rhode Island waters are ideal for shellfish, with brackish coves and saltwater rivers, and wave-swept shorelines that provide the kind of rocky ocean floor habitat oysters need to thrive. While today the Quahog is seen as the quintessential Rhode Island shellfish, that wouldn’t have been the case in Colonial Rhode Island. At that time, oysters dominated the waters and they were so plentiful, they almost weren’t even seen as valuable. I mean, people actually started burning them whole to turn into lime for masonry work. That’s how abundant they were.
So, rather than being a once-in-a-while delicacy confined to the wealthy, oysters would have been a staple food for everyone. They were eaten raw, cooked, served alongside other meats, used in stews, and put in pies. And Bernoon would have seen oysters as a cheap and available food to serve alongside beer. But that doesn’t mean his oysters weren’t delicious.
A historian writing in 1901 noted that Bernoon’s food raised the culinary standards at the time. Specifically, he wrote, “The rude English-descended efforts in cookery were far surpassed by Huguenot skill and refinement,” suggesting the French influence of Bernoon’s background within the Bernon household could account for that improved flavor, but failing to acknowledge that Bernoon likely brought his own culinary and cultural experience into his cooking to raise standards as well.
Because of the way history has been captured, through a very white, European lens, we may not have many accounts of what enslaved and free Black people living in Colonial Rhode Island ate, but we do know what they served other people. And Colonial Rhode Islanders frequently wrote that enslaved and free African Americans were incredible chefs. That same 1901 historian noted black chefs were “epicures” who “took care to know what they carried upon the table.” And some culinary professionals in Rhode Island were able to earn enough money through the food they made to earn their freedom.
Manna Bernoon was nothing short of a culinary pioneer, and laid the foundation for a type of restaurant that would continue to have a place on the Rhode Island food scene for hundreds of years. But, the story doesn’t end there. Because I was fascinated to find out that the history of eating oysters is much longer and more rich and more prominent than I could have imagined. And I learned that RI shellfish have supported a diverse group of people throughout history.
In 1736, when Bernoon’s Oyster and Ale house was established, many Colonists were eating oysters. And Oyster bars, known at the time as either Oyster and Ale Houses or Oyster Cellars or Oyster Saloons, were beginning to appear. But oysters hadn’t quite hit their commercial peek yet.
By the 1790s, though, oysters had exploded in popularity in America. A lawyer and writer from France visiting the country commented, “Americans have a passion for oysters, which they eat at all hours, even in the streets.” And it was true, particularly in NY, where it was very common for street vendors to sell oysters. They were the quintessential NY street food long before hot dogs and pizza. So much so, that when people thought of NYC, they thought of oysters. And the city became known as the Oyster Capital of the World.
By the mid 1800s, nearly every major town in North America had an oyster cellar. These were places where anyone could pop in and get a quick, cheap oyster lunch. They were not fancy. In fact, they were quite the opposite.
They were called Oyster Cellars because they were often located in the basement of an establishment, where it would have been easier to keep oysters on ice. And they became associated with drinking and gambling and prostitutes and overall got kind of a rough reputation. These were places where men would congregate, but women wouldn’t have been welcome or comfortable joining to eat. As NY experienced an economic boom following the building of the Erie Canal, and people began traveling farther away from home to work, more and more customers were visiting oyster houses–where they could get a lot of oysters for very little money. New York’s Canal Street was a prominent Oyster Cellar location and many ran a deal known as the “Canal Street Plan,” where you could get all you can eat oysters for 6 cents.
These oyster cellars and oyster street carts were often operated and supplied by Black proprietors and Black oystermen and women, many of whom were were originally part of the oyster industry while enslaved, collecting shellfish to supply to their masters and to eat themselves. And the knowledge gained about oystering while enslaved translated into a profitable set of skills. There are a number of incredibly inspiring stories of ambitious individuals who were able to make a living and find pathways to resistance, autonomy, and eventually freedom through oystering. In the years preceding emancipation, oyster harvesting was practiced across racial groups. And after the Civil War, many newly-freed African Americans continued to look to the water as a source of opportunity.
In fact, one of the oldest surviving communities founded by free African Americans in the US was established on the basis of the oyster economy. It was called Sandy Ground, and it was this oystering community located in Rossville, Staten Island. It’s believed that the first African American residents purchased land there in 1828, just months after slavery was abolished in NY but 33 years prior to the start of the Civil War.
The community became a haven for Black oystermen and women from surrounding states. Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay was a particularly prominent location for oystering, but Maryland continued to be a slave state into the 1860s and placed harsh restrictions on free African American oyster harvesters and sellers. By the 1840s, several families had migrated from the Chesapeake Bay area to Sandy Ground, where they would walk to Prince’s Bay to harvest oysters. During the community’s heyday, Sandy Ground contained more than 50 homes, some of which are still standing today.
Not only did Black folks build all kinds of successful, thriving businesses and livelihoods around oysters, they shaped the way in which oysters are eaten and experienced today. In the early 1800s, oysters may have been popular, but oyster restaurants weren’t particularly fancy. But a man named Thomas Downing changed all of that.
Downing was born in 1791 on Virginia’s Eastern Shore to parents who were freed from slavery. When he was young, he learned to tong oysters in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and when he turned 21 he left Virginia, first heading to Philadelphia and then eventually to New York, and it was there that he really made a name for himself. At first, he tonged his own oysters. Then he began purchasing them to sell. He built a reputation as a hard-working and shrewd buyer and would actually row a boat out early in the morning to get the best oysters available before anyone else could. He then opened up an oyster bar and located it in New York’s financial district. While there were a lot of oyster bars around, he saw an opportunity to distinguish himself by appealing to the businessmen from Wall Street. His Oyster Cellar was known as Downing’s Oyster House, and it was decorated with damask curtains, a chandelier and fine carpeting. And he truly elevated the experience of the oyster house. It became the meeting spot for all the big wigs of the financial district. They would enjoy a menu that included raw, fried and stewed oysters, oyster pie, fish with oyster sauce, poultry stuffed with oysters, and pickled oysters–which he became pretty famous for. And something unique happened. These Wall Street bigwigs started bringing their wives to Downing’s. For the first time, an Oyster House was perceived as a respectable place to eat.
Of course, Downing wasn’t the first to invent the idea of oysters being respectable, but he was one of the first to have an upscale oyster restaurant, and his oyster cellar signaled a shift in the way people perceived oysters as a food and a social experience.
Downing became world famous–and is remembered today as the Oyster King of New York. And as you’ll remember, NY was the Oyster Capital of the world. So that’s a pretty big distinction. He famously shipped oysters to Queen Victoria, who was so pleased she sent him a gold watch as a thank you. And he catered a Ball in honor of Charles Dickens–who was a little less grateful, and criticized American eating habits, describing oysters, poultry and pickles “disappearing down gaping gullets–a solemn and awful sight to see.”
Downing’s restaurant opened its doors in 1825, two years before NY abolished slavery. And while politicians and investors and law enforcement dined in his restaurant, Downing and his son operated a stop on the Underground Railroad in the basement, helping fugitive slaves escape from the South to Canada. Downing was a committed activist, and used his influence and connections to help fund schools for Black children and desegregate NY’s trolley system.
Downing passed away on April 10, 1866 - just one day after the Civil Rights Act of 1866 officially made him an American citizen. His obituary read, “Benevolent, kind, and liberal minded, his head was always willing, his heart ready, and his hands open to give.” He died a millionaire in today’s money, and one of the wealthiest citizens in NY. And he was so well-known the NY Chamber of Commerce closed for his funeral, and the newspapers described long lines of carriages filled with mourners and crowds flocking to the church.
Downing’s son George continued his father’s legacy, running oyster halls in both New York and Rhode Island and continuing to fight for civil rights. George T. Downing deserves an episode all his own, but most notably for today’s episode, he built a resort and high-end oyster restaurant in Newport in the 1850s called the Sea Girt Hotel some years before the oyster industry hit its peak in the state.
In Rhode Island, the golden age of the oyster economy hit a little later than New York. In the 1890s, nearby CT experienced a tough oyster year, and many oyster harvesters and growers took out leases in RI waters. They brought with them innovative growing methods and marketing connections, and turned the oyster industry into the third largest industry into the state. Before long, huge ships capable of moving thousands of bushels of oysters were chugging through RI waters and multi-story shucking factories were popping up on the shores of the Narragansett Bay, employing a diverse group of people, many of whom were Portuguese and Cape Verdean, to shuck and can oysters.
But while the oyster industry was booming, other industries were using the Narragansett Bay to dump waste from factories and sewers. Pollution and destructive harvesting methods transformed the Narragansett Bay’s ecosystem and by the 1910s, the oyster industry was collapsing, and oyster houses were starting to buy oysters from out of state to shuck. Then, huge hurricanes destroyed a number of the big shucking houses and silted remaining oyster beds. Suddenly, the Narragansett’s Bay’s underwater landscape transformed from a rocky bottom, which had been the perfect place for oysters to grow, to the ideal muddy burrowing habitat for quahogs, and companies like Blount Oyster Company in Warren shifted their business as supply changed - which is why quahogs are the key RI shellfish today.
This trend isn’t unique to RI. Today it’s estimated that 85% of the world’s oyster reefs have been lost, due to overharvesting, habitat degradation and disease. Wild oysters still occasionally appear in RI waters, but they’re almost certainly not the oysters you’re eating in restaurants. At least 95% of the oysters consumed are farmed.
Oyster history is incredibly long and while I began today’s story in the 1700s with Manna Bernoon’s Oyster and Ale House, it actually goes back much farther than that. We know that people have been harvesting and consuming shellfish in large quantities for thousands of years, and yet the decline of oysters reefs has been relatively recent. Researchers believe that local oyster populations may have remained stable while being heavily consumed by Native Americans because more sustainable fishing techniques were used. Like staying close to shore, giving oysters in deeper water a safe space to grow and reproduce, and harvesting seasonally to allow populations to recover.
And we know that oysters have been a part of our diet and cultures for so long because fossilized oyster shells have been found in coastal areas all over the world. They’re found in what are known as shell middens. These are large piles of discarded shells. And when I say large, I mean it. Some are up to 30 feet high and include literally millions of shells. There were once so many oyster middens along the coast, that many cities are built right on top of them. New York, the Oyster Capital of the World, was most famously built on oyster middens. Pearl Street in Manhattan was named after a midden that existed there, and the street was later paved with oyster shells. And in the 1980s, restoration of the Statue of Liberty revealed an oyster midden on Liberty Island that contained over 9,000 artifacts like tools, bones and broken pottery.
So, there could be thousands of years of human and oyster history just below your feet, waiting to be uncovered. That’s kind of how oyster history feels today, hidden away. Few people know the story of the first Oyster Bar in Providence, which may have actually been one of the earliest in the world. And more generally, very few people know how Black innovators and entrepreneurs shaped the oyster industry and culinary history in America as a whole. So, the next time you’re at an oyster bar, enjoying time with friends and family and slurping down oysters, take a moment to consider and share the history that went into shaping the moment you and others are sharing.