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Providence

About Providence

178,432 in city
7,609,358 in metro
52 km² (20 mi²)
22.860277981 m
Providence is the core city of New England’s second largest metropolis, the capital of Rhode Island, the seat of Providence County, a major port, and a center of manufacturing and commerce. It is also home to outstanding institutions of higher learning such as Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. The city is located at the head of Narragansett Bay, about 45 miles southwest of Boston and 20 miles north of the Atlantic Ocean. Providence was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, an exiled religious dissident from Massachusetts. He dedicated the new settlement to religious and civil liberty, naming it “in commemoration of God’s merciful Providence.” The agrarian economy of the 1600s gave way to one based on sea-faring trade in the 1700s. The wealth of this era built mansions such as the John Brown Home that are still found on East Side Hill near downtown. On May 4, 1776, Rhode Island became the first American colony to declare its independence from England. After the American Revolution, Providence became a leader in the Industrial Revolution. Samuel Slater built the first water-powered cotton-spinning machines in the USA at nearby Pawtucket in the early 1790s. Nehemiah Dodge perfected a process of gold-plating about the same time. The textile and jewelry industries became mainstays of growth for many years to come. The textile industry began leaving in the 1920s, followed by the economic blows of the 1930s. The area prospered during World War II, but gradual decline set in afterward. The population peaked at 248,674 in 1950. Although urban renewal began in the 1960s, Providence has preserved its history, including a large number of colonial buildings such as the First Baptist Church of 1775, the oldest Baptist Church in the country. The magnificent Rhode Island State House overlooks downtown with the world’s second largest unsupported marble dome.

Metro Cities

Acton, Amesbury, Arlington, Attleboro, Auburndale, Avon, Ayer, Beverly, Boston, Braintree, Bristol, Brockton, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Canton, Central Falls, Chelsea, Concord, Cranston, Cumberland, Danvers, Dover, Durham, East Greenwich, East Providence, Everett, Exeter, Fall River, Fitchburg, Foxborough, Framingham, Gloucester, Goffstown, Haverhill, Holliston, Hudson, Hudson, Hull, Jamestown, Laconia, Lakeville, Lawrence, Leominster, Londonderry, Lowell, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Manchester, Marblehead, Marlborough, Maynard, Medford, Melrose, Meredith, Methuen, Middleborough, Middleton, Milford, Milton, Nashua, Natick, Needham, New Bedford, Newburyport, Newport, Newton, North Andover, North Attleboro, North Hampton, North Kingstown, North Providence, Northbridge, Norwood, Pawtucket, Peabody, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Providence, Quincy, Randolph, Revere, Rockport, Salem, Salisbury, Shrewsbury, Smithfield, Somerville, South Kingstown, Southbridge, Sudbury, Taunton, Wakefield, Waltham, Warwick, Watertown, West Warwick, Westminster, Weymouth, Wilmington, Wilton, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, Woonsocket, Worcester

No. of Buildings

No. Current status
181 All Buildings
157
existing
6
planned
8
unbuilt
10
demolished

Tallest Buildings

# Building Height Year
1 Bank of America Building 428 ft 1927
2 One Financial Plaza 410 ft 1973
3 The Residences at the Westin 380 ft 2007
4 Omni Providence Hotel 329 ft 1993
5 Textron Tower 311 ft 1972

Building types

No. Type
127 low-rise building
34 high-rise building
8 skyscraper
6 church
1 chimney
1 stadium
1 fountain
1 open-air structure
1 monumental hall
1 building with towers

Other buildings

No. Type
0 Famous buildings
6 Buildings with construction images