Tag: Needs History

37 properties

Are you good at sleuthing out the history of a place? Get in touch with us about any of these properties.

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

    Federal Hill | Built: 1950s? | Demolition: 2005

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

    East Side | Built: circa 1950 | Demolition: 2009

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

    East Side | Built: circa 1965

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

    Downtown Providence | Built: Between 1926 & 1937 | Demolition: 1984

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

    West Side | Built: Between 1908 and 1920

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

    East Side | Built: circa 1890 | Demolition: 2014

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

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: circa 1955 | Demolition: 2014

  • A low-slung, semi-circular mid-century modern transportation hub in downtown Providence.

    Downtown Providence | Built: 1963 | Demolition: circa 1992

  • A set of builings to support beachgoers deemed unfit and unsafe due to repeated ocean storms that have been increasing in intensity

    Newport, RI | Built: 1940, 1993 | Demolition: 2024

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

    West Side | Built: circa 1960 | Demolition: 2012

  • 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.

    East Side | Demolition: 2012

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

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1861

  • 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

    Downtown Providence | Built: 1930s, 1950s | Demolition: 2005

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

    Downtown Providence | Demolition: 2018

  • A group of three unexciting buildings have been razed to make way for an undetermined future development

    Fox Point/India Point | Built: 1929, c.1950, c.1972 | Demolition: 2022

  • A mid-century modern complex built in the late 60s/early 70s for Bulova Watch and then occupied by General Electric for about 20 years.

    Warwick, RI | Built: circa 1970

  • A conglomeration of possibly six 1 to 3 story structures bounded by Westminster, Union, and Weybosset Streets razed in 2005 for a proposed parking garage

    Downtown Providence | Never Built | Demolition: 2005

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

    Silver Lake | Built: 1952 | Demolition: 1989

  • 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.

    East Side | Built: 1940s | Demolition: 2002

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

    East Side | Opened: 2002-2003 | Closed: 2010

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

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: circa 1900, 1940, 1950s | Demolition: 2022

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

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: pre-1940 | Demolition: 2011

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

    East Side | Demolition: 2009

  • A late 90s/early 2000s conversion of a small mill with new addition on North Main Street into luxury condos

    College Hill | Built: 1900?

  • A neo-Georgian building that was home to the original home to the Providence National Bank Company. Razed for a proposed hotel that was never built.

    Downtown Providence | Built: 1929, 1950s | Demolition: 2005

  • 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.

    Downtown Providence | Built: 1940s | Demolition: 2007

  • A simple mid-century industrial building used for jewelry industry purposes over the past 50 years razed in 2011 for speculative purposes

    Jewelry District | Built: circa 1955 | Demolition: 2011

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

    Federal Hill | Built: 1923 | Demolition: 2006

  • A boarded-up retail space along a retail corridor in need of rethinking

    East Side | Built: Between 1962 & 1972 | Demolition: 2007

  • 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.

    East Side | Built: circa 1948 | Demolition: 2014

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

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: circa 1900

  • A low set of one-story buildings built into a hill along Valley Street have been razed for… something, we’re not sure

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: Between 1956 and 1962 | Demolition: 2024

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

    East Side | Built: circa 1930

  • 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.

    Downtown Providence | Never Built | Built: between 1920 and 1939 | Demolition: 2008

  • Demolition Alert

    A turn-of-the-20th-century former funeral home will be demolished for a new apartment building on the edge of Wayland Square

    East Side | Built: 1892

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

    East Providence, RI | Built: circa 1970 | Demolition: 2019

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

    South Providence | Built: 1940? | Demolition: 1985