Providence Walks: Downtown

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PROVIDENCE WALKS PROVIDENCE WALKS: DOWNTOWN Downtown Self-Guided HISTORIC WALKING THE GEOGRAPHICAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CORE OF RHODE ISLAND’S CAPITAL, PROVIDENCE’S DOWNTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD IS BORDERED BY THE PROVIDENCE RIVER AND INTERSTATE 95.

Colonial Providence was born on the East Side along the Providence River, but with both the success of the mercantile trade and the industrial revolution, the small city expanded west. With the advent of technology, Providence became a bustling manufacturing town. The metal machinery, textiles, silverware and jewelry industries all ﬂ ourished due to the extensive railroad network. By the late 19th century, Providence was the transportation hub of southeastern New England and attracted a variety of industrialists, bankers and businessmen to its downtown.

The 20th century was an era that started with optimism, followed by the harsh reality of the depression and, ultimately, a transition for downtown. TOUR Providence was one of the wealthiest cities in the U.S. in the early 1900s. The opening of cultural and social hubs, like the Providence Biltmore Hotel, provided Rhode Islanders a place to gather and celebrate in style. This era also saw the creation of Providence’s modern skyline with new Art Deco structures, now icons of this prosperous time in Providence’s history. The Great Depression, as well as other recessions in the mid-20th century, shuttered those once thriving businesses and halted building activity downtown. As a result of preservation efforts, many architecturally signiﬁ cant buildings from Providence’s past still stand today, refashioned to ﬁ t the needs of 21st-century organizations.

Today, downtown Providence is a vibrant mix of nationally recognized arts and cultural institutions, top-ranked restaurants, world-renowned universities, creative industries, ﬁ nancial and legal ﬁ rms, and locally owned businesses earning the city the name, “The Creative Capital.” Preservation and an appreciation for architecture and history are a constant thread in this neighborhood’s story. HISTORIC TIMELINE

179 0 1829 1847 1940 Population is 6,380 Providence Providence and 1868 Peak population is 176 4 Worcester Railroad Journal begins Beginning of Providence’s 19 00 253,504 1954 1994 Brown University begins operating daily publishing Golden Age Population is 175,597 Hurricane Carol, downtown Waterplace Park is founded Providence fl ooded opens and WaterFire 1636 debuts Providence founded by Roger Williams 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 1776 1815 1848 Rhode Island is the Great Gale hits Union Railroad Station opens 1877 1938 fi rst colony to declare Providence, caused Rhode Island School of Design Hurricane of 1938, Providence 1986 independence from severe damage and (RISD) is founded submerged under nearly 11-foot Providence River Great Britain fl ooding storm tide Relocation Project begins 1835 Providence and Boston 1875 1914 1966 Railroad begins operating Cornerstone of City Hall Johnson & Wales University Fox Point Hurricane Barrier laid on June 24 is founded completed, fi rst of its type in the U.S. PROVIDENCE PERSONALITIES

“We can only be stronger as a community when we realize we each come with a unique Christiana Carteaux Margaret Fuller William D. “Bill” Warner inquisitiveness …” Bannister (1810-1850) (1929-2012) (1819-1902)

Known as “Madame Carteaux,” Noted Transcendentalist writer Margaret Bill Warner is often cited as having the Christiana Carteaux Bannister Fuller taught at the Greene Street School greatest impact on revitalizing downtown was an astute businesswoman, in Providence from 1837-1839, fostering Providence during the 1980s and 90s, hairdresser and abolitionist. She self-reﬂ ection and independence in leading the redevelopment of its historic was married to renowned artist young women. waterfront to create Waterplace Park. PROVIDENCE WALKS Edward Mitchell Bannister. Downtown Self-Guided HISTORIC WALKING TOUR Barnaby Evans (born 1953)

Umberto Crenca The artist behind WaterFire, (born 1950) Barnaby Evans is responsible Founder of AS220, Umberto for creating the “crown jewel” of Crenca was honored by Anne Philomena Haven the city’s modern renaissance. James Bucklin (1842-1912) A graduate of Brown University, (1801-1890)

President Obama for “his work on building a collaborative Anne Haven, an immigrant widow, founded Haven Evans is an artist who uses The most notable Providence community committed to Brothers, one of the oldest restaurants on wheels. The public art to rethink urban space. architect in the 19th century, Bucklin’s supporting exchange of lunch cart grew into a legendary Providence food Greek Revival work is still visible knowledge between innovative establishment still in operation today near City Hall. “(WaterFire) is designed so people can interact with each other, with the today. Bucklin designed hundreds of makers and creative thinkers.” artwork and with the urban environment.” structures across the state.

Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Gertrude I. Johnson Mary T. Wales (1941-2016) (1876-1961) (1874-1952)

A famous ﬁ gure in Providence political history, In 1914, Gertrude Johnson and Mary Wales founded Buddy Cianci served as the city’s mayor from Johnson & Wales University. Beginning with one student 1974 to 1984 and 1991 to 2002. Cianci’s and one typewriter, the women ran the school until their sometimes turbulent time in ofﬁ ce is noted for its retirement in 1947. “We should teach a thing not for its own sake, but as sake, a thing not for its own should teach “We lies beyond.” for what preparation - Mary T. Wales - Mary T. substantial redevelopment efforts. OLNEY ST.

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Inspection and U.S. Customs. The R VE. T A . 1 ARRIS building, occupied by the Federal 20 S H T Government through 1989, was . Take stairs down toward tunnel ST . Trinity Repertory Company B RMAN converted to ofﬁ ce space for the E E 201 Washington Street through to Waterplace Park RHODE ISLAND WAT MANNING ST. N State Court Systems in 1992 as the SCHOOL OF DESIGN

E i . The Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company is one of the last resident John E. Fogarty Judicial Complex. VD F L M I AN S T B T M acting companies in the U.S., performing in one of Providence’s most historic This building is the centerpiece of L E 11 PIT A M the Custom House Historic District, RI S venues. The former Emery Majestic Theater was opened by local vaudevillians O O T M R . BROWN UNIVERSITY

in 1917. When movies became America’s favorite form of entertainment, the listed on the National Register of E LLEGE ST. M IA CO Majestic became the premier theater downtown. However business slowed Historic Places, including eight L E B

C and its doors closed in the mid-20th century. The Majestic’s history of live additional buildings associated 19 A L RR V 10 performance meant the building was a natural ﬁ t to house Providence’s newly with the growth of Providence as TE D GE formed Trinity Repertory Company. Trinity Rep was founded in 1963 and is a business center in the mid-to-late AN 9 T. 19thW century. XCH 18 GEORGE S considered “one of the most respected regional theatres in the country.” EST E . . EXCHANGE ST T S E . MEMORIAL S

V N KI A P LENT ST. VO POINT OF INTEREST A PARK HO BENE N Z A O D O L . R H T CE R P T DA A O Y R N 17 B The intersection ST. of Westminster and C Y S T ST. B RHODE ISLAND E OLEN A EV D BEN P R 8 R S 12 Weybosset streets serves as an E T R T E . N O O E

B CONVENTION 15 N S VE. entryway to the commercial district of O D A W R S A i E YOUNG ORCH

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L B Providence Public Library G Ottoman above his business giving S . G E L . CENTER S T N T B T I T E 150 Empire Street N A IN S . S . E S TWE the building its name. The original was H ST

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A later replaced by a stone efﬁ gy. C S N M A E Founded in 1875, the Providence Public Library (PPL) opened at its present . . S I S E

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S . E E P T T T E S K S S S N L I ER . M L W S O T S E E M O T P S Washington Street location in 1900, adding the Empire Street building in T N E S M S . D S D S U R T E S T I O R U W D U S S O A I M T . N W E 1954. The ﬁ rst librarian,V William Foster,T stressed theI library’s importantA role D T N . POWER ST.

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N E T G O S P F O W making the library and its resources accessible to all. T PPL’s services are still W W . . E A S Y T. A R . P Y T S N D S S E A M O S A S AM S S S R T E I T B W . T O WILL T. relevant today, from traditionalS lending, research and learning, to training Q FEDER A D T O N A

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No organization embodies Providence’s moniker, “The Creative Capital,” S

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PE South Main Street T. Main Visitor Information Center T

U S Satellite Visitor Information Center D Providence Performing Arts Center at 220 Weybosset Street and has since O

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I Rhode Island Convention. Center purchased, renovated, and now operates three mixed-used buildings. AS220 P

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D O R One Sabin St., Providence, RI T ST R R 10 Memorial Blvd., Providence, RI I S

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. RI Holocaust Memorial - Created in 2015,T the N Rhode Island Holocaust H F S Today AS220 houses gallery spaces, a performance stage, a print shop, a E T T

S S A M 401-751-1177F | 1-800-233-1636 401-456-0200

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R . darkroom, affordable live/work studios for artists, a bar and restaurant, and Memorial pays tribute to “all that we haveE lost and all that we have learned” L

T D N V Mon. - Sat.:C 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

EN . D Mon. - Fri.: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

draws more than 51,000 people each year. from the atrocities of World War II. TheP memorial. was designed by RISD-based 4 T S

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sculptor Jonathon Bonner and is composedA of four parts: the Entrance Gate, the S . C S . . T

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E Path,T the Life Stone and Memorial Columns. TheL memorial serves as a tribute S H N I I M

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O V Ofor, and on behalf of, Rhode Island’s remaining Holocaust survivors. A N IN N R U H

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E T T T T. C R D i S Y Korean War Memorial - The bronze statue speaks to the price of war and . . NDEN O B N For an online map, visit: WICKE

S N honors its veterans, depicting a kneeling soldier ﬁ ghting off the rain and cold. IE B . T S R GoProvidence.com/DowntownTour E . AV

T. T A F G S . ST. ON HTON World T War I & II Memorials - Standing 150 feet high, the World War I SHIP RMSTR G T A RI K E B MemorialE honors those who served in the First .World War. The memorial was N ST Rhode Tour is a collaborativeD project by R IG designed by architect Paul Cret and createdIN in 1929. The memorial names F the John Nicholas Brown CenterD for Public A Y A H UNT O Humanities and Cultural Heritage,Y the RI S L O

AY T speciﬁ c S battles Rhode IslandersEST Ffought in with the word “Peace” at the top of T Historical Society, and the RI Council S for M T W DW S E T

A 4 . R the Humanities. . BRO Y T the tower. The World War II memorial was dedicated in 2007 and honors the S . . W T S M T ST generation of Rhode Islanders who fought in the Second World War. . CH T H For a Efree multimedia version, download the Rhode Tour app. A Benefi cent Church AN . R S . I T T R S C G SPENCER 300 Weybosset Street T NU S H O T Market House T A N ST. S H INGTO A U WASH 10 T. K R A One of the oldestR churches in Rhode Island, Benefi cent Church was originally 27 Market Square T E L C K A T H O IR L known as the Church of the West Side, established as a separatist group from R S . N L T B B . T T. S Completed in 1775, the Market House S A E R A E S E AD the First Congregational Church. The church was built in 1810 but was altered . R E T N T S M I T . S Y served as a market and town hall for N I S in the 1830s Dto James Bucklin’s design, still evident today. Bucklin’s addition of T M C L B B S E E H B Colonial Providence. Over the years, S R S R S T the Greek portico and gold dome makes it an architectural gem. In the 1980s M A T . T T. S I I ER S the Market House witnessed two of the . O D . D T T R . MINS A the gold leaf dome needed repair and the congregation chose to replace it WEST S N G G B H T H P T . largest natural disasters to hit Providence; IM U D O T E UM S with the less opulent, more durable, copper sheetingH visible today. Choosing O A O SLOC P S A R S N A the Great Gale of 1815 and the Hurricane P copper meant the church could focus their fi nancesM on their mission of service. F E S T V P . S of 1938. The GreatR Gale brought an 11- R O E I S ICK N H T E I N . A A . T foot storm surge, which is memorialized S L O A . 13 S E T T P S G Providence Performing at the Market House, as it was one of F P 5 R R . L E A A IT . Arts Center the only buildings to Sremain standing. The N S ST T Grace Episcopal Church K C A 19 T . 16 L E L T N . 220 Weybosset Street Hurricane of 1938 was the largest modern IN . I TER ST P 300 Westminster Street S S PO TMINS O disaster to affect downtown Providence, T. T WES W Weybosset Street was alive with excitement Providence City Hall . Union Station H Among the banks and businesses of bustling Westminster

. H remembered through hurricane markers D . . 25 Dorrance Street 4 Exchange Terrace

R A OD as nearly 14,000T people attended the T O A

W R S Street, Grace Episcopal Church is a constant for the evolving

LY S located downtown today. John Hutchins S OL T

H G R opening of Loew’s State Movie Palace

A D T Though the area around it has changed over the years, Providence Union Station was the central location for the powerful R neighborhood, with the bells ringing every day on the half hour,

R I Cady rehabilitated the building in theA late E S N to see the movieE “Excess Baggage” in W

O O City Hall remains a constant in downtown Providence. Constructed railroad-station complex in the late 19th century, becoming the

P O a tradition that began in 1861. Founded to serve parishioners who

S H 1930s to house classrooms for the Rhode A C

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N 1928. The venueT prospered for decades R in the 1870s, the cast iron and masonry structure witnessed the hub of southeastern New England’s transportation network.

R O T R B left the East Side in favor of the newlyT fashionable Westminster

. U Island School. of Design (RISD).

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but encounteredL declining attendance

N evolution of modern downtown. Initially Providence’s government Goods came and went through this terminal, supporting

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D T Street, the church sits on the site of the old. Providence Theater. In S S

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E and fell into disrepair. The aging structure T was located in the Market House, across the river. Needing the machinery, textile, and jewelry industries that fueled

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O IN 1846, Richard Upjohn, one of the most notable architects of the

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faced demolition,. but was saved in 1978 N K more space, aldermen were split on where to put a new city hall. the growth of Providence. With the decline of rail travel in

T. T T R time, completed the new building design for the parish as the ﬁ rst S

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O byIO seven local corporations and became T . T. IS . A P asymmetrical Gothic Revival Church in America. After a 30-year struggle over where to put the new building, the 1980s, Union Station was closed and a smaller station OAK S ME DIV a private, nonprofi t organization, known . S the cornerstone was laid on the west side of the river in 1875. In opened closer to the State House. Modern structures built in T T. S as the Ocean State Theatre. In 1982, it S the 1950s, the city considered demolishing City Hall, but it was S R Shepard Building the block of Union Station mirror the Italian Renaissance style E ER became the Providence Performing Arts 14 T T. 80 Washington Street saved, refl ecting Providence’s pride in its historical roots. architecture of the original building. The Roman triumphal arch, S S Center (PPAC). Hundreds of thousands of E featured as the principle portal to the passenger station, is still S L E The Shepard Company department store was a fi xture of the 19th

T T. people visit each year to experience the IC evident today. This building is now home to the Rhode Island

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MARVIN ST. WILL T magic of live performance at “the jewel of T P and 20th century Providence shopping experience. Built in the Foundation. S

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Weybosset Street.” OD H AR 1870s, Shepard’s was one of the largest stores in Providence,

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W ST. E . G O occupying S an entire city block. Inside, there was a restaurant and T WILLO T T 11 E O T.

S S a variety of retail offerings. A true meeting place, locals often met X S B

YC Johnson & Wales University N T X E

6 E O . “at the clock” to socialize downtown. The Shepard Company

D Gaebe Commons,D Weybosset Street T RiverWalk Registers 17 A S B went bankrupt in 1974, but the exterior of the building and its M T. N R HU HUDSON S RA Rhode Island School of Design and the Rhode Island School for the Deaf D O Johnson & Wales University is a world-renowned leader in experientialI iconic clock still remain largely unchanged. Today the Shepard Kennedy Plaza SON ST. C D R education, with degree programs in arts and sciences, business,. culinaryG worked together to orchestrate the RiverWalk Registers project. Students from Building is home to the downtown campuses of the University of RI E T G H Kennedy Plaza is modern Providence’s main hub for transportation

P S A the area created bands or “registers” of self-portraits, portraits of well-known

arts, education, hospitality, engineering and design, and more. In 1914, and the Community College of RI. A I S L ER MO M — as many as 69,000 people move through this site daily. Created 20 R T Gertrude Johnson and Mary Wales had careers in bankingT and dreamed of S Rhode Islanders, and images from the art collection at RISD. The artwork tiles . T A S . as Exchange Place in the 19th century, this plaza has always E R cover the columns of the pavilion. A panel on the pavilion invokes the memory D opening their own business college. The University hasL exceeded their dreams, Providence Biltmore Waterplace Park and WaterFire E 15 served transportation needs. Thousands of people stood here to WOOD ST. Eevolving into an internationally recognized educator with several campuses in of Roger Williams, who founded a settlement here in Providence as a “shelter Memorial Boulevard S Hotel

ST T see President Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Houdini, and presidential

the United States. . for persons distressed for conscience.” Tiles in 26 languages remind the viewer 11 Dorrance Street . candidate John F. Kennedy. Today Kennedy Plaza remains a This area represents a vital part of early Providence history, H of Williams’ intention. ARR It is said that every Rhode gathering place for the community, anchored by the Alex and Ani serving as reminder of the water that covered the area once ARCH ST. Islander visits the Biltmore City Center, which features arts and music programming, as well known as Great Salt Cove. Over time, the water was drained, I

. S as roller derby and ice skating. land ﬁ lled, and by 1898 railroad tracks ran through the area to

CHAPIN AVE T. Hotel at least once. Opened S O M support the many industries in the city. As times changed and N N Y in 1922, the Biltmore became O DI R business waned, the downtown area languished. However, the

T S WIL T a hub for social activity in

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CT. . . . E River Relocation Project of the 1980s and 1990s brought life

COWPER M downtown Providence, a T N T S A T

O . back to the Providence city center along with a reimagining of S S R legacy that continues today. C N the water that once ran through it. Today, Waterplace Park and

D In its early days, the Biltmore R R E

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EL T L T the surrounding areas are home to walking paths, restaurants, ST. S sought creative ways to bring T concerts and WaterFire.

. WARRE fresh produce to its tables in 18

X X E E D D N ST. HOLLIS ST. 12 the middle of a bustling city; as 7 a result, the building featured Burnside Park WaterFire SU Industrial Trust Company Building a rooftop garden where 2 Kennedy Plaza Tens of thousands of people gather around the Woonasquatucket PE The Arcade 111 Westminster Street RIO vegetables were grown. Sadly, and Providence Rivers several times a year to witness the R65 Weybosset Street WESTFIEL Adjacent to the 19th-century transportation hub of Providence, ST. D STPopularly. known as the “Superman Building” because of its resemblance to the Biltmore experienced a Burnside Park was dedicated in 1892. The park provided a space city’s signature attraction, WaterFire. This waterfront sculpture Built in 1828, The Arcade is the nation’s oldest existing indoor shopping mall the iconic Daily Planet building in the television series, the Industrial Trust Co. fi nancial slump, and closed its to showcase two major artworks, the Bajnotti Fountain and the installation and performance art piece began with 11 braziers and a National Historic Landmark. Designed by Russell Warren and James Building is the tallest — at 428 feet tall — and the most iconic in the Providence doors in 1974. After undergoing statue of General Ambrose Burnside. Dedicated in 1902, the on New Year’s in 1994. Nearly 100 wood-burning fi res, Bucklin, the architecture is notable due to two slightly different facades. Travel music, and street performers lure visitors and residents alike to SPRAGU skyline. Completed in 1927, it is a reminder of downtown’s interwar building a million-dollar renovation and Bajnotti Fountain was a gift from Paul Bajnotti to the city to honor to the Weybosset Street side and you’ll fi nd Warren’s design; six granite ionicE S T. boom. The fi nancial industry took off in Providence and several banks were restoring its 1922 charm, the his late wife, Carrie Mathilde Brown, whose family was prominent Waterplace Park and the Providence RiverWalk on WaterFire columns rooted underneath a parapet. Venture to the Westminster side, and born during this period. The Industrial Trust Co. Building was one of the most hotel was reopened in 1979, in town. The Burnside statue, dedicated in 1887, commemorates evenings. Former Mayor Buddy Cianci once said, “There is you’ll discover six ionic columns connected to a pediment, designed by Bucklin. architecturally progressive buildings of the time. The Art Deco exterior features ensuring an elegant experience former Rhode Island governor and Civil War General Ambrose nothing like it anywhere in the world, even in Florence or Venice.” Today the skylight-lit interior is home to shops, restaurants and residential frieze work depicting labor and culture, with Gorham bronze doors on both the for native Rhode Islanders and Burnside. The park is not Burnside’s only namesake, however — This tour was researched and written by Amelia Golcheski. housing in the form of micro-lofts. Kennedy Plaza and Westminster Street sides. visitors alike. the term “sideburns” comes from his infamous facial hair.