History of Providence
Encyclopedia
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
city of Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
has a nearly four hundred-year history integral to that of the USA, including the first bloodshed of the American Revolution, economic shifts from trading to manufacturing, the decline of which contemporaneous to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
devastated the city, and eventual economic recovery through investment of public funds.
Founding and colonial era
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
and other religious exiles. It was one of the original Thirteen Colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
of the United States. Williams had been exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
for his outspoken beliefs concerning distinction of state government and religion:
- — Roger Williams
Williams secured a title from the Narragansett
Narragansett (tribe)
The Narragansett tribe are an Algonquian Native American tribe from Rhode Island. In 1983 they regained federal recognition as the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. In 2009, the United States Supreme Court ruled against their request that the Department of Interior take land into trust...
natives around this time and gave the city its present name. Williams also cultivated Providence Plantations
Providence Plantations
Providence Plantations was the first permanent European American settlement in present-day Rhode Island. It was established at Providence in 1636 by English clergyman Roger Williams and a small band of followers who had left the repressive atmosphere of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to seek freedom...
as a refuge for persecuted religious dissenters, especially but not exclusively Baptists, as he himself had been exiled from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Baptist minister Chad Brown
Chad Brown (minister)
Reverend Chad Brown I was one of the first ministers of the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
was a leading 17th century land owner in Providence and ancestor to the prominent Brown family and Nicholas Brown, Jr.
Nicholas Brown, Jr.
Nicholas Brown, Jr. , was a Providence, Rhode Island businessman and philanthropist who was the namesake of Brown University.-Biography:...
for whom Brown University was later named. Providence Plantations was an agricultural and fishing community, though its lands were difficult to farm, and its borders were disputed with Connecticut and Massachusetts. During King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
between the Wampanoag leader Metacomet
Metacomet
Metacomet , also known as King Philip or Metacom, or occasionally Pometacom, was a war chief or sachem of the Wampanoag Indians and their leader in King Philip's War, a widespread Native American uprising against English colonists in New England.-Biography:Metacomet was the second son of Massasoit...
(King Philip) and the English Colonists, the town of Providence was destroyed by a Native American coalition on March 29, 1676. Providence was one of two major English settlements burned to the ground - the other was Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
.
After the town was rebuilt, the economy expanded into more industrial and commercial activity. The outer lands of Providence Plantations
Providence Plantations
Providence Plantations was the first permanent European American settlement in present-day Rhode Island. It was established at Providence in 1636 by English clergyman Roger Williams and a small band of followers who had left the repressive atmosphere of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to seek freedom...
, extending to the Massachusetts and Connecticut borders, were incorporated as Scituate
Scituate, Rhode Island
Scituate is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,329 at the 2010 census.-History:Scituate was first settled in 1710 by emigrants from Scituate, Massachusetts...
, Glocester
Glocester, Rhode Island
Glocester is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 9,746 as of the 2010 census. The villages of Chepachet and Harmony are in Glocester. Putnam Pike Glocester is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 9,746 as of the 2010...
, and Smithfield
Smithfield, Rhode Island
Smithfield is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. It includes the historic villages of Esmond, Georgiaville, Mountaindale, Hanton City, Stillwater and Greenville...
in 1731. Later, Cranston
Cranston, Rhode Island
Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. With a population of 80,387 at the 2010 census, it is the third largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston...
, Johnston
Johnston, Rhode Island
Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House a stone-ender museum and the only landfill in Rhode Island...
, and North Providence
North Providence, Rhode Island
North Providence is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 32,078 at the 2010 census.The town has the distinction of being the smallest by area in the smallest state . Though at only , the city of Central Falls is Rhode Island's smallest municipality...
would also be carved out of Providence's municipal territory. By the 1760s, the population of the remaining urban core reached 4,000.
Revolutionary times to manufacturing
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764. The preamble to the act stated: "it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the...
, which impacted Providence's distilleries and its trade in rum and slaves. These taxes caused Providence to join the other colonies in renouncing allegiance to the British Crown.In response to enforcement of unpopular trade laws, Providence residents spilled the first blood of the American Revolution in the notorious Gaspée Affair
Gaspée Affair
The Gaspée Affair was a significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. The HMS Gaspée, a British customs schooner that had been enforcing unpopular trade regulations, ran aground in shallow water on June 9, 1772, near what is now known as Gaspee Point in the city of Warwick, Rhode...
of 1772.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
the city escaped enemy occupation, the capture of nearby Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
disrupted industry and kept the population on alert. Troops were quartered for various campaigns and Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
's University Hall
University Hall (Brown University)
The University Hall at Brown University is the first and oldest building on campus.-History:Built in 1770, it was originally known as the College Edifice...
was used as a barracks and military hospital.
Following the war, the economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing, particularly machinery, tools, silverware, jewelry and textiles. At one time, Providence boasted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, including Brown & Sharpe
Brown & Sharpe
Brown & Sharpe is a division of Hexagon Metrology, Inc., a multinational corporation focused mainly on metrological tools and technology. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Brown & Sharpe was one of the most well-known and influential firms in the machine tool industry...
, Nicholson File, and Gorham Silverware. The city's industries attracted many immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, England, Italy, Portugal, Cape Verde, and French Canada. Economic and demographic shifts caused social strife.Hard Scrabble and Snow Town were two African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
neighborhoods that were the sites of two race riots in which working-class whites
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
destroyed multiple black homes in 1824 and 1831, respectively. In response to these troubles and the economic growth, Providence residents ratified a city charter in 1831.
During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, local politics split over slavery as many had ties to Southern cotton. Despite ambivalence concerning the war, the number of military volunteers routinely exceeded quota, and the city's manufacturing proved invaluable to the Union.
Postwar, horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
lines covering the city enabled its growth and Providence thrived with waves of immigrants and land annexations bringing the population from 54,595 in 1865 to 175,597 by 1900.
Decline
The city began to see a decline by the mid-1920s as industries, notably textiles, shut down. The Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
hit the city hard, and Providence's downtown was flooded by the New England Hurricane of 1938
New England Hurricane of 1938
The New England Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869...
soon after. The city saw further decline as a result of the nation-wide trends, with the construction of highways and increased suburbanization. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Providence was a notorious bastion of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. The legendary mafia boss Raymond Patriarca
Raymond Patriarca
Raymond Patriarca may refer to:*Raymond L.S. Patriarca, Providence mobster and founder of the Patriarca crime family*Raymond Patriarca, Jr., Providence mobster and former leader of the Patriarca crime family...
ruled a vast criminal enterprise from the city for over three decades, during which murders and kidnapings would become commonplace.
"Renaissance"
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
606 million of local and national Community Development funds from were invested throughout the city, and the hitherto falling population began to stabilize. In the 1990s, Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr showcased the city's strength in arts and pushed for further revitalization, ultimately resulting in the opening up of the city's natural rivers (which had been paved over), relocation of a large section of railroad underground, creation of Waterplace Park
Waterplace Park
Waterplace Park is an urban park situated along the Woonasquatucket River in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Finished in 1994, Waterplace Park is connected to 3/4 mile of cobblestone-paved pedestrian walkways along the waterfront known as Riverwalk. Venice-styled Pedestrian bridges cross the...
and river walks along the river's banks, and construction of the Fleet Skating Rink (now the Bank of America Skating Rink) in downtown and the 1.4 million ft2 Providence Place
Providence Place
Providence Place is an urban shopping mall in the central part of Providence, Rhode Island. Opened on August 20, 1999, it is located near the Rhode Island State House and Providence Station. It compromises three main floors and is connected to the nearby Westin Hotel via skyway. It also features...
Mall.
New investment triggered within the city, with new construction including numerous condo projects, hotels, and a new office highrise all filling in the freed space. Despite new investment, poverty remains an entrenched problem as it does in most post-industrial New England cities. Nearly 30 percent of the city population lives below the poverty line. Recent increases in real estate values further exacerbate problems for those at marginal income levels, as Providence had the highest rise in median housing price of any city in the United States from 2004 to 2005.
Due to the recent inundation of proposals in Providence, the city has begun a planning process to decide how to holistically incorporate all projects in a way that preserves the fabric of the city, promotes future development, and capitalizes on the historic nature of the city and waterfront land Emphasis has been stressed on the following:
- Development of a new streetcar system
- Redevelopment of centrally located land freed up by the relocation of Interstate 195Interstate 195 (Rhode Island-Massachusetts)Interstate 195 is an Interstate Highway running a combined 40.1 miles in the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It travels from a junction with Interstate 95 in Providence, Rhode Island east to a junction with Interstate 495 and Route 25 in Wareham, Massachusetts...
- Riverfront improvements on the Woonasquatucket RiverWoonasquatucket RiverThe Woonasquatucket River is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately and drains a watershed of 130 km² ....
west of Providence PlaceProvidence PlaceProvidence Place is an urban shopping mall in the central part of Providence, Rhode Island. Opened on August 20, 1999, it is located near the Rhode Island State House and Providence Station. It compromises three main floors and is connected to the nearby Westin Hotel via skyway. It also features...
, creating continuous pedestrian access to the waterfront - Redevelopment of the corridor south of Downcity between the Providence RiverProvidence Riverthumb|The city of Providence as seen from the Providence River at its confluence with the Narragansett BayThe Providence River is a tidal river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately 8 miles...
and Interstate 95Interstate 95 in Rhode IslandInterstate 95, the main north–south Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States, runs generally southwest-northeast through the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It runs from the border with Connecticut near Westerly through Warwick and Providence and to the Massachusetts state line...
.