Blackstone
The Blackstone neighborhood is located in the northeast corner of Providence's East Side. It is one of only a few neighborhoods in the city where considerable development occurred during the 20th century.
Blackstone was developed as a middle and upper income residential neighborhood so the houses are mostly medium to large single-family dwellings. Blackstone is today one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city, with a median family income nearly four times that of the city.
The most significant improvement that stimulated residential development in Blackstone was the collaboration between the proprietors of Swan Point Cemetery and the City of Providence to construct a landscaped boulevard, 200 feet wide, connecting the Waterman and Angell Street corridor on the south with Hope Street on the north at the Pawtucket city line. By 1894, Blackstone Boulevard was completed and landscaped. Today, it remains one of the city's greatest examples of planning and landscape architecture.
Between 1890 and 1923, land values along the boulevard tripled and the Blackstone area began to fill in with single-family homes that were architecturally distinctive. During this period, Blackstone became one of the most desirable and fashionable addresses in the City.
The scenic beauty created by the bluffs overlooking the Seekonk River was inviting and conducive to institutional establishment. Butler Hospital, one of the nation's oldest psychiatric institutions, was built in 1847 on the Richard Browne Farm at the end of Rochambeau Avenue. Its gothic structure was landscaped in a rural setting as part of a plan to remove patients from the stresses of the everyday world.
By the 20th century, institutional growth became more neighborhood oriented. Some of the notable religious institutions include the Central Baptist Church on Lloyd Avenue, Temple Emanuel on Taft Avenue, and St. Sebastian's Roman Catholic Church on Cole Avenue.
Blackstone has the highest rate of home ownership of any neighborhood in the City. More than half of all homes in Blackstone are single-family and almost 9 out of 10 homes were constructed more than 60 years ago.
Map of the Blackstone Neighborhood
Do you want to live in one of Providence's most established neighborhoods?
Contact Chris, the "East Side Expert".
Chris will help make it happen.
|
Blackstone Neighborhood Links:
The Butcher Shop Cafe & Deli
Providence Eruv map
Butler Hospital
Blackstone Parks Conservancy
Temple Emanu-El
Temple Beth-El
Lincoln School
Historic Swan Point Cemetery
Whole Foods Market
|
