Dublin Core
Title
Downtown parking north of rail lines
Description
Union Railroad Depot, by Thomas A. Tefft, was opened in 1847. It was considered "a brilliant example of Romanesque architecture" in its time, and the longest building in America. As the city continued to grow, so too did the need for terminal space, ultimately resulting in the paving over of the remnants of the city's inland bay in 1890. The question of what to do with the now undersized station was spontaneously answered in February of 1896 when the station suffered a catastrophic fire. Remaining buildings from Teffts Union Railroad Depot can be seen in the upper right-hand corner on the railroad tracks. Unfortunately, these were demolished in 1979. Railroad tracks formed what was locally called a “Chinese wall” that separated the different districts of downtown Providence. This is a before shot of Providence’s dramatic rebirth from “gritty wasteland of neglected water-ways, derelict railroad yards, and vast parking lots” to “one of the nation’s most attractive urban environments.” -- Leazes and Motte, Providence, jacket cover.
Creator
Chester Smolski
Source
Woodward, PPS/AlAri Guide to Providence Architecture (Providence, 2003),104.
Date
1979-01-01
Rights
Rhode Island College
Format
Photograph
Photograph
Identifier
5171
Smolski Image Item Type Metadata
City
Providence
Country
United States of America
Creator 1
Stone, Carpenter & Willson
Creator 1 Role
Architects
Library of Congress Subject Headings
City planning -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Urban renewal -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Land use, Urban -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Documentary photography -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Automobile parking -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Railroads -- Rhode Island -- Providence; Capital Center (Providence, R.I.); Union Station (Providence, R.I.); Waterplace Park (Providence, R.I.); Capital Center (Providence, R.I.) Urban Redevelopment
Region
Rhode Island
Street Address
4 Exchange Terrace
Theme
Parking