Union Station | |
 1898 Union Station | |
   | |
| Location | Providence, Rhode Island |
|---|---|
| Built | 1898 |
| Architect | Stone, Carpenter & Willson |
| Part of | Downtown Providence Historic District (ID84001967) |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000003 [1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 20, 1975 |
| Designated CP | February 10, 1984 |
Union Station describes two distinct, defunct train stations in Providence, Rhode Island. Parts of the latter one were renovated and the building contains offices and restaurants.
The original Union Station was Providence's first, opening in 1848 to accommodate the needs of the newly thriving city. This building was designed by 21 year old Rhode Island architect, Thomas Alexander Tefft in the Lombard Romanesque style. Construction of the station was supervised by Tallman & Bucklin. Extending 720 feet along the edge of Exchange Place, the structure was the largest railroad station in the United States the time of its construction. [2] The building has also been dubbed longest building in the country at the time, though this assertion is disputed. [3] [4]
In 1885, American Architect and Building News voted the building one of the 20 best buildings in the country. [3] 20th century architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock wrote of the station, "without much question it was the finest early station in the New World." [5]
As the city continued to grow, so too did the need for terminal space, ultimately resulting in the paving over of the remnants of the city's inland bay in 1890. The question of what to do with the now undersized station was spontaneously answered on February 21, 1896 when the building suffered a catastrophic fire that effectively gutted the structure. [6]
A much larger Union Station was opened in 1898, clad in distinctive yellow brick, which the Providence Journal heralded as "a new era of history of this city". [7] The station was designed by the firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, which had also designed other Providence buildings. [8] Though rail use was expected to grow, by the 1980s rail traffic had dropped 75 percent. City planners saw the opportunity to dismantle the "Chinese Wall" of train tracks that hemmed in Providence's central business district and moved MBTA and Amtrak service to a new, smaller Providence station about a half mile north in 1986. [9]
Union Station caught fire in April 1987 [10] amidst $11 million in renovations, forcing a change of plans. Parts of the original station have now been renovated and the building contains offices and restaurants, including the Union Station Brewery.
The center-most building of Union Station now houses the Rhode Island Foundation, which leases space to The Public's Radio, RI Kids Count, [11] and Women's Fund RI. [12]
A $23.5-million investment to develop Rhode Island's first food hall in the station was begun in 2022, [13] by a local developer who purchased the building from The Rhode Island Foundation. [14] The 18,000-square-foot food hall will be named Track 15, a reference to the fact that the historic Union Station had 14 tracks. [14] The space will include a large central bar, a 10,000-square-foot outdoor event space, an entertainment space, and seating for "more than 300." [14] A tentative opening of "late summer 2024" was announced, with a variety of local food vendors including seafood, burgers, craft beers, and Italian and Mexican cuisine. [14]
The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 900 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, on the border of downtown in Providence. It is a neoclassical building designed by McKim, Mead & White which features the fourth largest structural-stone dome in the world, topped by a gilded statue of "The Independent Man", representing freedom and independence. The building houses the Rhode Island General Assembly – the state House of Representatives is located in the west wing, and the Senate in the east – and the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and general treasurer of Rhode Island. Other state offices are located in separate buildings on a campus just north of the State House.
Classical High School, founded in 1843, is a public magnet school in the Providence School District, in Providence, Rhode Island. It was originally an all-male school but has since become co-ed. Classical's motto is Certare, Petere, Reperire, Neque Cedere, a Latin translation of the famous phrase taken from Tennyson's poem "Ulysses", "To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and Not to Yield". It has been rated "High Performing and Sustaining" by its performance in 2005 on the New Standards Reference Exam, placing third in the state. The school also made Newsweek's America's Best High Schools of 2012 with a 99% graduation rate, 95% college bound, an average SAT score of 1578, and an average AP score of 2.8. Classical High School stands roughly at the intersection of the Federal Hill, West End, and Upper South Providence neighborhoods.
Thomas Alexander Tefft was an American architect, from Providence, Rhode Island. Tefft, one of the nation's first professionally trained architects, is considered a master of Rundbogenstil and a leading American proponent of its use. Prior to his untimely death, Tefft "offered the most advanced designs of [his] day in America"
The Roger Williams National Memorial is a landscaped urban park located on a common lot of the original settlement of Providence, Rhode Island, established by minister Roger Williams in 1636. The national memorial commemorates the life of Williams, who co-founded the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and championed religious freedom. The park is bounded by North Main, Canal, and Smith Streets, and Park Row.
50 Kennedy Plaza is a postmodern skyscraper in Providence, Rhode Island. At a height of 285 ft (87 m), it is currently the sixth-tallest building in the city and state. The building is named for Kennedy Plaza, which stands to the structure's northeast.
The Beneficent Congregational Church is a United Church of Christ Congregationalist church located at 300 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island.
The Turk's Head Building is a 16-story office high-rise in Providence, Rhode Island. Completed in 1913, the building is one of the oldest skyscrapers in Providence. Standing 215 ft (66 m) tall, it is currently the 11th-tallest building in Providence. When completed in 1913, the Turk's Head Building surpassed the 1901 Union Trust Company Building to become the tallest building in downtown. The building retained that title until 1922, when the Providence Biltmore was completed.
Downtown is the central economic, political, and cultural district of the city of Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is bounded on the east by Canal Street and the Providence River, to the north by Smith Street, to the west by Interstate 95, and to the south by Henderson Street. The highway serves as a physical barrier between the city's commercial core and neighborhoods of Federal Hill, West End, and Upper South Providence. Most of the downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Downtown Providence Historic District.
The Old State House on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, also known as Providence Sixth District Court House,Providence Colony House, Providence County House, and Rhode Island State House is located on 150 Benefit Street, with the front facade facing North Main Street. It is a brick Georgian-style building largely completed in 1762. It was used as the meeting place for the colonial and state legislatures for 149 years.
Providence City Hall is the center of the municipal government in Providence, Rhode Island. It is located at the southwest end of Kennedy Plaza at 25 Dorrance Street in Providence. The building was constructed between 1875 and 1878, and designed by Samuel J. F. Thayer in the Second Empire style. In 1975, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a contributing structure to the broader Downtown Providence Historic District.
The Candace Allen House is a historic house located at 12 Benevolent Street in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. Named after Candace Allen (1785-1872) an dauther of Zachariah Allen, a prominent Providence mill-owner.
Grace Church is an historic Episcopal church at 300 Westminster Street at Mathewson Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It was built in 1845-46 and was designed by Richard Upjohn in the Gothic Revival style.
The Shepard Company Building is a historic building at 255 Westminster Street and 72-92 Washington Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. A prominent landmark, it housed Shepard's, Providence's most prestigious department store, and one of the largest in New England, from 1903 to 1974, beginning as a single building built in the 1870s at Clemence and Washington and continually expanding until it occupied the entire block between Westminster, Clemence, Washington and Union Streets.
The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, located at 271 North Main Street in Providence, Rhode Island was built in 1810 and was designed and built by John Holden Greene in the early Gothic Revival style, replacing a smaller wooden 1722 church on the same site. A chapel by Richard Upjohn was added in 1856, and the south transept by Clifton A. Hall in 1866. The interior was remodeled by Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson in the Baroque style in 1905, and further changes were made in 1967. The Diocesan Offices next door was designed by Milman & Sturges in 1967, and changes were made to it in 1972. The church was made a seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island in 1929.
John Holden Greene (1777-1850) was a noted early nineteenth century architect practicing in Providence, Rhode Island. The bulk of his work dates to the late Federal period, and is mostly in the architectural style of the same name. Greene is responsible for the design of over fifty buildings built in the city between 1806 and 1830, almost half of which are still standing.
Alpheus C. Morse (1818-1893) was an American architect with offices in Providence, Rhode Island.
James C. Bucklin (1801-1890) was an American architect working in Providence, Rhode Island.
Charles P. Hartshorn was an American architect practicing in Providence, Rhode Island. He was a popular designer there in the decade immediately following the Civil War.
Wallis Eastburn Howe (1868–1960) was a notable American architect from Rhode Island.
41°49′33″N71°24′48″W / 41.8258°N 71.4133°W
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