Providence County, Rhode Island (RI), United States, North America
Latitude
41°49'N
Longitude
71°25'W
Providence
, city (1990 pop. 160,728), state and of
Providence co., NE R.I., a port at the head of Narragansett Bay;
41°49'N 71°25'W. The largest city in the state and one of the 3
largest in New England, it is a port of entry and a major trading
center. The bay receives the Seekonk and other rivers, opens into
Narragansett Bay, and forms an excellent harbor into which oil and
other cargoes are shipped. Widely known as a silverware- and
jewelry-mfg. and banking, insurance, and medical center. Textiles,
machinery, metal prods., electronic equip., plastic goods, and machine
tools are also made, and there are printing and publishing enterprises.
Roger Williams chose this site in 1636 after he was exiled from Mass.
He secured title to the land from Native Narragansett chiefs and named
the place in gratitude for “God's merciful providence.” The
settlement grew as a refuge for religious dissenters. Many of its
bldgs. were burned in King Philip's War (1675-1676). Prosperity came
in the 18th cent. with foreign commerce, and after the Amer.
Revolution, industrial development was rapid. The Brown brothers, John,
Nicholas, and Moses, played leading roles in the growth of the town,
prospering in foreign trade and fostering the textile and other
industries. In 1842, Thomas W. Dorr led a rebellion that collapsed
after an abortive assault on the armory here. The city became sole
capital of R.I. in 1900 (Newport had been joint capital until then). In
1901 the state legislature began to meet in the impressive marble-domed
capitol designed by McKim, Mead, and White. Seat of the noted R.I.
School of Design and Mus. of Art, some of whose work is related to the
city's famous silverware and jewelry industry; and of Brown Univ.,
Johnson and Wales Col. and Culinary Archives and Mus., Providence Col.,
R.I. Col., and the New England Inst. of Technology. It has several
noted lib., including the John Carter Brown Lib. of Brown Univ. and the
Athenaeum (1753), one of the oldest libraries in the U.S. Among the
city's many historic structures are the old statehouse (where the
general assembly met 1762-1900; now a courthouse), the old market
bldg. (1773), Stephen Hopkins House (c.1755), John Brown House (1786),
and the First Baptist Meetinghouse (1775; the congregation was
organized in 1638). The city has monuments to Oliver Hazard Perry
(1928) and Nathanael Greene (1931). On Prospect Terrace is Leo
Friedlander's heroic statue of Roger Williams (1939). Another memorial
to the founder is in Roger Williams Park, which contains a mus. of
natural history and a natural amphitheater. Providence
suffered severely in hurricanes in 1938 and 1954; a hurricane
barrier was completed in 1966. Inc. as a city 1832.
Capital city or county seat is shown by the symbol
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state and of
Providence co., NE R.I., a port at the head of Narragansett Bay;
41°49'N 71°25'W. The largest city in the state and one of the 3
largest in New England, it is a port of entry and a major trading
center. The bay receives the Seekonk and other rivers, opens into
Narragansett Bay, and forms an excellent harbor into which oil and
other cargoes are shipped. Widely known as a silverware- and
jewelry-mfg. and banking, insurance, and medical center. Textiles,
machinery, metal prods., electronic equip., plastic goods, and machine
tools are also made, and there are printing and publishing enterprises.
Roger Williams chose this site in 1636 after he was exiled from Mass.
He secured title to the land from Native Narragansett chiefs and named
the place in gratitude for “God's merciful providence.” The
settlement grew as a refuge for religious dissenters. Many of its
bldgs. were burned in King Philip's War (1675-1676). Prosperity came
in the 18th cent. with foreign commerce, and after the Amer.
Revolution, industrial development was rapid. The Brown brothers, John,
Nicholas, and Moses, played leading roles in the growth of the town,
prospering in foreign trade and fostering the textile and other
industries. In 1842, Thomas W. Dorr led a rebellion that collapsed
after an abortive assault on the armory here. The city became sole
capital of R.I. in 1900 (Newport had been joint capital until then). In
1901 the state legislature began to meet in the impressive marble-domed
capitol designed by McKim, Mead, and White. Seat of the noted R.I.
School of Design and Mus. of Art, some of whose work is related to the
city's famous silverware and jewelry industry; and of Brown Univ.,
Johnson and Wales Col. and Culinary Archives and Mus., Providence Col.,
R.I. Col., and the New England Inst. of Technology. It has several
noted lib., including the John Carter Brown Lib. of Brown Univ. and the
Athenaeum (1753), one of the oldest libraries in the U.S. Among the
city's many historic structures are the old statehouse (where the
general assembly met 1762-1900; now a courthouse), the old market
bldg. (1773), Stephen Hopkins House (c.1755), John Brown House (1786),
and the First Baptist Meetinghouse (1775; the congregation was
organized in 1638). The city has monuments to Oliver Hazard Perry
(1928) and Nathanael Greene (1931). On Prospect Terrace is Leo
Friedlander's heroic statue of Roger Williams (1939). Another memorial
to the founder is in Roger Williams Park, which contains a mus. of
natural history and a natural amphitheater. Providence
suffered severely in hurricanes in 1938 and 1954; a hurricane
barrier was completed in 1966. Inc. as a city 1832.
