Timeline of Providence, Rhode Island facts for kids
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
Prior to 19th century
- 1635 – Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635
- 1636 – Providence founded by Roger Williams.
- 1638 – Baptist congregation formed.
- 1675 — Narragansetts "harass" white settlers as part of King Philip's War
- 1676 — March 29: Narragansett warriors led by Canonchet burn about fifty houses, including Roger Williams' house, as part of King Philip's War
- 1683 — Roger Williams dies
- 1700 – North Burial Ground established
- 1711 – First burial at North Burial Ground
- 1753 – Providence Library Company organized.
- 1762
- State House built.
- William Goddard sets up printing press; Providence Gazette newspaper begins publication.
- 1764 – College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations established in Warren.
- 1768 – Brick Schoolhouse built on Meeting Street.
- 1770 – College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations relocated to Providence.
- 1775 – Market House and First Baptist Meetinghouse built.
- 1776 – 1777: Colonial and French troops use University Hall as a barracks and hospital during the American Revolutionary War
- 1784 — January: Flooding on the Moshassuck River caused the greatest damage seen since the burning of the town during King Philip's War
- 1785 – Beneficent Congregational Society established.
- 1789
- Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers and Providence Society for Abolishing the Slave-Trade established.
- 1790
- U.S. Custom House established.
- Population: 6,380.
- 1791
- October: Providence Bank on South Main Street incorporated; later known as Providence National Bank, Providence Union Bank and Trust Company, Industrial National Bank, and FleetBoston Financial.
- 1793
- The first covered drawbridge is built over the Seekonk River where the Washington Bridge currently stands, followed the same year by the Central Bridge farther north.
- 1794 – Serril Dodge opens his first jewelry store on North Main Street, thus beginning Providence's jewelry industry
- 1795 – Theatre opens.
- 1798 – Providence Marine Society established.
19th century
- 1800 — Population: 7,614.
- 1801
- January 21 — The first "Great Fire" destroys 37 buildings and leaves many families homeless
- Providence Marine Corps of Artillery founded.
- 1802 – Providence Phoenix newspaper begins publication.
- 1805 — Providence streets receive official names for the first time
- 1810 — Population: 10,071.
- 1814
- Union Bank of Providence founded.
- 1815
- September 23: The Great Gale of 1815 causes extensive damage and flooding.
- 1816
- October 13: The First Congregational Church (Unitarian) dedicated, now known as First Unitarian Church.
- 1818 – Rhode Island Peace Society and Merchants Bank established.
- 1819
- New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School opens.
- 1820
- January 3: The Manufacturers' & Farmers' Journal, Providence & Pawtucket Advertiser begins publication, precursor to The Providence Journal.
- 1822 – Rhode Island Historical Society founded.
- 1823
- April — The first ordinance passed requiring snow removal from sidewalks within 24 hours after falling
- Providence Franklin Society incorporated.
- 1824
- The first city directory issued
- Race riot in Hard Scrabble
- August 23 — Lafayette visited Providence for the first time since the Revolutionary War to great acclaim
- 1825
- May — the second "Great Fire" began at the corner of Union and Westminster Streets
- 1828
- Dexter Asylum built.
- Westminster Arcade built.
- High Street Bank established.
- Herald newspaper begins publication.
- 1829
- The Providence Journal newspaper begins publishing daily.
- 1831
- Boston and Providence Railroad begins operating.
- Race riot in Snow Town.
- Gorham Silver and Franklin Lyceum established.
- 1832
- City incorporated. City government meets at Market House
- Samuel W. Bridgham elected first mayor.
- 1833 — David Brown opens a shop on South Main Street that later becomes Brown & Sharpe
- 1835 – Train station and first India Point Railroad Bridge built.
- 1836
- Providence Athenaeum formed.
- City hosts Rhode Island Anti-Slavery convention.
- 1838
- Providence Association for the Benefit of Colored Children organized.
- Narragansett Boat Club organized.
- 1839 – Providence Marine Corps of Artillery armory built.
- 1841 – 1842: Dorr Rebellion
- 1843 – Classical High School established.
- 1844
- Butler Hospital for the Insane founded
- Corliss, Nightingale & Co. in business.
- 1845
- The City Council votes to prepare plans for a new City Hall
- Grace Church built.
- Laureldale Chemical Works established.
- 1846
- Swan Point Cemetery established.
- Scholfield's Commercial College, a business college located downtown, established.
- A. T. Cross Company established.
- 1847
- Providence and Worcester Railroad begins operating
- Union Railroad Depot built
- Providence Tool Company established.
- 1848
- Providence Medical Association instituted.
- B.B. and R. Knight, which later becomes Fruit of the Loom, established
- 1850 – Providence Reform School opens.
- 1852
- Central Congregational Church established.
- Locust Grove Cemetery incorporated.
- 1853
- Providence Young Men's Christian Union established
- Joseph Brown teams with Lucian Sharpe to form Brown & Sharpe
- 1854 – Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad begins operating.
- 1855
- James Y. Smith becomes mayor.
- Providence Aid Society organized.
- U.S. Customshouse built.
- 1860 - Population: 50,666.
- 1863
- Bryant and Stratton National Business College (now Bryant University) opens a campus in Providence
- 1865 – Population: 54,595.
- 1866
- Providence receives state approval to tap the Pawtuxet River as a source of drinking water
- 1867
- Prospect Terrace Park created.
- Young Women's Christian Association organized.
- Babcock & Wilcox founded.
- 1868
- Rhode Island Hospital dedicated.
- Women's City Missionary Society organized.
- 1869 – Morning Star newspaper begins publication.
- "1870's" – A sewer system is constructed which discharges city waste into the harbor.
- 1871
- Roger Williams Park donated to the people of Providence by Betsy Williams
- Thanksgiving Day: Providence municipal water service begins, pumping water from the Pawtuxet River
- Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument dedicated.
- 1872
- Roger Williams Park Zoo founded.
- First Universalist Church built.
- First Point Street Bridge built.
- Construction begins on the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company Complex along the Woonasquatucket River
- 1874
- Cornerstone of City Hall is laid on June 24.
- 1876 – Rhode Island Women's Club established.
- 1877
- Rhode Island School of Design and museum established.
- Providence County Court House dedicated.
- Grammar school built on Candace Street.
- 1878
- Providence Grays baseball team formed; Messer Street Grounds baseball stadium built
- Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul completed
- City Hall opens on November 14.
- Providence Public Library opens.
- Homeopathic Hospital founded.
- 1880 – Providence Art Club incorporated.
- 1883
- Providence Press Club formed.
- Providence Literary Association organized.
- 1884
- Providence Lying-In Hospital founded.
- Providence Camera Club organized.
- October: The Providence Grays win baseball's 1884 World Series championship game
- 1885
- Fleur-de-lys Studios built
- Providence Grays baseball team disbanded
- The Providence Journal begins publishing seven days per week.
- 1886
- June 9: Thomas A. Doyle dies in office, Providence's longest-serving mayor (18 years).
- June 14: Providence businesses shut down as Mayor Doyle's funeral procession marches through the city.
- 1888
- City Hall is powered by electric lighting for the first time
- 1890
- Providence's jewelry industry includes more than 200 firms with almost 7,000 workers
- 1891
- Providence Athletic Association incorporated.
- The Outlet Company established.
- Providence News begins publication.
- 1892
- First electric streetcar begins operation on January 20.
- 1894 – Providence Engineering Society founded.
- 1896 – Providence Water Color Club organized.
- 1897 – Emma Goldman arrested for "open-air speaking" at Market Square.
- 1898 – Union Station rebuilt.
20th century
- 1900 – Population: 175,597.
- 1901 – Providence's first sewage treatment plant begins "chemical precipitation" treatment of city waste, one of the first such plants in the US.
- 1904 – Rhode Island State House built.
- 1905 – Handicraft Club organized.
- 1906 – Evening Tribune newspaper begins publication.
- 1907 – Annmary Brown Memorial museum dedicated.
- 1908 – Federal Building constructed.
- 1913
- Turk's Head Building constructed
- 1914
- Johnson & Wales School of Business is formed, later becomes known as Johnson & Wales University
- 1926
- Miriam Hospital opens.
- 1928
- Construction finishes on the Industrial Trust Building (aka "Superman Building").
- February: Providence author H. P. Lovecraft publishes his most famous story The Call of Cthulhu in Weird Tales magazine
- Vedanta Society of Providence founded.
- 1930
- 25 September: Current Washington Bridge south span opens
- 1932
- Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council headquartered in city.
- 1935
- Bryant College of Business Administration, now known as Bryant University, moves from downtown to the East Side
- 1937
- March 15: Author H.P. Lovecraft dies, aged 47
- 1938 – September: Hurricane.
- 1945 – The Providence Journal wins its first Pulitzer Prize
- 1949 – WJAR-TV begins broadcasting.
- 1950 – Veterans Memorial Auditorium opens.
- 1953 – The Providence Journal wins its second Pulitzer Prize
- 1954 – Hurricane Carol strikes the area.
- 1955 – WPRO-TV begins broadcasting.
- 1956 – Providence Preservation Society organized.
- 1957 – Dexter Asylum demolished.
- 1961 — July: Construction on Fox Point Hurricane Barrier begun
- 1962 – Brown Broadcasting Service established.
- 1964 — Once-grand Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company abandons its sprawling location along the Woonasquatucket River for a modern plant in North Kingstown.
- 1966 – January: Fox Point Hurricane Barrier completed
- 1968 – Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns headquartered in Providence.
- 1969 – Current Henderson Bridge opens
- 1971
- Bryant College vacates Providence for Smithfield
- 1972 – Providence Zen Center founded.
- 1975 – Buddy Cianci becomes mayor.
- 1976
- November: Masjid Al-Karim, Islamic Center of Rhode Island, established.
- 1978
- February: The Great Blizzard paralyzes Providence with 56 inches of snow. Governor J. Joseph Garrahy comforts the city and state by wearing a flannel shirt.
- City Archives established.
- The city's jewelry industry peaks, with 32,500 workers, then begins a decline.
- 1980
- Voters approve an $87 million bond issue to improve municipal sewage treatment plant
- The Narragansett Bay Commission is formed
- 1984
- First Night Providence begins
- Mayor Buddy Cianci forced to resign after pleading "no contest" to an assault charge
- 1986
- Providence Business News begins publication.
- Providence Station opens.
- 1990 – Governor Henry Lippitt House museum opens (approximate date).
- 1991
- Buddy Cianci returns to the mayor's office
- 1994
- Waterplace Park constructed.
- WaterFire begins.
- Gun court established in the Providence Superior Court.
- 1996
- The Providence Journal goes public and subsequently is purchased by the Dallas-based A.H. Belo Company
- 1997
- City website online (approximate date).
- Providence Children's Museum opens.
- 1999
- Providence Urban Debate League founded.
- Providence Place Mall opens.
21st century
- 2001
- April: Sitting mayor Buddy Cianci is indicted on federal criminal charges of racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, witness tampering, and mail fraud
- 2002
- Soviet submarine K-77 museum opens
- September: Mayor Buddy Cianci is sentenced to serve five years in federal prison
- 2003 – David Cicilline becomes mayor.
- 2005 – January: The North American blizzard of 2005 drops 17 inches of snow on downtown Providence
- 2006 – Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology opens at Brown University.
- 2007
- April 18: Soviet submarine K-77 sinks after a storm.
- May: Former mayor Cianci released from prison
- November: New Iway bridge opens for eastbound traffic
- 2008
- Historic Westminster Arcade closes for renovations
- 2009
- October: Final section of Iway bridge opens for westbound traffic.
- 2010
- Population: 178,042.
- March: A series of rainstorms causes severe flood damage. President Obama declares a state of emergency for the region.
- 2011
- January: Angel Taveras becomes mayor.
- August 28: Hurricane Irene downs 300-400 trees and leaves 12,700 without power.
- October: Occupy protest begins.
- November: Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability established.
- 2012
- October 29: Hurricane Sandy hits Providence. The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is credited with saving the city from major damage.
- 2013
- February: Winter Storm Nemo drops 27 inches of snow; Hurricane-force winds topple trees, and many people lose power
- Historic Westminster Arcade re-opens after renovation
- Historic Mayoral portraits in City Hall cleaned and restored
- April: The landmark Industrial Trust Building, aka "Superman Building," loses its sole tenant, and goes dark.
- 2014
- October 17: The Phoenix publishes its last print issue
- 2015
- January 5: Jorge Elorza sworn in as mayor
- January: Kennedy Plaza re-opens after major renovation
- September 20: George Redman Linear Park, a bicycle and pedestrian path on the Washington Bridge, is dedicated.
- 2016
- January 28: Former mayor Buddy Cianci dies
- February 6–7: Former mayor Cianci lies in state at City Hall
- February 8: Cianci's funeral procession marches through the city, stopping for a funeral mass at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul and ending at St. Ann’s Cemetery in Cranston for burial.
- September 11: Mayor Elorza and the president of the firefighter's union come to an agreement after a 13-month contract dispute.
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Timeline of Providence, Rhode Island Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.