Burnside Park is a small park situated in

Downtown Providence Downtown is the central economic, political, and cultural district of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. It is bounded on the east by Canal Street and the Providence River, to the north by Smith Street, to the west by Interstate 95, and to th ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, adjacent to

Kennedy Plaza Kennedy Plaza, formerly Exchange Place, Exchange Terrace, or City Hall Park, is a rectangular public square that occupies a central portion of Downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Since the mid 19th century, the plaza has served as a civic and tra ...

. The park is named for

Ambrose Burnside Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American army officer and politician who became a senior Union general in the Civil War and three times Governor of Rhode Island, as well as being a successful inventor ...

, a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

from Rhode Island. An equestrian statue of Ambrose Burnside was erected in the late 19th century and sits in the center of the park.

History

"Burnside Park" was originally known as City Hall Park. Some of the current park is located on the land that was formerly part of the Cove Basin. The rest was purchased from the Old Colony Railroad Company and the New York and New England Railroad Companies. The park was dedicated in 1892 and landscaped following the completion of Union Station in 1898. Monumental sculpture was added in the first decade of the 20th century, including the resetting of the equestrian portrait of General Ambrose E. Burnside (1887,

Launt Thompson Launt Thompson (February 8, 1833 – September 26, 1894) was an American sculptor. Biography He was born in Abbeyleix, Ireland. Due to the Great Famine occurring in Ireland at the time, he emigrated to the United States in 1847 with his widowe ...

, sculptor) from Exchange Place in 1906. Burnside Park was the location of the camp of the Occupy Providence Movement (patterned after the

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to t ...

movement in New York City) during the Fall of 2011.

Artworks

Bajnotti Fountain

The centerpiece of the park is the Bajnotti Fountain, sculpted in 1902 by

Enid Yandell Enid Yandell (October 6, 1869 – June 12, 1934) was an American sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky who studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris, Philip Martiny in New York City, and Frederick William MacMonnies. Yandell specialized in portrait bus ...

. At the time of its erection, it was referred to as the Carrie Brown Memorial Fountain. The fountain was a gift to the City of Providence by Italian Diplomat Signor Paul Bajnotti. It was commissioned as a memorial to Bajnotti's wife, Carrie Mathilde Brown, daughter of Nicholas Brown III, for whom the Carrie Tower is also named.

Burnside Statue

A 20-foot tall bronze statue by Irish-American sculptor

depicts Rhode Island Governor, Senator, and Civil War general

on horseback. A public campaign raised $30,000 to build a statue in Burnside's honor. The statue was unveiled July 4, 1887. It was restored in early 2015, as part of an overall upgrade to the downtown

area.

Gallery

File:The 1902 Carrie Brown Bajnotti Memorial Fountain in Providence.jpg, Bajnotti Fountain (1902),

File:Gen. Burnside Monument, Burnside Park, Providence, RI.jpg, Burnside Statue (1887),

File:Providence buildings 2.JPG, View of the Providence skyline from the park.

References

Providence County, Rhode Island Parks
Geography of Providence, Rhode Island Protected areas of Providence County, Rhode Island Tourist attractions in Providence, Rhode Island Park Parks in Rhode Island 1892 establishments in Rhode Island {{ProvidenceRI-stub