Providence County

Old St. Stephen’s Church – Barker Playhouse // 1840

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The old St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Providence’s Fox Point neighborhood is an architecturally distinctive Greek Revival style church building located on charming Benefit Street. The church had its beginnings in 1839, when the newly established congregation called on 29-year-old Francis Vinton to serve as their first pastor. The congregation funded this small church which broke ground in 1840, and before it was completed, Rev. Vinton resigned as Rector. The building, built of stone and covered in stucco, once had a spire and belfry above the main entrance. The congregation grew over the next decade and it was soon realized that a larger and more central church should be built for members, many of whom were wealthy residents with mansions surrounding Brown College. In 1860, the parish purchased a lot on George Street, and hired architect, Richard Upjohn to design the new church in the Gothic style. For reasons of location, and possibly social class, twenty-two men and women remained here at the less fashionable church and formed a new parish, the Church of the Saviour. The smaller, mission church with its stucco walls, remained until the property was sold in 1932 to house the Barker Playhouse, reputed to be the oldest continuously operating little theatre in the United States.


Benoni Cooke House // 1828

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The Benoni Cooke House at 110 South Main Street in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the finest examples of an architect-designed Federal style residence in the state. A fine and somewhat-typical example of architect, John Holden Greene’s 1820s work in the Federal style, the residence is actually the remaining half of what was originally a pair of mirror-image houses, built for two brothers-in-law and business partners, which once faced one another across a driveway leading to a large, well-preserved service court defined by connected stables (most of which remain). The mirror house, built for Rufus Greene, was demolished in 1895 for the expansion of the Old Stone Bank next door. The Benoni Cooke House was built in 1828 and sits atop an arcaded basement on the street elevation, which historically was used for commercial use. The Cooke House retains its iconic hipped roof with monitor (common for John Holden Greene’s works), an Ionic portico sheltering the entry with sidelights and fanlight transom, and elaborate stairhall window above. The building was later occupied as offices for the Old Stone Bank, and along with the Old Stone Bank, was acquired by Brown University, who sold the property in 2009 to an LLC, but its current use is unclear.

Old Stone Bank // 1896

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The Old Stone Bank was founded in 1819 as the first savings bank in Providence, Rhode Island, but originally under the name, Providence Institution for Savings. A constantly growing volume of business influenced the erection, in 1854, of a building for the exclusive purposes of the bank at 86 South Main Street, near College Hill. Designed by C.J. and R.J. Hall, the original stone bank stood one-story tall with a gable roof. Success and further expansion of the institution led to the erection, in 1896, of the present building, which served as the main office. Designed by the local architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, the present domed banking structure is said to have incorporated parts of the 1854 building, and expanded the rest to the landmark we see today. The Beaux Arts/Neo-Classical banking structure is constructed of granite, with a Classical pedimented entry of monumental Corinthian columns atop the staircase, but the highlight of the building has to be the gold-leaf-and-copper domed roof which partially served as a skylight for the banking hall inside. Offices relocated to a new building in the late 1960s. The banking institution closed in the 1980s and following acquisitions and insolvency, the main bank was sold in 1995 to Brown University for $1.15 million to house the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology‘s collection of Native American artifacts. Years later, Brown decided it was unfeasible to house the collection in the building as the necessary alterations would have altered the historic character of the building, they then sold the building to an LLC in 2009. The Old Stone Bank is now a single-family home. Yes, you heard that right. The new owners have lovingly preserved this architectural marvel for all to enjoy as they stroll the city.

C & J Mauran Company Warehouse // c.1820

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In Providence, even industrial warehouses are architecturally interesting to look at! This is the C & J Mauran Company Warehouse at 369 South Main Street in Providence’s East Side neighborhood. The building was constructed around 1820 for brothers, Carlo (1779-1844) and Joshua Mauran (1782-1847), who were wealthy merchants who stored goods from their ships trading in the Indies here. Before all of this, the site was home to an earlier structure from the 1770s, built by Deacon Joseph Sheldon, and the site was occupied by a warehouse, later owned by his son, Christopher Sheldon, and was known as the “Slave Pen” for its use of holding and transporting enslaved people. The “slave pen” burned in 1801 and the structure was later rebuilt by the Earle Brothers, and then again (the current structure) by Carlo and Joshua Mauran. Later in the 19th century, a brick façade and storefront were added to the building as the street shifted firmly to commercial uses, with noxious industrial buildings moving further to the periphery of the established College Hill neighborhood. From 1856 to 1939, the Ferry Coal Yard Company and the National Coal Company stored coal in the building After WWII, the City of Providence took the building and adjacent block by eminent domain to make way for urban renewal, and luckily for us, the building was rehabilitated rather than demolished at this time. The structure was converted to office use, and was again restored in the 2010s by Newport Collaborative Architects.

Brown-Crocker House // c.1836

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In 1829, Riley Brown, a housewright, purchased a house lot at the corner of Thayer and Transit streets in Providence, and by 1836, built this charming gambrel-roofed cottage, which is one of the most charming in the city. Riley Brown lived in the house next-door at 6 Thayer Street (1829) and on available land, built this 1-1/2-story dwelling on a full-height raised basement on speculation. It is possible that the house could have dated to the 18th century, and was possibly moved to the site from a nearby location, given the distinct gambrel roof and Georgian qualities. The residence here was sold in 1836 to John Crocker, who resided here with his family until his death in 1865. The Brown-Crocker House stands out for its unusually high basement of brick and stone, with a stair ascending up to the central entry and the gentle saltbox roof off the rear. Two shed dormers were likely added in the 20th century to make the house’s second floor more liveable.

South Main Street Engine House, Providence // 1892

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Built as a neighborhood fire station by the City of Providence in 1892, this handsome brick structure on South Main Street showcases how infrastructure and civic buildings can (and should) still contribute to the streetscape. Constructed along a streetscape of early 19th century brick buildings, the local architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, sought to take cues of the materiality and massing of nearby structures, but employ new detailing and vocabulary for the fire station here. The result is a Romanesque style fire station with a pair of round-arched engine portals surrounded by stone facing, with the showstopping second floor and roofline with ornate brickwork around the arched windows and multi-staged corbeled cornice. The building with its smaller engine doors became obsolete with newer, larger fire trucks, and the building has since held a variety of commercial uses, today as a up-scale Italian restaurant.

Eddy Block // 1812

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The last of the three similar brick rowhouse blocks on South Main Street in Providence’s East Side is the most altered, but maintains much of its architectural integrity and street-presence. Like the Comstock and Clark-Nightingale blocks further up South Main Street, the Eddy Block was built in 1812, at the beginning of the 19th century for a wealthy merchant, Moses Eddy (1766-1823), who owned and operated packet ships that transported mail and other goods between Providence and New York. The building is one of the oldest rowhouses in Providence, and its three-bays contain an interesting mix of alterations and original details that were changed or preserved over-time. Like the other two rows nearby, the Eddy Block was gutted, and rehabilitated in the 1970s as part of the Urban Renewal plan for Providence’s East Side.

Comstock Block // 1824

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Located next to the Clark-Nightingale Block on South Main Street in Providence’s East Side, the Comstock Block echoes the form, materials and rhythm of the older building, but employs some additional architectural detailing courtesy of a local architect. The Comstock Block at 263-273 South Main Street was built in 1824 from plans by architect, John Holden Greene, who designed many stately buildings in Providence during the early 19th century. The typical fanlights over two of the entrances are common in nearly all of Greene’s Providence buildings. Joseph and William Comstock owned the block which seems to have operated as residential rowhouses, possibly with storefronts at the ground floor. This block, like much of the street, was acquired, gutted and rehabilitated as part of the East Side Urban Renewal project of Providence in the 1970s, luckily for us, this handsome block was not demolished like so many other great buildings of the time.

Clark & Nightingale Block // c.1815

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In the early 19th century of Providence, wealthy merchants dabbled in real estate and urbanism, not only as an income-producing investment, but also to serve as a buffer to obscure unsightly industrial and wharf uses from their mansions on College Hill. This is the Clarke & Nightingale Block, a c.1815 vernacular Federal style row of residences above commercial storefronts on South Main Street. The block was developed by the heirs of wealthy merchants, Joseph Innes Clark (1745-1808) and Joseph Nightingale (1747-1797), and constructed of brick and stone, providing a handsome structure facing the wealthy residences to their east, and obscuring the view of industrial buildings closer to the river. The block was gutted and rehabilitated as part of the East Side Renewal project in the early 1970s. Arguably the only thing Urban Renewal did right was select restoration of significant buildings within seas of the destruction and scars on the landscape the program left behind.

Tillinghast House // c.1800

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The Tillinghast House at 10 James Street in Providence, Rhode Island, was built around 1800 by Captain Joseph Tillinghast (1734-1816), and it was occupied by a number of his children in the early 19th century. By 1818, with Joseph already deceased, the Federal style home was owned by two of his daughters, Mary, and Amey Tillinghast, who operated a small store from the basement. The two-and-a-half-story, brick Federal house is set on a high basement all with brownstone trim at the stringcourse (between first and second stories) and at the entrance. The house was restored in the late 1970s, along with a new clapboard addition by designers, Luigi Bianco and Georgia Patterson Boomer, of Bianco/Boomer. Without nearly as much ornate detail as many other Federal style homes in the East Side area of Providence, this residence proves that high-quality materials and strong proportions can make a home truly stand out!