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Providence
Providence is a city in Rhode Island, capital of the state, and seat of Providence County. Providence is located at the head of Narragansett Bay on the Providence River, in the northern part of the state. In addition to being the seat of the state government, Providence is a commercial, manufacturing, and financial center. The city is noted for the production of jewelry, and lays claim to being the Costume Jewelry Capital of the Nation. Other important manufactures include silverware, machinery, metal goods, and rubber products. The city is also a major seaport; it is used as port of entry for tankers carrying petroleum products for southern New England.
Providence is a transportation crossroads, with extensive road and rail connections to nearby metropolitan areas, scheduled air service through Theodore Francis Green State Airport, and ferry links to Newport and offshore Block Island, a popular summer resort.
Providence is one of the leading educational centers in the nation. The city is the seat of Brown University (1764), Johnson & Wales University (1914), Providence College (1917), Rhode Island College (1854), and the Rhode Island School of Design (1877).
Among Providence's many historic buildings, some dating back to colonial times, are the State Capitol (1895-1904), with one of the world's largest marble domes; the First Unitarian Church (1816), with a bell cast in the foundry of Paul Revere; the John Brown House (1786), built by a merchant who gained wealth in trade with China and considered one of the finest 18th-century homes in the country; and the First Baptist Church (1775), the meeting house of the oldest Baptist congregation in the United States. Along Benefit Street is an impressive concentration of colonial homes, many of which are opened by their owners during the annual Festival of Historic Houses.
The state's only national memorial honors Puritan clergyman Roger Williams, a pioneer for religious freedom and the city's founder. Another park named for Williams contains a natural history museum, planetarium, and zoo. Cultural institutions also include Providence Athenaeum (1753), one of the oldest libraries in the United States, and the Museum of Art of the Rhode Island School of Design.
In 1636 Roger Williams, banished from Boston by the Massachusetts Bay Company because of his religious and political beliefs, established Providence as a haven for those who shared his philosophy. He secured the land from the Narragansett people and named the community in gratitude of God's "providence." The settlement soon attracted other dissenters, and in 1638 a plan for local government was adopted. In 1644 the English granted a charter that joined Providence and nearby settlements into the Colony of Providence Plantations.
In 1675 and 1676 a war led by Chief Philip, arising from land disputes between Native Americans and settlers, spread to Rhode Island. Much of Providence was burned following destruction of a nearby Native American village. But the city rebounded, and by the early 18th century the community was thriving as a port for trade in molasses, rum, and slaves with the West Indies and Africa.
In 1772 Providence residents burned HMS Gaspée, sent to enforce the British Navigation Acts, which protected English trade from foreign competition. They also protested English taxation by burning tea in the public square (see Stamp Act; Townshend Acts). Two months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Rhode Island Independence Act was signed on May 4, 1776, in Providence. Later, during the American Revolution (1775-1783), Providence was an important base for American and French troops, who were quartered in University Hall (1770) at Brown University.
Toward the end of the 18th century the manufacture of jewelry, textiles, and silverware began in Providence, and the community grew large enough to incorporate as a city in 1831. A booming textile industry continued to draw large numbers of immigrants to the city, particularly from Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Several other industries were established in Providence during the 19th century, and by the century's end manufacturing had supplanted commerce as the city's leading economic activity.
In 1900 Providence became the sole capital of Rhode Island (Newport had been the joint capital since 1854). Providence's population decreased in the 1940s and 1950s as many of its residents moved to the suburbs. During the same period the city began a transition from a manufacturing to a service economy.
Beginning in the 1970s the city underwent extensive renovation. Unlike urban renewal in other cities, where historic buildings often were razed, in Providence such buildings were revitalized for new uses. In the 1990s a railroad freight yard was converted to a riverfront amphitheater, and rivers which had for years been lidded by concrete were uncovered and opened for public enjoyment. A modern convention center in downtown Providence was opened in 1993.
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