Timeline of Providence, Rhode Island

Prior to 19th century

1635 – Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635

1636 – Providence founded by Roger Williams.

1638 – Baptist congregation formed.

1675 — Narragansetts "harass" white settlers as part of King Philip's War

1676 — March 29: Narragansett warriors led by Canonchet burn about fifty houses, including Roger Williams' house, as part of King Philip's War

1683 — Roger Williams dies

1700 – North Burial Ground established

1711 – First burial at North Burial Ground

1753 – Providence Library Company organized.

1762

State House built.

William Goddard sets up printing press; Providence Gazette newspaper begins publication.

1764 – College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations established in Warren.

1768 – Brick Schoolhouse built on Meeting Street.

1770 – College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations relocated to Providence.

1775 – Market House and First Baptist Meetinghouse built.

1776 – 1777: Colonial and French troops use University Hall as a barracks and hospital during the American Revolutionary War

1784 — January: Flooding on the Moshassuck River caused the greatest damage seen since the burning of the town during King Philip's War

1785 – Beneficent Congregational Society established.

1789

Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers and Providence Society for Abolishing the Slave-Trade established.

1790

U.S. Custom House established.

Population: 6,380.

1791

October: Providence Bank on South Main Street incorporated; later known as Providence National Bank, Providence Union Bank and Trust Company, Industrial National Bank, and FleetBoston Financial.

1793

The first covered drawbridge is built over the Seekonk River where the Washington Bridge currently stands, followed the same year by the Central Bridge farther north.

1794 – Serril Dodge opens his first jewelry store on North Main Street, thus beginning Providence's jewelry industry

1795 – Theatre opens.

1798 – Providence Marine Society established.

19th century

1800 — Population: 7,614.

1801

January 21 — The first "Great Fire" destroys 37 buildings and leaves many families homeless

Providence Marine Corps of Artillery founded.

1802 – Providence Phoenix newspaper begins publication.

1805 — Providence streets receive official names for the first time

1810 — Population: 10,071.

1814

Union Bank of Providence founded.

1815

September 23: The Great Gale of 1815 causes extensive damage and flooding.

1816

October 13: The First Congregational Church (Unitarian) dedicated, now known as First Unitarian Church.

1818 – Rhode Island Peace Society and Merchants Bank established.

1819

New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School opens.

1820

January 3: The Manufacturers' & Farmers' Journal, Providence & Pawtucket Advertiser begins publication, precursor to The Providence Journal.

1822 – Rhode Island Historical Society founded.

1823

April — The first ordinance passed requiring snow removal from sidewalks within 24 hours after falling

Providence Franklin Society incorporated.

1824

The first city directory issued

Race riot in Hard Scrabble

August 23 — Lafayette visited Providence for the first time since the Revolutionary War to great acclaim

1825

May — the second "Great Fire" began at the corner of Union and Westminster Streets

1828

Dexter Asylum built.

Westminster Arcade built.

High Street Bank established.

Herald newspaper begins publication.

1829

The Providence Journal newspaper begins publishing daily.

1831

Boston and Providence Railroad begins operating.

Race riot in Snow Town.

Gorham Silver and Franklin Lyceum established.

1832

City incorporated. City government meets at Market House

Samuel W. Bridgham elected first mayor.

1833 — David Brown opens a shop on South Main Street that later becomes Brown & Sharpe

1835 – Train station and first India Point Railroad Bridge built.

1836

Providence Athenaeum formed.

City hosts Rhode Island Anti-Slavery convention.

1838

Providence Association for the Benefit of Colored Children organized.

Narragansett Boat Club organized.

1839 – Providence Marine Corps of Artillery armory built.

1841 – 1842: Dorr Rebellion

1843 – Classical High School established.

1844

Butler Hospital for the Insane founded

Corliss, Nightingale & Co. in business.

1845

The City Council votes to prepare plans for a new City Hall

Grace Church built.

Laureldale Chemical Works established.

1846

Swan Point Cemetery established.

Scholfield's Commercial College, a business college located downtown, established.

A. T. Cross Company established.

1847

Providence and Worcester Railroad begins operating

Union Railroad Depot built

Providence Tool Company established.

1848

Providence Medical Association instituted.

B.B. and R. Knight, which later becomes Fruit of the Loom, established

1850 – Providence Reform School opens.

1852

Central Congregational Church established.

Locust Grove Cemetery incorporated.

1853

Providence Young Men's Christian Union established

Joseph Brown teams with Lucian Sharpe to form Brown & Sharpe

1854 – Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad begins operating.

1855

James Y. Smith becomes mayor.

Providence Aid Society organized.

U.S. Customshouse built.

1860 - Population: 50,666.

1863

Bryant and Stratton National Business College (now Bryant University) opens a campus in Providence

1865 – Population: 54,595.

1866

Providence receives state approval to tap the Pawtuxet River as a source of drinking water

1867

Prospect Terrace Park created.

Young Women's Christian Association organized.

Babcock & Wilcox founded.

1868

Rhode Island Hospital dedicated.

Women's City Missionary Society organized.

1869 – Morning Star newspaper begins publication.

"1870's" – A sewer system is constructed which discharges city waste into the harbor.

1871

Roger Williams Park donated to the people of Providence by Betsy Williams

Thanksgiving Day: Providence municipal water service begins, pumping water from the Pawtuxet River

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument dedicated.

1872

Roger Williams Park Zoo founded.

First Universalist Church built.

First Point Street Bridge built.

Construction begins on the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company Complex along the Woonasquatucket River

1874

Cornerstone of City Hall is laid on June 24.

1876 – Rhode Island Women's Club established.

1877

Rhode Island School of Design and museum established.

Providence County Court House dedicated.

Grammar school built on Candace Street.

1878

Providence Grays baseball team formed; Messer Street Grounds baseball stadium built

Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul completed

City Hall opens on November 14.

Providence Public Library opens.

Homeopathic Hospital founded.

1880 – Providence Art Club incorporated.

1883

Providence Press Club formed.

Providence Literary Association organized.

1884

Providence Lying-In Hospital founded.

Providence Camera Club organized.

October: The Providence Grays win baseball's 1884 World Series championship game

1885

Fleur-de-lys Studios built

Providence Grays baseball team disbanded

The Providence Journal begins publishing seven days per week.

1886

June 9: Thomas A. Doyle dies in office, Providence's longest-serving mayor (18 years).

June 14: Providence businesses shut down as Mayor Doyle's funeral procession marches through the city.

1888

City Hall is powered by electric lighting for the first time

1890

Providence's jewelry industry includes more than 200 firms with almost 7,000 workers

1891

Providence Athletic Association incorporated.

The Outlet Company established.

Providence News begins publication.

1892

First electric streetcar begins operation on January 20.

1894 – Providence Engineering Society founded.

1896 – Providence Water Color Club organized.

1897 – Emma Goldman arrested for "open-air speaking" at Market Square.

1898 – Union Station rebuilt.

20th century

1900 – Population: 175,597.

1901 – Providence's first sewage treatment plant begins "chemical precipitation" treatment of city waste, one of the first such plants in the US.

1904 – Rhode Island State House built.

1905 – Handicraft Club organized.

1906 – Evening Tribune newspaper begins publication.

1907 – Annmary Brown Memorial museum dedicated.

1908 – Federal Building constructed.

1913

Turk's Head Building constructed

1914

Johnson & Wales School of Business is formed, later becomes known as Johnson & Wales University

1926

Miriam Hospital opens.

1928

Construction finishes on the Industrial Trust Building (aka "Superman Building").

February: Providence author H. P. Lovecraft publishes his most famous story The Call of Cthulhu in Weird Tales magazine

Vedanta Society of Providence founded.

1930

25 September: Current Washington Bridge south span opens

1932

Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council headquartered in city.

1935

Bryant College of Business Administration, now known as Bryant University, moves from downtown to the East Side

1937

March 15: Author H.P. Lovecraft dies, aged 47

1938 – September: Hurricane.

1945 – The Providence Journal wins its first Pulitzer Prize

1949 – WJAR-TV begins broadcasting.

1950 – Veterans Memorial Auditorium opens.

1953 – The Providence Journal wins its second Pulitzer Prize

1954 – Hurricane Carol strikes the area.

1955 – WPRO-TV begins broadcasting.

1956 – Providence Preservation Society organized.

1957 – Dexter Asylum demolished.

1961 — July: Construction on Fox Point Hurricane Barrier begun

1962 – Brown Broadcasting Service established.

1964 — Once-grand Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company abandons its sprawling location along the Woonasquatucket River for a modern plant in North Kingstown.

1966 – January: Fox Point Hurricane Barrier completed

1968 – Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns headquartered in Providence.

1969 – Current Henderson Bridge opens

1971

Bryant College vacates Providence for Smithfield

1972 – Providence Zen Center founded.

1975 – Buddy Cianci becomes mayor.

1976

November: Masjid Al-Karim, Islamic Center of Rhode Island, established.

1978

February: The Great Blizzard paralyzes Providence with 56 inches of snow. Governor J. Joseph Garrahy comforts the city and state by wearing a flannel shirt.

City Archives established.

The city's jewelry industry peaks, with 32,500 workers, then begins a decline.

1980

Voters approve an $87 million bond issue to improve municipal sewage treatment plant

The Narragansett Bay Commission is formed

1984

First Night Providence begins

Mayor Buddy Cianci forced to resign after pleading "no contest" to an assault charge

1986

Providence Business News begins publication.

Providence Station opens.

1990 – Governor Henry Lippitt House museum opens (approximate date).

1991

Buddy Cianci returns to the mayor's office

1994

Waterplace Park constructed.

WaterFire begins.

Gun court established in the Providence Superior Court.

1996

The Providence Journal goes public and subsequently is purchased by the Dallas-based A.H. Belo Company

1997

City website online (approximate date).

Providence Children's Museum opens.

1999

Providence Urban Debate League founded.

Providence Place Mall opens.

21st century

2001

April: Sitting mayor Buddy Cianci is indicted on federal criminal charges of racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, witness tampering, and mail fraud

2002

Soviet submarine K-77 museum opens

September: Mayor Buddy Cianci is sentenced to serve five years in federal prison

2003 – David Cicilline becomes mayor.

2005 – January: The North American blizzard of 2005 drops 17 inches of snow on downtown Providence

2006 – Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology opens at Brown University.

2007

April 18: Soviet submarine K-77 sinks after a storm.

May: Former mayor Cianci released from prison

November: New Iway bridge opens for eastbound traffic

2008

Historic Westminster Arcade closes for renovations

2009

October: Final section of Iway bridge opens for westbound traffic.

2010

Population: 178,042.

March: A series of rainstorms causes severe flood damage. President Obama declares a state of emergency for the region.

2011

January: Angel Taveras becomes mayor.

August 28: Hurricane Irene downs 300-400 trees and leaves 12,700 without power.

October: Occupy protest begins.

November: Open Providence Commission for Transparency and Accountability established.

2012

October 29: Hurricane Sandy hits Providence. The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is credited with saving the city from major damage.

2013

February: Winter Storm Nemo drops 27 inches of snow; Hurricane-force winds topple trees, and many people lose power

Historic Westminster Arcade re-opens after renovation

Historic Mayoral portraits in City Hall cleaned and restored

April: The landmark Industrial Trust Building, aka "Superman Building," loses its sole tenant, and goes dark.

2014

October 17: The Phoenix publishes its last print issue

2015

January 5: Jorge Elorza sworn in as mayor

January: Kennedy Plaza re-opens after major renovation

September 20: George Redman Linear Park, a bicycle and pedestrian path on the Washington Bridge, is dedicated.

2016

January 28: Former mayor Buddy Cianci dies

February 6–7: Former mayor Cianci lies in state at City Hall

February 8: Cianci's funeral procession marches through the city, stopping for a funeral mass at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul and ending at St. Ann’s Cemetery in Cranston for burial.

September 11: Mayor Elorza and the president of the firefighter's union come to an agreement after a 13-month contract dispute.