The Wanskuck Historic District is a historic district in the city of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

encompassing a mill village with more than two hundred years of history. As early as the mid-18th century, mills stood on the

West River West River may refer to: Rivers Canada *West River (Antigonish, Nova Scotia) in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia * West River (Pictou, Nova Scotia) in Pictou County, Nova Scotia * West River (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia * West ...

in northern Providence, a development which continued with the rise of industrialization in the 19th century. The mill village of Wanskuck is organized around three thoroughfares: Branch Street, Veazie Street, and Woodward Road, and is roughly bounded on the east by Louisquisset Pike (

Rhode Island Route 146 Route 146 is a limited-access road in the U.S. state of Rhode Island, maintained by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT). Spanning approximately along a northwest–southeast axis, it links the cities of Providence, Woonsoc ...

) and to the northwest by the city line with

North Providence North Providence is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 34,114 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the Town of North Providence has a total area of , of which, is ...

. The West River runs through the district, with its banks lined by two late-19th-century mill complexes. The village area includes a variety of examples of mill worker housing, from duplexes to rowhouses, as well as two church complexes and a community hall built in 1884 by the Wanskuck Company. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1983.

References

Historic districts in Providence County, Rhode Island Geography of Providence, Rhode Island Unofficial neighborhoods of Providence, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Providence, Rhode Island Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island {{ProvidenceRI-NRHP-stub

See also

References