Browse Items (993 total)
- Collection: Chester Smolski Photographs
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Strip Development Reservoir Ave.- Cranston
Looking north at the intersection of Park Ave and Resevoir Ave in Cranston. Here is visible evidence of the rapid growth, both residential and commercial, experienced by Cranston as Providence dwellers, fed up with deteriorating schools systems,…
Morin Heights Public Housing Woonsocket
The Woonsocket Housing Authority was incorporated in 1940 by the State of Rhode Island. The Morin Heights Public Housing Development was built around the same time. The housing was designed for low-income families and individuals. The development…
Public Housing- Woonsocket Morin Heights
The Morin Heights Public Housing Development located on Morin Heights Boulevard in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The housing development was designed for low-income families. The development was established by the Woonsocket Housing Authority in 1940.…
Veterans Memorial Public Housing, Woonsocket
The Veterans Memorial Housing Development was built in 1953. The development was designed for low-income elderly in the Woonsocket community. The development recently received renovations and continues to serve as public housing for the elderly.
Veterans Memorial Public Housing, Woonsocket
The Veterans Memorial Public Housing was built in 1953. The development is funded by the Woonsocket Housing Authority and the State of Rhode Island. The units, which are designed for elderly residents, consist of two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen and…
Public Housing Woonsocket Veteran’s Memorial
The Veterans Memorial public housing project in Woonsocket provides housing designed for the elderly, but also with amenities for low-income families, including an after school tutoring program and playground.
Historic James Burrough House 1818 #1
John Holden Greene built this Federal house for James Burrough in 1818. Burrough was a officer at the custom house. The home Greene built for Burrough exemplifies his signature monitor-on-hip-roof. The Burrough family comissioned other homes in the…
South Providence: Comstock Ave.
The Lower South Side (or Lower South Providence) is a neighborhood in southern Providence, Rhode Island. It is bounded from Upper South Providence by Public Street to the north, Interstate 95, to the south, and Broad Street, and the Providence River…
South Providence Public Housing
The former Roger Williams Homes public housing project was mostly demolished in the 1980’s after decades of neglect. This particular section was redeveloped in the early 2000’s as the William B. Cooley Health and Science Technology High School.
Roger Williams Old & Renovated Units
Renovated units and old units at the Roger Williams Homes housing project in South Providence photographed around 1974. Most of the units were demolished in the 1980s after decades of neglect. These renovated units were spared and later…
Roger Williams Renovated Units
Renovated units in the Roger Williams Homes housing project in South Providence. Many of these units were destroyed in the 1980s after decades of neglect, however these renovated units were spared and later became the Sharlotte Woods Elementary…
Blackstone Falls
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls Construction
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls Site
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls Site
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls Site
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Blackstone Falls Site
The 1840s Blackstone Falls mill complex was turned into 133 units of housing for the elderly. The mill was located on a difficult site: two of its buildings were on an island in the Blackstone River, connected by a series of bridges across a canal.…
Slater Mill Built 1793- First US Textile Mill
The Old Slater Mill was dedicated exclusively to the production of cotton thread until 1829 and then continuously occupied until 1921 with various owners and renters who altered its physical structure to suit whatever enterprise they brought with…
Blackstone Park on Seekonk River- Providence
Blackstone Park, located between Angel St. and the grounds of Butler hospital, lies on land donated to the city by Moses Brown Jenkins in the 1860s. It is some of the hilliest land in Providence, and thus unsuitable for residential development. The…
Pollution on the Blackstone River, Main St., Pawtucket
The Blackstone River is recognized by the U.S. Congress as the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. It powered Slater Mill, the first successful mill in America, as well as many other factories producing everything from wire to Mr.…
Downtown Pawtucket Main St. with empty store and redevelopment agency in picture
Main St. in Pawtucket circa 1971, Smolski documents closed businesses and redevelopment in the downtown area. The building at the left has since been converted into a parking garage and small shops lining Main St.
Newport Bridge
Beginning in the late 1940s, efforts towards the construction of a bridge linking Jamestown to Newport began. From the 1940s on, at least 32 engineering studies were made for possible location of a suspension or cantilever bridge, a tunnel or…
Newport Bridge across Goat Island
Here is a view of the Newport Bridge from across Goat Island. The bridge is not very visible. From the north end, the lighthouse is visible.
State House
The Rhode Island State House seen from the Providence’s east side, likely Congdon St. It was constructed between 1895 and 1904 and has the fourth largest self supporting marble dome in the world.
The World War I Monument by Paul P. Cret
The World War I Monument designed and created by architect Paul P. Cret and sculptors C.P. Jennewein and Janet de Coux stands before the Providence County Courthouse on Benefit St. The monument, originally located in Post Office Square (renamed…
Moshassuck Arcade
The intersection of North Main and Hewes Street was the location of the Moshassuck Arcade. The building was part of the Bay State Mill, which was part of a complex including the American Screw Company. Many of the surrounding buildings in the complex…
Old State Capitol- North Main Street, Providence
The Old State House on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, also known as Providence Sixth District Court House, Providence Colony House, Providence County House, or Rhode Island State House is located on 150 Benefit Street. It is a brick…
Providence: Old Rhode Island College
Rhode Island College, originally referred to as the Normal School, has occupied several locations and changed names throughout the years. Rhode Island College is known as one of the first teacher preparatory schools in the country. Having out-grown…
Triple-decker Houses in Central Falls
Triple decker housing in the densely populated area of Central Falls, Rhode Island.
(date of photograph is approximated)
View of docks on Block Island
Looking across the ferry landing on Block Island. On the horizon is the National Hotel (1903) and to the right of the is oldest surviving hotel, the Surf (1873, 1888). This group of buildings conveys the sense of a nineteenth-century seaside…
Trustrum Dodge Memorial- Block Island
This marker placed by the Block Island Historical Society in 1942 commemorates the spot where Trustrum Dodge lived. Dodge was one of the original settlers of Block Island.
Inscribed on the marker are notable dates in Block Island’s history:
1614…
Block Island City Drug Store
The Block Island City Drug Store is located in the Old Harbor District of the island. The majority of the buildings and hotels in this district are painted white with cottage style details, reflecting the seaside resort style prominent in the…
Block Island Fountain Square
The City Drug Store is one of the late nineteenth century buildings located in the Old Harbor District. Development, which was rare in the first half of the twentieth century on the island, is taking place around the square in this photo from the…
Litchfield - Old Housing in the Fall
An example of housing in Litchfield, CT. Litchfield is a historically affluent town with a median income of $58k per household. It is interesting to note that Chet Smolski includes this photograph within a collection largely composed of public and…
Valley Falls Mill Complex Gatehouse
This structure is the gate house for the Valley Falls mill complex. It was part of a damn that redirected water into a trench that powered the mill. In the 1970s the Central Falls half of the complex was redeveloped as elderly housing, while the…
Veterans Memorial Public Housing, Woonsocket
The Veterans Memorial Public Housing was built in 1953. The development is funded by the Woonsocket Housing Authority and the State of Rhode Island. The units, which are designed for elderly residents, consist of two bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen and…
Baltimore Aquarium
The Baltimore Aquarium, located in the Inner Harbor district of Baltimore, was designed by Massachusetts based firm Peter Chermayeff LLC. The design earned the team an award from Progressive Architecture in 1979. It was conceived and designed in…
Trustrum Dodge Memorial - Block Island
This marker placed by the Block Island Historical Society in 1942 commemorates the spot where Trustrum Dodge lived. Dodge was one of the original settlers of Block Island.
Inscribed on the marker are notable dates in Block Island’s history:
1614…
Beach on Block Island
Block Island beach and shoreline seen from Crescent Beach near the Block Island Ferry Service landing. On the horizon are the Clayhead cliffs, a rocky area that contains iron-rich clay deposits.
(date of photograph has been approximated)
New Shoreham House on Block Island
New Shoreham is the town located on Block Island. New Shoreham was named for Shoreham, Kent, in England. The town has a total area of 109.5 square miles of which, 9.7 square miles of it is land and 99.8 square miles is water. The New Shoreham House…
Block Island Docks
The dock in the Old Harbor District of Block Island is the arrival port for the ferries that carry visitors and supplies to the Island, which is located just twelve miles off the southern coast of Rhode Island. Block Island saw a surge in…
Block Island statue and City Drug Store
The Block Island City Drug Store is located in the Old Harbor District of the island. The majority of the buildings and hotels in this district are painted white with cottage style details, reflecting the seaside resort style prominent in the…
Abandoned house for sale
An abandoned home for sale on Block Island. The only town on Block Island is New Shoreham, which at the 2000 census had a population of 1,010 people. Of those, about 7.9% live below the poverty line.
(date of photograph has been approximated)
Block Island Airport
Block Island State Airport (BID) opened in 1950. It maintains scheduled service to Westerly State Airport, but is primarily used for general aviation. It is mostly used for single engine crafts, providing an alternative to the ferry as a connection…
Westerly- Weekapaug Beach
An aerial view of Misquamicut Beach in Westerly. Atlantic Avenue runs parallel to the shore line, which is lined with attractions. Hurricanes in 1938 and in the 1950’s permanently altered the landscape and destroyed much of the establishments.…
Mexico City - Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Palace of Fine Arts, in Mexico city was constructed in the early 1900s. President Porfirio Diaz wanted the building to commemorate Mexico’s independence from Spain. When a revolution broke out in 1910, construction…
Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine is located in the south coast region of the state. Portland is home to almost one quarter of Maine’s residents, and is known as the “metropolitan hub” of this region.