Browse Items (993 total)
- Collection: Chester Smolski Photographs
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Providence Skyline, Interstate 95
The Providence skyline, including the iconic Industrial Trust Building, pictured from Interstate 95.
Downtown Providence
Aerial view looking west by southwest. I-95 junction with I-195. In the 2000s I-195 was relocated to the south to allow for development and to correct safety issues and that were the result of poor planning. The Providence Civic Center (Dunkin Donuts…
Union Station, Waterplace Park, and Rhode Island State House from Biltmore Hotel
Rhode Island State House, Providence Station, Waterplace Park, Union Station as seen from the Providence Biltmore Hotel. Waterplace Park and the Riverwalk linked to it have a welcoming, well-thought-out design, which has become a focal point of the…
Providence Capital Center with Providence Station
This image shows the transformation of Capital Center in progress. Francis Street construction is complete up until the over-passed train tracks and the bridge over the Woonasquatucket River. The former train tracks have been removed, but the land…
Rhode Island State House, Government Offices
The railroad yard and parking lots that separated Providence's downtown from the Capital Center were locally referred to as a "Chinese wall." This 1983 view shows how the government offices were isolated from the rest of Providence by both these…
Jewelry Distract: Manchester Street Station and Interstate 195
Manchester Street Power Station (1904) is a Georgian power house located on 12 acres in Providence, Rhode Island. It produces enough electricity to power about 112,000 homes, using natural gas as its fuel. Manchester Street consists of three…
Providence North End and East Side: Providence Station, Post Office
Aerial view of Interstate 95, new train tracks, the Charles Street area in the city’s North End (including the U.S. Post Office by Maguire and Associates, 1960), and the East Side.
Downtown Providence: Parking Lot, Rail Yard
Prior to the construction of Waterplace Park railroad tracks and parking lots separated the different districts of downtown Providence. This barrier was locally referred to as a, "Chinese wall." This 1977 view shows Providence before its dramatic…
Capital Center and North End
In this 1987 view the newly constructed Francis Street approach to the State House is complete thru the future intersection with Memorial Blvd. Interstate 95 separates Providence's West Side from downtown. The Foundry Building is on the left side of…
Richard Oscar Burgess House (The “Crayola” House)
A two and a half story house with a slate hip roof, paired gable dormers, corner turret, and stained-glass windows. This is a Queen Anne style home on Westminster Street in Providence's Armory neighborhood.
Allentown: Project Area
This photograph shows the the Urban Renewal Project area of Allentown before construction began. As in many cities, urban renewal in Allentown displaced many individuals and families. While Allentown did achieve some new apartment complex's, elderly…
Duluth: Lake Superior Shore
Duluth is a port city that is a hub for various regional commodities, including ore and agricultural products. This photograph shows a road on the shore of Lake Superior and looks toward Duluth.
Charlestown: Aerial View of Charlestown & Green Hill Beaches
Aerial view of Rhode Islands southern shore, including Charlestown and Green Hill Beaches. Charlestown is a public beach that offers camping and recreational activities. Green Hills Beach is a private club founded in 1961.
Scarborough with Little Neck Pond (North) & Lake Canonchet (South)
Scarborough beach as seen from the air in 1967. The beach was established as a public park in 1937 and in the late 1980s it under went renovation. Today Scarborough Beach continues to be a major destination for Rhode Island residents.
Rhode Island: Interstate 95 Construction
This 1960 photograph shows the construction of Interstate 95 at the junction of Route 2, also known as Quaker Lane. The area that is farm land has since been redeveloped as strip malls and large chain stores.
East Providence: Waste Water Treatment Facility, Pomham Lighthouse
The East Providence Waste Water Treatment Facility was constructed between 1952 and 1954, opening in 1954. The Pomham Lighthouse, located in Narragansett Bay and in the center of this photograph, was operated by the U.S. Coast Guard from the time it…
Woonsocket: St. Germain Manor, Elderly Housing
Named for Congressman Fernand J St. Germain, the elderly high rise was one of two new high rise structures to be built during the 1970s in Woonsocket. It was part of a greater city revitalization that developed the Social Flatlands into the new…
View of Downtown Woonsocket from Court Street Bridge
Downtown Woonsocket photographed from the Court Street Bridge which spans the Blackstone River. The largest building, just left of center, is the Main Street Lonlley building, which was built in 1890.
(date of photograph has been approximated)
Woonsocket: Depot Square
Formerly a railroad depot, Woonsocket Depot was rehabilitated as retail & office space during the process of urban renewal that revitalized the city in the 1970s. The station is located in Depot Square.
(date of photograph has been…
Woonsocket: City Hall
Purchased from the Harris Institute in 1902, Woonsocket’s acquisition of a central administration building ended a decade long search for such a structure. The Harris Institute, which had donated the state’s first free public library in 1868, sold…
Woonsocket: Urban Renewal Social Flatlands
By 1970 Woonsocket was being referred to as a lost city (Providence Journal). In response the city entered a resurgence phase. The biggest change was the creation of a new downtown in the area known as the Social Flatlands. The black high rise in the…
Blackstone River: South View from Court St. Bridge
Even before it was officially incorporated as a town in 1867, Woonsocket was home to numerous textile industries because of the water power provided by the Blackstone River. However, the industry ended after the Great Depression and the city had to…
Woonsocket Village, Urban Renewal
Woonsocket Village was built as part of city wide urban renewal in the 1970s. The neighborhood has 284 houses in an area that used to house 80. The housing project was built on a neighborhood in the Social Flatlands, previously it had been the Gaulin…
Woonsocket Village
Housing in Woonsocket Village. This affordable housing project was constructed in the 1970s as part of the new Social Flatlands. The project replaced multifamily homes that and mills that had fallen into a state of disrepair since the late 19th…
Woonsocket Village & Marquette Building
Woonsocket under went a revitalization process in the 1970s, specifically in an area known as the Social Flatlands. This photograph shows Woonsocket Village, a housing development that replaced neighborhoods that had formerly been multiple family…
Madison Triangle (2 of 2)
Construction of the Triangle area in Madison, WI. This affordable housing project displaced families and businesses that had made up a neighborhood known as Greenbush. This photograph shows land cleared for the construction of public housing in…
Madison Triangle (1 of 2)
Construction of public housing in Madison’s Triangle neighborhood during the 1960s. The area had previously been a largely Italian neighborhood known as Greenbush. Construction of affordable public housing in the 1960s displaced many families and…
Madison: Brittingham & Triangle (2 of 2)
This aerial view of Madison’s Triangle housing project shows both recently completed public housing as well as construction of addition housing.
Madison: Brittingham & Triangle (1 of 2)
This aerial view of Madison’s Triangle housing project shows both recently completed public housing as well as construction of addition housing.
Madison: Triangle Neighborhood
Proposed in 1960, the Triangle Urban Renewal Area displaced numerous people and businesses from the project area in order for the city to create public housing.
Madison Triangle, Structure to be Demolished
A large commercial structure slated for demolition in order to make room for the Triangle redevelopment project, a federally funded urban renewal project that aimed to create affordable public housing in Madison.
Madison Triangle
Public housing photographed from the air in Madison. The Triangle redevelopment plan created a neighborhood of affordable housing, but displaced an Italian neighborhood known as Greenbush.
Allentown: Project Area, Municipalities & Urban Renewal
This photograph shows the the Urban Renewal Project area of Allentown before construction began. As in many cities, urban renewal in Allentown displaced many individuals and families. While Allentown did achieve some new apartment complex's, elderly…
Madison: Triangle, Vacant Lot
Vacant land that became the Triangle project area in Madison. The project created public housing in Madison with aid from federal funding.
Allentown: Hamilton St. Lighting and Pennsylvania Light & Power Building
The street lights on Hamilton St. were installed in 1916 and remained until the 1970s when revitalization ended up junking the ornate lamp posts. The flower bowl lamp posts were suggested by Mayor Alfred L. Reichenbach’s wife, Maude, after returning…
Allentown: Public Safety Complex, Urban Renewal
This 1965 photograph shows a newly constructed Public Safety Building that was built as part of an Urban Renewal project in the 1960s & 1970s.
Project Area: Allentown
This photograph shows a vacant lot scheduled to be developed as part of Allentown’s Fourth Street Urban Renewal Project. The project aimed to create affordable housing for Allentown residents.
Allentown: Project Area
An aerial view of Allentown’s Fourth Street Urban Renewal Project. The project was part of a nationwide urban renewal trend in the 1960s and was designed to provide affordable housing to the residents of Allentown.
Allentown: Railroad Yard & Jordon Creek
Allentown saw significant economic growth in the 19th century due to the industrial revolution. it was an exporter of iron which was exported through the Lehigh Valley Railroad. This photo, likely taken around 1975, shows a rail yard, and some…
Construction in Madison Triangle
Aerial view of Madison Triangle shows a detail of construction of public housing in the 1960s. Previously the neighborhood had been known as Greenbush, and Italian neighborhood.
Aerial View of Madison, Including Triangle
An aerial view of Madison, including the Triangle redevelopment project. On the horizon the state capitol is visible.
Madison: Aerial View of Triangle
An aerial view of Madison’s Triangle nbeighborhood, a public housing development that was built over what was once called Greenbush, an Italian community.
Madison: Brittingham Park and Triangle
Aerial photograph of the Madison Triangle and Brittingham Park. The Triangle was once known as Greenbush, a primarily Italian neighborhood before it was redeveloped in the 1960s for public housing.
Madison: Triangle Neighborhood Sign
The Triangle neighborhood in Madison was developed in the 1960s. It was once a primarily Italian neighborhood known as Greenbush. This photograph shows a sign explaining the funding and areas affected by the project.
Madison: Truax Barracks Public Housing, Construction
Aerial photograph of public housing under construction at Truax Barracks in Madison.
Madison: Public Housing for Elderly
Public housing for the elderly in the Triangle neighborhood of Madison, WI. The neighborhood, once an Italian neighborhood known as Greenbush but was cleared for urban renewal in the 1960s.
Warwick: Midland Mall, Warwick Mall and CCRI’s Knight Campus
Although now considered a dead mall, the construction of the Midland Mall (renamed the Rhode island Mall in 1985), completed in 1968, was a milestone in the states economic history as it initiated the shift of retail trade from Providence into the…
Apponaug: Aerial Photograph, City Hall, Junction of State Roads
Apponaug is the center, or downtown, of Warwick, the second largest city in Rhode Island. Centered in this photograph is the City Hall, completed as the town hall in 1894, the city spent $75,000 to complete what is one of the most significant 19th…
Duluth: St. Louis River & Bay
The St. Louis River flows into Lake Superior. Duluth, which is located on the banks of the river and Lake Superior, experienced tremendous industrial growth during the 19th and twentieth centuries which created large amounts of pollution in the…
Duluth: Enger Park View of Superior Bay
View of Superior Bay and Duluth likely taken at Enger Park or Enger Tower. Enger Tower is observation tower in Duluth that is made of blue stone and was dedicated in 1939 by Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha of Norway.
Superior Bay is a…