The properties on this tour were built from 1865 to 1987. Click on a map marker to see the property name, then click the name to see more. Or, scroll down to see a gallery of all properties. Click any photo to learn more.
Providence’s West Side is anything but homogeneous, and the three tours originally included in the West Side Development chapter in the 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture (Federal Hill, Broadway, and Armory District to Westminster Street) vividly illustrate the great variety of building types, forms, and styles found in three proximate but remarkably distinct neighborhoods. The scale of the streets and the relationship of the buildings to the street give each neighborhood its distinct character and sense of place. Each is strongly individual, and the visitor to each will immediately sense the neighborhood’s character. As with most of the city’s neighborhoods, there will be the sense that none of these could be found anywhere else but in Providence.
The Armory District and Westminster Street beautifully illustrate a wave theory of urban development. The streets lining the Dexter Training Ground bear architectural testimony to this area’s desirability a century and a quarter ago. Similar to houses on Broadway, these stand in contrast to the smaller-scale lots and houses behind them. The area had become somewhat down, but by no means out, when it was rediscovered in the 1980s. Today, it is yet again cresting as one of Providence’s most desirable inner-city neighborhoods. Westminster Street, also undergoing renewal, includes a wide variety in age and form.
– 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture