Tag: Providence Public Library Digital Collections as a source for photos

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

A Then & Now pair with more than 80 years between them

A collection of six brick buildings with a complicated history, series of owners, and name

An amazingly dense complex of mill structures dating from the mid-1800s and in use for over 100 years before succumbing to two large fires in the midst of plans to redevelop

An almost 100,000 square foot mill in an industrial section of Pawtucket that has been used as studio space for 30 years

A small, square remnant of a much larger Riverside Mills complex remained as City property for almost 30 years before being torn down.

A long-standing and intact example of mill architecture from the late 1800s, available as studio and commercial space

An almost two-century old building which has been in constant use for military-related purposes

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

An unassuming commercial building gets a makeover in 2025 as a community gathering space and offices for a new non-profit

Slow and steady wins this race — vacated in 1964, some of the buildings were in use as early as 1988, but only 30 years later has the entire complex been redeveloped

A beautiful Second-Empire style, iron storefront, six-story commercial building on the edge of Exchange Place until a fire destroyed it in 1925

A former department store turned rock club venue turned loft apartments whose conversion contributed to making Downtown Providence bustle again

A four-turned-five-story 19th-century commercial building goes residential to support 44 micro-lofts and a younger clientele

Since its acquisition in 1902, this mid-19th-century church has been studio and student activity space adjacent to the RISD Museum

The story of two central fire stations located on the perimeter of Exchange Place, now Kennedy Plaza.

The Red Bridge name has been used with four different bridges connecting Providence and East Providence, but this is the one that “Used To Be There”

These three restaurants are a gateway to memories of mid-century immigrant restaurants and their impact on our taste buds.

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

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

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 large 250,000 sf brick mill complex used for rubber manufacture over almost 100 years, now divided into office and retail space

A former church mission turned into a series of unsavory businesses establishments until a 30 year old law allowing indoor prostitution was rewritten

In use for almost 70 years, the East Side Train tunnel burrows beneath College Hill and once connected Union Station to East Providence

A popular restaurant since 1973 in a unique red brick building that was an early horse-drawn apparatus Fire Station

A three-hundred year old house with a varied history, a little mystery, and larger questions about what is worth preserving.

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

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

An enormous granite, brick, and steel early 19th-century military fortification guarding the entrance to Narragansett Bay

A rare apartment row house with interconnected interior spaces and original details gets a facelift and modern new addition

This chalet-style 19th century Stone & Carpenter design was reivigorated in 2002 with new foundation and additional connecting buildings to expand Brown’s Hillel Center

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

Parcel 9: A modern, 13-story glass box reflecting the mall, the Westin, Union Station, and Waterplace park.

Three underutilized commercial buildings have been considered one since the 1930s and may face the wrecking ball

This huge 7-acre complex is a mixed-use, active-24/7 collection of 165 flexible business spaces and 149 mill lofts

A former high-art-style consumer banking lobby and offices becomes a 56,000 sf art library and housing for 500 students

A turn-of-the-century hotel with intact, 100-year old wood panelled bar enhanced by stained-glass windows and decorative terra cotta

This converted hotel has been restored to much of its former glory, without those great vertical decorative signs

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

The iconic “Superman” building, the tallest in the state, might be close to getting a new life as residential apartments

The roadway system of on and off ramps and causeway over Wickenden Street and the murals that adorned it

An elaborate home decorated with “gingerbread” details and the former workshop of notable designers A. & L. Tirocchi is now a collective-run bed & breakfast & artist residency program

An over 170-year-old congregation has served the needs of people in the center of Downtown Providence from a 120-year-old church building

This imposing, 6-story cold storage facility ran continuously for 98 years. It fell to the wrecking ball before converting these buildings became the cool thing to do

One of the first artist-led redevelopment projects post-Eagle Square, these 21 units have remained in artist’s hands, some with afforability restrictions

A rare “Collegiate Gothic”-style high school faces potential demolition as educators and the public struggle with the complex emotions surrounding a quality public education

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

A large mill complex on the West Side of Providence turns into residential lofts at the beginning of the boom

A classically-inspired former bank with soaring vaulted ceiling finds new life as a performing arts center

A beaux-arts beauty of a train station decays twenty-one feet over the tracks on the city line between Pawtucket and Central Falls

An early 1900s fire station converted to a senior center in the 1980s and in constant use ever since

This 175 year old stone mill suffered a suspicious and devastating fire in 2005 which razed it to the ground

A fire-damaged former church used for many years as a furniture storage facility recently turned into 15 residential units

A massive private home designed by important turn-of-the-century minds had as colorful a history as it had decorative stone details.

This freight house was part of one of the first major railroad stations in America and one of the few only surviving structures of its architect Thomas A. Tefft

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

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.

A 1980s conversion from industrial to residential condominiums by the same developer of the Davol Rubber Company

A tiny former boiler house becomes a popular bar with a large cultural impact on Providence’s waterfront

A 100-year-old ornamental steel and iron manufacturer gets a new life as a center for vocational training and art creation

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

This building survived for 115 years before becoming too outdated to stay relevant in an ever-expanding hospital system

A sliver of an 1829 structure survives under this turn-of-the-20th-century vaudeville theatre turned movie house turned commercial storefronts

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

This mid-1800s structure was one the few examples of Providence’s eminent architect Thomas Tefft but burned in 2006.

A massive 58,000 sf former electricity generating station went through three different redevelopment projects over 20 years before finally being completed

Could the newest owner of this long neglected building finally turn it back into the jewel it used to be?

A narrow and difficult to redevelop building languished on the Ten Most Endangered List for five years before getting a new life

A present-day example of early car service culture — white enamelled panels with bright green and red accents and an utilitarian design

This over 190 year old structure survived 170 years as an indoor mall but now is a collection of retail and micro-loft styles residential condos

A late 19th-century investment building used as commercial space for over 100 years recently turned into residential upper floors.

A masterpiece of the Italian Romanesque style designed by a young newcomer who would later become an architecture star in his relatively short life

This 120-year old station has see fires and rehabilitation, but the remarkably handsome structure is still standing and useful and full of tenants

A former trolley car barn along the busy thoroughfare of Broad Street has been reduced twice to a much smaller industrial space on the corner of Thurbers and Prairie

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

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

A classic mid-century brick and limestone commercial building transformed into a highly visible commercial, residential, and rooftop restaurant space

A small, five-story commercial building that underwent a modern renovation into 12 apartments on a busy downtown street