Architect: Designer Unknown

A simple art-deco-inspired mid-century storefront in Federal Hill demolished for the promise of a new hotel.

A lovely split-square dual residence at the beginning of Atwells Avenue, razed in 2014 for a speculative development that has not come to pass

A large mill built in stages with an iconic square, open-top stair tower visible from Interstate 95.

This turn-of-the-century Federal-style two-story wooden house-turned-resturant was razed quickly on Good Friday in 2021

A former clothing store built off the north side of Sears that stayed empty for years and years before being razed in 2009.

A project that did not gain develepment approval will not go forward, but the demolition of these three houses will

A handsome, symmetrical, two-story fire house that was built at a time when horses still drew fire apparartus

Built circa 1915, these concrete coal storage towers were demolished in late 2002 by oversight — a permit was granted despite their protection by inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

A simple Art Deco commercial building whose fate is uncertain now that its long-term tenant has moved out

This narrow, small footprint a hundred fifty year-old house had a prominent African-American artist as a resident for about 20 years

A family eatery for 50 years at the same corner moves its menu and its silo to a new location in 2021

A local-chain tire and automotive parts outlet with four car-wide drive-through bays on a local retail corridor.

A handsome, if not crumbling, three story brick and granite five-sided commercial building at the gateway to Pawtucket’s Downtown

Originally located along N. Main & Canal Sts., across from Roger Williams Park, Providence, the last meat-packing plant survived for about 50 years

The façade of this simple commercial building was left open for years before finally being finished off in an unattractive manner

A wood-frame mid-19th-century church in the heart of Broadway and Federal Hill stood until 1969, almost 100 years

A pair of turn-of-the-20th century buildings in use for commercial and automobile-related businesses with one being converted into apartments

A non-descript simple one-story brick and concrete structure on a busy commercial portion of Broadway

Two late-19th century houses are to be torn down in favor of a five-story mixed-use residential and commercial building in the College Hill Historic District

Once a circa 1920s car garage, most recently this was a commercial block home to Bagel Gourmet and East Side Mini-Mart, two Brown-University-student staples

Twin 1875-era three-story mansard houses are decaying under ownership of Brown Univesity

A large former gymnasium with a large enough indoor space to support a suspended indoor quarter mile track. Demolished in 2001.

A bricked-in and enclosed one-story building along Kinsley Avenue exploded in a chemical fire that leveled it and threw conder blocks across the street

A converted industrial office building became the State Traffic Tribunal but closed for better digs

A late 19th-century mill building used originally as a machine shop but largely as a cording manufacturer that converted to residential in 2004

A handsome school building in the middle of a dense neighborhood that will be closing in the spring of 2023

A former industrial building converted to a Benny’s department store and then converted to a strip mall

A neighborhood battle and a prolonged redevelopment took down Clark’s to replace it with mixed-use residential and commercial space

A non-descript industrial steel-frame building is coverted to medical laboratory space

A slowly built-up set of factory buildings that decayed for more than a decade before being razed for… a flower farm

One of the oldest industrial buildings in the state with a rich history that continues to this day

An almost 100 year old apartment building turned dormitory became too downtrodden to be useful.

This former hotel has sat vacant and underused for 20 years or more and only recently is being renovated

A large, sprawling glass manufacture complex and large employer in Central Falls, closed its doors in 2014

A mapping project to trace the origins and evolution of the Cove Basin north of Downtown and south of Smith Hill, from 1823 to present day

The “Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge” at Crook Point was abandoned in 1976 but once carried Providence, East Providence, Warren, & Bristol train lines

A worsted yarn mill under the same ownership for 60 to 80 years has been home to small businesses and a plastics company for at least the last 20

A low slung jewelry manufacturing building on the edge of the Jewelry District is now the main Student Services Center for Johnson & Wales University

A 60 year old metal blacksmithing business known for its craft, ingenuity, and dedication to quality fabrication

A very large, wood shingle mansion in Quality Hill with attached carriage house that was used as a senior care facility for 105 years

Brilliant — park your car on top, bowl below. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t hip enough to survive waning interest before bowling made a resurgence

A late ninteenth century dye house of the larger Weybosset Mills which has lately become a boutique hotel

An over 180-year-old mill structure with the Woonasquatucket river at its back and a former office building fronting Manton Avenue

A handsome single story early 20th-century storefront tastfully converted to a local bakery and coffee shop

A relatively simple carriage house down the hill from Benefit Street featuring unique architectural details and construction

Likely a former Phillips 66 Gas Station, this building went from tire shop to restaurant to convenience store

A purpose-built nursing home that closed within six years due to mismanagement, croneyism, and nepitisim

A kid-friendly family theme park with storybook characters and amusement rides that closed in 2005.

A small, unassuming but nicely detailed brick firehouse from the mid-19th century on Providence’s West Side

A pair of auto-centric businesses constructed as the “new” highway was carved through Providence in the 50s/60s.

This cinder block building with a residential looking store facade slapped on it stood vacant for many years before demolition. Part of the way commercial retail comes and goes.

A historic home that was not officially verified as “historic”, therefore it was unprotected from demolition by neglect

A very early fire station was repurposed as commercial space and a twin building was built next door

A former fire station that had its façade completely replaced by 1970, and home to independent radio station WBRU

A non-descript downtown commercial building probably faced with enamel and steel details in the 1950s. Razed in 2005 for a condomuium tower that was never built

A striking 3-story mansard former office building for a larger manufacturing complex of woven goods turned into various small office spaces

A simple building located next to the former Sportsman’s Inn (now the Dean Hotel) that was razed for a never-built hotel.

The littlest building in downtown (not including parking lot shelters) that was once home to small coffee shops.

Falling into disrepair since the 1970s, this once important community center found new use and continues to support the neighborhood and Providence schoolchildren

A handsome, symmetrical façade, Greek-revival inspired mid-19th-century mill building that seems to have always been well cared for

The earliest steel-framed buildings in the city, constructed by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company of Connecticut

A quietly operational General Electric light bulb plant for over 70 years until a swift demolition after 20 years of neglect

An unassuming former ice cream factory on a busy road through a residential neighborhood

A late 18th-century inn in the heart of Colonial Providence’s political seat

A small but mighty former firefighter training facility turned art space and music venue and most recently, a hostel concept

A mid-sized 4-story mill of red brick and stucco in the middle of a residential neighborhood became apartments in 2009

This stone mill off of a main road has many modern additions, like vinyl siding and brick warehouses, but its roots go back to 1775

A long fight over the demolition of a former neighborhood school — and a contributing structure to the Broadway-Armory Historic District.

A former Providence Journal distribution center that was previously a milk processing plant is becomming a graffiti playground

A mid-century housing complex that survived the blast intended to take it down.

An irregulary shaped former horse stable turned furniture showroom turned apartments

A former catholic school has been converted into 24 two-bedroom residential units on the East Side

A sweet little simple Art Deco brick gas station in the middle of the Hope Street commercial district. Probably contaminated and hard to subdivide, so it came down.

The iconic “HOPE” sign rose off the roof of a mill building as you drove north on 95 until a fire devastated it in 2004.

A former 300ft long, 4-story brick mill off the side of Interstate 95 heading north into Massachusetts

A two-story brick L-shaped mill along Eddy Street south of the corner of Eddy and Public Streets. In decay for 10 years or more before being razed in 2005.

A forgotten building on the industrial edge of the north side may be getting a new life

A lovely little pub that we never had to pleasure of visiting. Construction on a 3 mile sewer project damaged the foundations beyond repair

This four hundred foot long mill had a big part to play in the industrial revolution as home to the inventor James Brown

A local scooter sales and repair shop with a side of delicious expresso drinks

A narrow but deep building had its modern refacing removed to reveal an original set of brickwork ornamentation. Now being used as office space

A small one-story industrial building has been home to a design studio for about 50 years but is now awaiting a new owner

This handsome trapezoidal mill building with chamfered corner in the Jewelry District was converted to lofts in 2004.

A cute, manageable, three-story mill building on the outskirts of Smith Hill surrounded by car yards

An irregulary shaped two-story former jewelry mill turned into a small-business studio and residence

A neglected little brick Greek-revival building vacant and boarded up since a fire in the 1990s succumbed to extensive roof damage in 2020

This once ornate building was simplified in the 1920s and once again in the 2000s but has always been commercial space

One the last remaining historic homes on the Thayer to Brook Street block demolished for a new structure

A campus of eight builidngs constructed over the course of 80 years and encompassing styles from Romanesque to Spanish Colonial to Brutalism

A complex of one- and two-story buildings used for upholstery fabric distribution and manufacture for over 90 years

This fine example of roadside architecture is slowly decaying along Route 146 in North Smithfield

A family-owned party supply, costume, and novelty store operating since the early 1980s. Closed in 2005 and burned in 2011.

This ornate former single-family home was built in stages and owned by two prominent business people that almost succumbed to the wrecking ball

Abandoned and derelict for 17 years, the former brewery complex that once employed 850 people was razed in 1998. The brand has lived on and has since reclaimed its Rhode Island heritage.

One of the most profitable race tracks in American history had a 44 year run

A 19th century former volunteer firehouse turned into commercial space on a busy urban corner

Before it was demolished and rebuilt, the Ocean House was one of the few surviving 1800s seaside resort hotels in RI

A rather small commercial storefront that was a branch bank for some time but abandoned for many years before eventual demolition.

A stone mill formerly used as a machine parts manufacturer and now commercial office space

A small but charming red square building in various states of repair and neglect over the years

A fire on Christmas morning gutted the building, but the Masonic Lodge members plan to rebuild, and you can help.

A late 1920s Tudoresque fire station on the East Side of Providence is seeking ideas for reuse

Once the center of an ambitious waterfront redevelopment project, the building is now underutilized

Demolished as part of the relocation of I-195 in the early 2000s, this large mill complex was home 45 small businesses, art studios, and a bar.

A two-story industrial building used mainly as a nightclub in recent years flies under the radar in the Jewelry District — a hotbed of new development

This 60 year-old Art Deco structure was vacated in 2000 for new digs across the highway. It stayed vacant for 6 years until a proposed condo structure took it down.

A 90-year-old eatery is demolished, only to find two diner cars buried within a wooden structure built-up over time

A long industrial mill along the Atwells Avenue off ramp was home to the C.J. Fox company for 60 years before conversion to office space

A big hulking 5300-person capacity civic auditorium that hosted sports and entertainment for close to 50 years.

A sprawling pre-Civil-War-era complex with a proud history of metal manufacturing of many kinds, including armaments

This modestly small but ornate brick building became the home to the Providence Revolving Fund

An unassuming single story commercial property razed for the Walgreens and condos at 333 Atwells Ave.

This former stable is a remnant of a larger house that was razed in the 1940s and now stands as a handsome private home

One of the oldest mill structures in Olneyville, this building housed a collection of 60 artists who were forced out in 2004

A small commercial building surrounded by parking lots razed for an 800 car parking garage for Johnson & Wales University

One of the last big box stores on North Main Street, closed since the mid-to-late 90s. Demolished in 2014 to become infill for a parking lot.

A former waterfront nightclub overlooking Narragansett Bay that operated under many different names in its 10 year lifespan

A tall, handsome mill which was a cottom weaving company for about 35 years before becomming a realty company that rented space to other businesses — now residential lofts

A modest turn-of-the-century three story mill in a dense mill area of Pawtucket

A very interesting weave shed building, flooded with natural light, becomes artist live/work studio lofts

A narrow 3-story building built as infill when rail lines were removed in the Provisions Warehouse District. Most recently a set of nightclubs.

An adorably symmetrical former fire station turned into a private residence in the early 2000s

A small flatiron-style 19th century mill building right on the bank of the Moshassuck River in a formerly dense industrial area

This unassuming golden brick, pier and spandrel commercial building has been part of the Johnson & Wales campus since the mid-1960s

A mid-19th century small scale commercial brick mill has been a home to various businesses and loving owners

An mid-19th-century mill falters in its second life but gains a third life in the late 2010s to become residential with a boutique hotel on the same property

Three tightly-packed buildings with histories in weaving and threading have turned residential and are thriving in post-industrial Central Falls

A small single-story brick commercial-industrial storefront with subtle art-deco details

A former businessman’s club that could no longer operate is turned into the offices for an archoeological and historic preservation non-profit

A 400,000+ sq. ft. series of mill buildings dating from 1870 and converted to residential units after suffering a devastating fire that leveled half the complex

A former power substation along the train tracks has most recently been an after-hours nightclub but has now been vacant since 2018

The one that started a revolution. A 13 acre site, bounded by Atwells Ave, Eagle Street, and Valley Street, housing cheap artist studio space and the famous Fort Thunder arts collective.

A collection of handsome late-19th- and early-20th-century buildings that served as headquarters for a knitted good company as well as rental space for jewelry businesses

A mini-arcade type of commercial building in a once bustling retail district turned small business and destination retail space

An ornate mill-company-built community space subdivided into offices during the last century

A recently underutilized mill building with distinctive central octoganol tower to become 225 apartments and commercial space

A large parcel of land on the edge of the jewelry district whose 1- and 2-story buildings were razed by speculation but nothing yet occupies the site.

A former steel and wire manufacturing facilty along the waterfront in East Providence shut down in 1994 and was razed 10 years later

A nice, simple early 20th century building on a busy commercial corridor with some subtle Art Deco details

A small mercantile-style building razed for a never-built Sierra Suites Hotel in 2008. This building housed a few well-loved storefronts — New Japan, Cuban Revolution, and the Talk of the Town bar.

A large complex of mill buildings spread out over three city blocks is only partially intact and undergoing revitalization in different forms

A circa 1900 collection of mill buildings are still in use as manufacturing, small business space, and studios even though the building itself needs maintenance

Vacant since 1987, this building stood on the West Side across from Central High School for over 20 years before being completely razed to the ground.

The former home of three different radio stations left to rot for almost 20 years.

A former screw and fastener manufacturer that has been revitalized as a cooperative craft brewing collective

A sweet and spare little gas and service station formerly on Eddy Street. Love the painted transom sign.