Columbus Square is a historic public square in the Historic Elmwood Neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. Located at the intersection of Elmwood Avenue and Reservoir Avenue, it serves as a gateway to Elmwood from the Reservoir and West End Neighborhoods.
Columbus Square is the heart of the Elmwood Avenue business district that abuts the South Elmwood Historic District. [2] After June 2020, the location consists of a fenced triangle of land, half paved-over with brick, with about a dozen trees and a square granite slab where the Columbus statue once stood. It is also home to nearby charter school, Paul Cuffee Upper School [3] independent middle school Sophia Academy, [4] several car dealers, a drug store, a sandwich shop, and an electrical supply company.
The small triangular plot of land was originally owned by Joseph Cooke, who deeded to the Town of Cranston on May 24, 1824. [5] Cranston in turn deeded it to Providence in 1868. [5] It was renamed Columbus Park in 1893 in honor of a bronze statue of Columbus which was erected in on the small plot on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's landing. [5]
Columbus square was notable for its bronze statue, Columbus , designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and cast in bronze in 1893 by the historic Gorham Manufacturing Company, which was located nearby on Adelaide Avenue. [6] The statue, of Christopher Columbus, is a recasting of a statue prepared in sterling silver by the Gorham company for the Columbian World's Fair in Chicago, 1893. [7] The statue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is sited in Columbus Square Park, a public park of the City of Providence Parks Department. [8]
In June 2020, on the order of mayor Jorge Elorza, the Columbus statue was removed from Columbus Square as the city had been dispatching police officers to watch the statue due to vandalism. [9] The order was given during a time of statue removals across the United States in the wake of George Floyd protests. [9] During the removal, dozens of people from the neighborhood gathered to cheer. [9] The statue was purchased by a former Providence mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr. and gifted to Johnston, Rhode Island where it is displayed at a park. [10]
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing Liberty Enlightening the World, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty.
Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 29,568 at the 2020 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House (1691), a stone-ender museum, and the only landfill in Rhode Island. Incorporated on March 6, 1759, Johnston was named for the colonial attorney general, Augustus Johnston.
Riverside is a neighborhood in the city of East Providence in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Despite not being an incorporated city, Riverside has its own zip code, 02915, and is an acceptable mailing address according to the United States Postal Service. Riverside has a population of approximately 20,000 people.
Edgewood is located in eastern Cranston, Rhode Island. It is three miles away from Providence.
The Gorham Manufacturing Company was one of the largest American manufacturers of sterling and silverplate and a foundry for bronze sculpture.
Roger Williams Park is an elaborately landscaped 427-acre (173 ha) city park in Providence, Rhode Island and a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is named after Roger Williams, the founder of the city of Providence and the primary founder of the state of Rhode Island.
Norwood is a neighborhood in the city of Warwick, Rhode Island. Norwood is bounded by Route 37, the Pawtuxet River, Sherwood Avenue, the former Christopher Rhodes Elementary School, North Palm Boulevard, Palm Boulevard, and Post Road. Such borders mark the area traditionally served by the fire station previously located at the current site of the Norwood Boys & Girls Club.
Charles is a neighborhood in northern Providence, Rhode Island. Along with Wanskuck, it comprises what is sometimes referred to as the North End. To the west Charles is partitioned from Wanskuck by Route 146, while the Chad Brown public housing complex separates Charles from Smith Hill to the south, and the West River and Interstate 95 bounds the area to the east. The city limits abutting the city of North Providence bound Charles to the north.
The West End is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of Providence, Rhode Island in the region often referred to as the South Side. Its boundaries are delineated by Westminster Street to the north, Huntington Avenue to the south, Elmwood Avenue to the east and the railroad tracks with Route 10 to the west. Cranston Street runs through the center of West End, past the Cranston Street Armory which has given the neighborhood the alternative name of the "Armory District."
Elmwood is a neighborhood in the South Side of Providence, Rhode Island. The triangular region is demarcated by Broad Street, Elmwood Avenue, and Interstate 95.
The South Side of Providence, Rhode Island, originally South Providence, is a term frequently used to describe the collective region comprising the official neighborhoods of Upper and Lower South Providence, Elmwood and the West End. The name was first used in the 1830s when the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad established its first station at a pier on the Providence River on a point of land about one half mile south of downtown Providence. The station was named South Providence.
The Lower South Side is a neighborhood in the southern part of Providence, Rhode Island. It is bounded by Public Street to the north, by Interstate 95 to the south, by Broad Street to the west, and by the Providence River to the east.
Columbus is a historic statue in Johnston, Rhode Island. The statue is a bronze cast of a sterling silver statue which was created by Rhode Island's Gorham Manufacturing Company for the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The original silver statue was not meant for permanent exhibition, but rather as a demonstration of the skills of the Gorham Company, and was later melted down. The bronze cast was dedicated on November 8, 1893 in Columbus Square, in Providence, Rhode Island, United States as a gift from the Elmwood Association to the City of Providence.
The Elmwood Historic District encompasses two large residential sections of the Elmwood neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. The Elmwood area was mainly farmland until the mid-19th century, when its development as a residential area began, and these two sections represents well-preserved neighborhoods developed between about 1850 and 1920. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Davol Square is a historic area within the Jewelry District of Providence, Rhode Island. It is located at the intersection of Point Street and Eddy Street.
The Broadway–Armory Historic District is a historic district encompassing a mainly residential mixed-used urban area west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island.
Mashapaug Pond is the largest freshwater pond in the city of Providence, Rhode Island.