Providence County Architecture

Providence Gas Company Building // 1924

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One of the unsung architectural landmarks in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, can be found on Weybosset Street. The Providence Gas Company Building at 100 Weybosset Street was built in 1924 as the headquarters and offices for the Providence Gas Company, which provided services to a rapidly growing New England city. The architects, Clarke & Howe, used local precedence in their design, modeling the building as a commercial version of the 1774 Joseph Brown House on South Main Street, with its iconic ogee gable at the roof. Beyond its own ogee gable, the Gas Company building retains its columned entry and symmetrical facades. The building was converted into housing with a pub and rooftop restaurant.

Shepard’s Department Store Block // 1903

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Do you remember Shepard’s Department Store?


At the corner of Westminster and Union Streets in Downtown Providence stands the Shepard Company Building, a hulking reminder of the late 19th and early 20th century dominance of the department store and the American downtown as a retail destination. The company opened in 1880 in a modest 6,400-square-foot storefront, and saw immediate success, eventually occupying an entire city block. The company grew piecemeal into neighboring buildings between 1880-1903 when the entire 300,000+ square foot block was completed from plans by Martin & Hall, architects. Architecturally, the building tells its own history in layers: it started as a modest three-story Italianate structure, and later additions brought two-story arched entrances angled into the corners at Westminster and Union, and Washington and Union, that once lured shoppers inside to terrazzo floors with a sea of merchandise. Outside, a freestanding cast-iron clock became a beloved meeting point, with generations of Rhode Islanders arranging to gather “at the clock”. A massive fire in March 1923, caused over one million dollars’ worth of damage, but the structure was restored under Hall’s supervision. Shepard’s closed in 1974 and remained vacant for almost 20 years. After advocacy from preservationists, the building was bought by the State of Rhode Island and was rehabilitated by David Presbrey, the building is now the location of the Providence Campus of the University of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Department of Education, and other state offices and education-related facilities.

Merchants Bank Building // 1857

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The Merchants Bank Building on Westminster Street at the edge of Downtown Providence, is a rare surviving mid-19th century commercial block that survived periods of commercialization, urban renewal and eventual rebirth of this iconic New England city. The Italianate style, six-story flatiron building is sheathed in brownstone and was designed by architects Alpheus C. Morse and Clifton A. Hall as one of the first buildings in Providence’s financial district, which today is comprised of much larger modern skyscrapers. The handsome structure was built for the Merchants Bank, a financial institution that had been organized in February 1818 and was reorganized as a national bank in 1865. Royal C. Taft, governor of Rhode Island, was president of the bank for forty years, from 1868 to 1908. In May 1926 the Merchants National Bank merged with the Providence National Bank, with the combined institution taking the name of the Providence National Bank, but they moved into this building until they completed a new building in 1930. Since then, the building has been home to professional offices, and remains a well-preserved early banking building in Providence.

Union Trust Company Building // 1901

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Said to be the first skyscraper built in Providence, the Union Trust Company Building on Dorrance Street is one of the finest architectural masterpieces in Rhode Island. The twelve-story tower is finished in red brick with limestone trim and features the base-shaft-capital organization, a design standard for early skyscraper architects to make very tall buildings look balanced. The base here as the bottom two floors, entirely uses stone to show strength, holding the weight above and with large glass windows for the street edge; the shaft uses repeating window designs and showcases the height of the building, drawing your eyes upward; and the capital, which brings a strong cornice and intricate parapet serving as a crown, finishing the building. The architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson furnished the plans for the building for Marsden J. Perry, the President of the Union Trust Company, as the company offices with a banking hall at the ground level. Above the entrance a sculpture, Indian and Puritan by Daniel Chester French, greets visitors along with the many stained glass medallion windows. The Union Trust Company Building is really a feast for the eyes!

Old Providence Custom House and Post Office // 1857

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One of the finest buildings in Downtown Providence, the old Custom House and Post Office is a landmark, showcasing how Federal buildings were once well designed and meant to show stability through high-quality design and materials. The stately building was completed in 1857 from plans by architect, Ammi Young, who became the Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1852. Ammi Young designed a number of notable buildings all over New England, with his finest being the many custom houses and other Federal buildings. For the Providence Custom House and Post Office, he utilized granite from quarries in Quincy, Massachusetts for its walls to show strength, with a hipped roof and metal dome and corner quoins as additional design elements. The building can be classified as a blending of Greek Revival and Italianate styles with the use of both pedimented and arched window treatments and blocky form. The building housed federal offices until November 1909, when a new and larger Federal Building was erected a few blocks away. The Federal Government vacated the structure in 1989 and was ultimately bought by the State of Rhode Island and converted to office space for the State Courts System. After extensive renovation at a cost of $550,000, the building was opened by the state in 1992 as the John E. Fogarty Judicial Complex.

Old Providence Telephone Building // 1893

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Located on the narrow Union Street in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, this stunning late 19th century building was designed by the most prominent architectural firm in the state, Stone, Carpenter & Willson as the home of the Providence Telephone Company. Telephones were originally introduced in Providence in 1879, and by 1893, the need for a centralized office led to the construction of this building. The structure was originally just three stories, but as demand and the use of the telephone grew, so did this building, which added two floors in 1906. The handsome brick and terracotta facade is extremely ornate and includes a more strong Classical base and foliate terracotta friezes and columns above with projecting bays to bring light into the building. The building was again outgrown and the Providence Telephone Company moved into a new, purpose-built office building nearby in 1917. This structure remained professional offices and today, the upper floors have been converted to apartments with lower levels occupied by live/work loft spaces and two commercial storefronts.

First Universalist Church of Providence // 1872

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The First Universalist Church of Providence is located in the bustling Downtown of this city and has stood as the surrounding area saw rapid commercialization, destruction under the guise of “urban renewal”, and rebirth. The structure stands as the third sanctuary for the congregation, which was founded in 1821 through the efforts of Reverend John Murray, who is said to be the founder of American Universalism. Designed by prominent local architect, Edwin L. Howland, the church was constructed in 1872 and is an excellent example of the High Victorian Gothic style executed in brick and trimmed with stone. Rather than leaning into the ornate decorative flourishes favored by Gothic Revival purists, Howland’s design reflects a sparer emphasis on form and materials in the spirit of critic John Ruskin’s reinterpretation of the style, a restraint fitting for a Universalist congregation. Inside, the well-preserved nave features a sanctuary lined by broad pointed arches supported by slender colonnettes, all colored by the sunlight filtering through the many stained glass windows.

Waite-Thresher Company Factory // 1911

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The Waite-Thresher Company Factory sits on Pine Street between the commercial Downtown and former industrial Jewelry District of Providence.The factory here was built in 1911 and is an excellent example of a light-industrial building of the early 20th century in Providence. The steel-frame building is sheathed with brick walls and retains its double-hung windows set within brick arches and classically designed storefronts. The Waite-Thresher Company was one of many jewelry manufacturing companies in Providence. Founded in 1885 from the merging of multiple companies, the Waite-Thresher Co. began primarily manufacturing thimbles and later became a leader in the American jewelry world as the kings of delicate, ornate filigree rings, pins, and accessories. The company eventually closed in the 1930s and after later uses, the building was acquired by Johnson & Wales University who in the 1980s, restored the building and opened it as the centerpiece of the John Hazen White College of Arts & Sciences on campus.

Plantations Clubhouse // 1927

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Tucked away behind Abbott Park, a small green in Downtown Providence, the Plantations Club has stood for 100 years as one of the city’s finest examples of Colonial Revival architecture and was long a vital women’s club organization. This Georgian Revival brick building was designed by the firm of Andrews, Jones, Briscoe & Whitmore, of Boston for the Providence Plantation Club, a women’s social organization founded in 1916. The club was a success, starting with about 150 members and it reached more than 1,300 members, just one year after its inception. As the only female architect of the society, Frances E. Henley got involved in promoting the Club in terms of its visuals and interior design of the building, working closely with the architects. Ms. Henley was the first woman to study architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design and the first woman to independently practice architecture in Rhode Island. When the club no longer needed such a building, Johnson & Wales University acquired the building in 1962, and since then, it has been known as Wales Hall, housing a variety of offices and services.

Arnold–Palmer House // 1826

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The Arnold-Palmer House (no, it’s not named after the drink) can be found on Chestnut Street in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, as a rare surviving Federal period residence to escape the fate of many buildings of the period there from commercialization and later urban renewal. The house was built in 1826 for wealthy Providence merchant Daniel Arnold at a location on upper Westminster Street near Cathedral Square, where it was one of four nearly identical houses whose design was attributed to prominent local architect John Holden Greene. Like many of Greene’s other Federal style designs, the Arnold-Palmer House exhibits a symmetrical primary facade, elaborate fanlight windows, and a monitor-on-hip-roof. The house was actually saved and moved to its present site (facing a surface parking lot) in the 1960s as part of the Weybosset Hill urban redevelopment project.

Beneficent Congregational Church // 1809

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Located on Weybosset Street in Downtown Providence, the Beneficent Congregational Church, affectionately nicknamed “Round Top” for its striking dome, is significant architecturally and historically as an early Federal/Greek Revival style church and the oldest in Downtown Providence. The congregation was founded in 1743 during the “First Great Awakening” as a separatist spin-off of College Hill’s First Congregational Church (now First Unitarian Church). The offshoot occurred after when Deacon Joseph Snow, Jr. (1690-1773), a fiery preacher who was also a carpenter by trade, began preaching a more evangelical brand of Congregationalism than the more reserved members of the church could tolerate. Eventually, Father Snow, and his ardent followers established a second congregation on the west side of the Providence River in what was then an area of scattered residences and farms. The current church, the congregation’s second on the site, was constructed in 1809 from designs by Barnard Eddy and John Newman, but it was largely reworked into its present form in 1836 by the firm Tallman & Bucklin, who swapped the original Federal-era details for bolder Greek Revival trim, including the chunky Doric columns of the entrance portico, a paneled parapet, and an octagonal drum beneath the dome. That dome, along with the two-story front portico, survived the remodel unchanged in its overall form, and today it is sheathed in durable copper rather than the gold leaf that once covered it.

Former Providence YMCA Building // 1889

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Founded in 1853, the Providence YMCA holds the distinction of being the second-oldest YMCA in the United States. The YMCA had been born out of anxieties around industrialization and urbanization when young men arrived to the country and were vulnerable to the temptations and sins of alcohol, so a group of evangelical churches created a space for Christian men to spend their time productively at meetings and lessons and have access to recreational facilities. The Providence YMCA was dispersed into three buildings until 1889, when this building at the corner of Westminster and Jackson streets opened to great fanfare. The Young Men’s Christian Association and architects, the Providence firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, featured this new Romanesque Revival building in architectural publications showcasing the original proposal and the final approved design, with prominent oriel bays, spires, arched entrances and intricate roofline punctuated by dormers. The building contained a gymnasium, auditorium, classrooms, libraries, parlors, and reception areas. The 1889 building proved obsolete within a generation, and it was torn down in 1913 to make way for a new office block as the neighborhood commercialized. The YMCA responded by building larger, more purpose-built quarters further west on Broad Street, which was completed in 1915, a structure that still stands today, now repurposed to serve the city’s homeless population through Crossroads Rhode Island.

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral Rectory // c.1878

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Built around the time of its neighbor, the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul in Downtown Providence, this handsome brick masonry building with mansard roof was constructed as the rectory for the larger cathedral next door. Like the corresponding cathedral, this rectory was likely the work of premier ecclesiastical architect, Patrick C. Keely, who designed the structure in the Victorian/Ruskinian Gothic style with polychromatic stone voussoirs, a brownstone Romanesque style arched entry with floral capitals, and a mansard roof with bracketed cornice. Since its construction around 1878, the building has been added onto and connected to the Cathedral, but still retains its architectural significance. The building is home to the Diocese of Providence offices, a library, and remains the rector’s residence.

Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul, Providence // 1878

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The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul rises in Providence’s Cathedral Square, a sub-region of the city’s Downtown that was largely reshaped in the mid-late 20th century period of Urban Renewal. The monumental Romanesque style church is the mother church of the Diocese of Providence and was built on the site of the city’s first Roman Catholic parish, established in 1838. Designed by the prolific church architect Patrick Keely, the Providence cathedral broke ground in 1878 and was consecrated over a decade later in 1889. For this commission the blending of Romanesque and Gothic Revival detailing was likely inspired by both H. H. Richardson’s newly completed Trinity Church in Boston and on German and French medieval precedents. The structure is dominated by the two crenelated towers and displays strength with its bold proportions and use of reddish-brown stone. Inside, the cathedral is even more remarkable than its imposing exterior, distinguished by an overall multicolored, small-scale pattern of gray marble moldings and stained glass, complemented by a large Casavant organ with more than 6,600 pipes. Today, the miraculous cathedral is somewhat diminished in beauty due to the surrounding dead plaza, a scar on the built environment in Providence from Urban Renewal. In the 1960s and 70s, the entire western edge of Downtown had been slotted for redevelopment at a time when federal dollars funded mass demolition and rebuilding across American cities. The plan was designed by Modernist architect, I.M. Pei, who had envisioned a European-inspired courtyard, with a mix of residential and retail uses surrounding the church in the new development. Pei worked with the modernist landscape architects Zion and Breen on Cathedral Square, which was called a “conspicuous failure” within just a few years, a sentiment that has lasted a half-century since. The city has more recently pursued redesign proposals aimed at reconnecting Cathedral Square with the surrounding neighborhood, with the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul as the centerpiece.

Seril Dodge House // 1791

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Years after Seril Dodge (1759-1802), a silversmith and clockmaker, built a house in 1786 on present-day Thomas Street in Providence’s East Side, he sold the property to the Brown Family and built this stately Federal period home next-door. Built in 1791, this three-story, side-hall brick house features belt courses above the first and second stories, a hipped roof, and flared lintels over the windows and doorway. After less than a decade, Seril Dodge moved back to his hometown of Pomfret, Connecticut, and sold this property to Moses Brown, who gifted the property to his son, Obadiah. Obadiah Brown (1771-1822) was a member of the Quaker faith and was a member of the Society of the Abolition of Slavery providing local jobs for free Blacks and sponsoring them in any legal disputes. Additionally, he helped secure the freedom of enslaved Africans who escaped to the north. This property was leased to the Providence Art Club in 1886 and acquired by the organization in 1906. Under the ownership of the Art Club, the side arcaded carriage entrance was added, likely designed by Stone, Carpenter and Willson, in conjunction with their 1906 renovation to the adjoining Dodge-Brown House. Today the building is known as the “Club House” and is home to the organization’s cafe, with an its intimate bar, and two exhibition spaces that are open to the public.