from
"King's Pocket-book of Providence, R.I."
Moses King, Cambridge, Mass., 1882
Tibbitts, Shaw & Co., Providence, RI
pp. 31 - 34.
"CONSTITUTION HILL, a slope of which Stamper's Hill is a continuation, is
the part of N. Main St. bet. Mill and Benefit St.
CORK HILL was the once familiar title of what is now known as the Brook-st.
District. It received this name presumably from the nationality of its
inhabitants.
COTTON MANUFACTURE. -- The earliest attempt to manufacture cotton in
Providence was about the year 1788. Daniel Anthony, Andrew Dexter, and
Lewis Peck formed a partnership to make 'homespun cloth'; and from an
English model obtained in Beverly, Mass., they constructed a spinning-jenny,
'which was first set up in a private house, and afterwards removed to the
market-house chamber in Providence and operated there.' Soon after they
constructed a carding-machine and a spinning-frame, and also had a loom
built under the direction of Joseph Alexander, a native of Scotland. All
this machinery was crude, and did not work well. The spinning-frame was
removed to Pawtucket, and operated by water-power, and soon after was sold
to Moses Brown of Providence. William Almy and Smith Brown, under the
patronage of Moses Brown, with this machine and others they had purchased
from various parties, carried on the manufacture in Pawtucket; but, owing to
the clumsiness of the machinery, found it unprofitable. In 1790, when
affairs were in this condition, a young Englishman named Samuel Slater, who
was skilled in the cotton manufacture, and had then been but a few months in
the country, was engaged by Moses Brown to come to Pawtucket. Slater found
the machines of Almy & Brown too imperfect to work satisfactorily, so he
proceeded to construct machines after the English models. Having no plans
or drawings, he had to rely entirely on his memory; yet after much labor and
many discouragements he finally succeeded. This was the first thoroughly
successful attempt to manufacture cotton in America with the machines
invented by Arkwright and Hargreaves. Almy, Brown, & Slater formed a
partnership, and carried on their business at Pawtucket for many years, and
also built factories on other available sites in the neighborhood.
Notwithstanding the fact that the manufacture was begun in Pawtucket,
Providence has reaped the greatest benefit from it. Providence was the
natural centre of operations, and became the market where the buying and
selling, the making and importing of supplies for the factories, were
conducted. To this fact, more than any other, is due the growth of the
city. Under the direction of Slater and his partners, and the men they had
trained, many factories were built on all the streams centring at
Providence, and mills were also built in adjoining districts, in
Massachusetts and Connecticut. In 1811 there were 17 cotton-mills in
Providence and vicinity, and 5 in course of construction; and in adjoining
towns in Rhode Island there were 8, and 5 being erected. In 1812, within a
radius of 30 miles from Providence there were 53 factories -- 33 in Rhode
Island, and 20 in Massachusetts. Since then the business has constantly
increased in amount. The offices of many companies operating mills in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, are located in Providence. In
1860, 77 cotton-mills located outside the city limits were owned in
Providence. The chief mills within the city limits are: Providence Steam
Mill, established by Samuel Slater and others in 1827; Oriental Mills,
Admiral cor. Whipple St.; Elmwood Cotton Mills, Mawney St.; the factories of
B. B. & R. Knight on Carpenter St. and Broad St.; and the factories of the
Fletcher Manuf. Co., Charles St. (See article on Manufactories.)
COURTS.
United-States Circuit Court sits at the Post-Office and Custom-House
Building, Weybosset St., June 15 and Nov. 15.
United-States District Court, first Tuesday in February and August.
Supreme Court, fourth Monday in March and first Monday in October, Prov.
County Court House.
Court of Common Pleas, first Monday in March, June, Sept., and Dec., Prov.
County Court House.
Municipal Court sits at the City Hall for probate business every Tuesday,
and holds terms, to hear appeals from the Police Court, four times a year;
namely, March, June, Sept., and Dec.
Police Court sits daily, at 9 A.M., at the Central Station.
COURT HOUSE OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY, Benefit, cor. College St., is an imposing
structure of Danvers face-brick, with Connecticut brown-stone trimmings, and
an underpinning of Quincy granite. The building, begun in June, 1875, was
dedicated Dec. 18, 1877. Its style is based upon the French Gothic order
of architecture. There is much artistic carving noticeable, particularly
upon the corbel of the oriel window on College St., facing Market Sq., and
around the capitals of the polished granite columns at the porches. Above
the main entrance rises a tower 200 ft. in height, which contains a fine
clock. The interior of the building is handsomely fitted up, and comprises
rooms for the common pleas and supreme courts, offices of the judges, clerks
of the courts, and other county officers, waiting rooms, and other
apartments. On the second floor is a law-library, ceiled throughout, and
capable of accommodating 50,000 vols. The cost of the building was about
$225,000, and with land and furniture $175,000 more. Stone & Carpenter,
architects.
COVE, THE, is an elliptical basin, about a mile in circumference, lying in
the geographical centre of the city. It was formerly an irregular body of
water, navigable for vessels of considerable tonnage; but from time to time
its area has been reduced by filling in the surrounding low lands. Its
sides are built up with stone, and finished by an iron fence. The basin is
fed by two small mill-streams, the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck Rivers;
and the Providence River flows outward to the south. Mud accumulates here
very rapidly, owing to the refuse flowing down from the mills, and to sewers
which empty here. Dredging has been attempted at great expense, and with
unsatisfactory results; and propositions for converting the Cove and
surrounding lands wholly to railroad purposes are under discussion.
COVE LANDS, THE, are large tracts of territory, lying N. and N. W. of the
Cove basin, which were formerly flowed by tide-water. Most of this has been
filled in for railroad and building purposes, but quite an area of marshy
lowlands still remains. They city's right to these lands was purchased from
the State in 1875, at a cost of $200,000.
COVE PROMENADE, THE, encircles the Cove, and has a general width of 80 ft.
It is adorned by fine shade-trees, provided with comfortable seats, and in
the evening is well-lighted by numerous gas-lamps; but the effluvia rising
from the Cove at low-tide, and its proximity to the railroads, render it an
unpopular place of resort.
CUSTOM CLOTHING, or 'merchant-tailoring', is one of the chief departments of
Macullar, Parker, & Company's establishment, which is described in its
alphabetical place.
CUSTOM HOUSE, THE, Weybosset, cor. Custom-House St., is a fine granite
structure, three stories in height, opened in 1857. It cost about $225,000.
Here upon the upper floors may be found the Internal-Revenue Office, the
United-States Court Room, and rooms for the judges and other government
officials. The lower story is devoted to the uses of the Post-Office
Department. This department re-arranged and refurnished its quarters in
1880, putting in at that time, among other improvements, over 1,500 brass
letter-boxes, secured by Yale locks.
DALRYMPLE DRINKING FOUNTAIN is an ornamental work of iron in Roger Williams
Park, presented to the city by Clark Dalrymple in 1881.
DEBT OF PROVIDENCE. -- See Providence.
DENTAL SOCIETY, THE RHODE ISLAND, established in 1878. Its object is 'to
create a more fraternal intercourse, to facilitate the interchange of
ideas', and to promote the progress of the theory and practice of the
dental profession. Any respectable practicing dentist, above the age of 21
years, may become a member of the association. The society's library
contains the latest dental works and reviews. Dr. A. W. Buckland was the
first president of this organization, which holds quarterly meetings, at
which papers are read and discussed, and the general business of the society
transacted. L. L. Buckland, D.D.S., sec'y.
DESIGN, RHODE-ISLAND SCHOOL OF, 283 Westminster St. (Hoppin Homestead
Bl'd'g), promotes the advancement of art-education by instructing artisans
and students in drawing, painting, designing, modelling, etc., at cost.
Lecture and art exhibitions are given. Instruction in art-needlework is
also furnished. About 195 students attend its day and evening sessions.
Open from October to May. E. Rose, principal.
DEXTER ASYLUM, Hope St., testifies to the generosity of the late Ebenezer
Knight Dexter, who, at his decease in 1824, left about 40 acres of land and
$60,000, to establish a home for the poor of Providence. The building, of
painted brick with granite basement, consists of a main building five
stories high, and two wings each three stories in height. Beside the
necessary rooms for inmates, sup't and family, and for reception-rooms, it
contains a chapel in the third story. The well-cultivated lands, which
furnish fine vegetables for the city market, are surrounded by a stone wall,
8 ft. high, and 3 ft. thick at the base, -- according to the conditions of
the bequest. On the Hope-st. side, the wall within a few years has been
lowered, and finished by a capping of granite. The institution, apparently
admirably conducted, accommodates over a hundred inmates. John M. Knowles,
sup't.
DEXTER DONATION, THE, comprises the Dexter Training-Ground, the land on
which the Dexter Asylum now stands, and other property, real and personal
devised to the town in 1824 by Ebenezer Knight Dexter, for the support and
maintenance of the poor.
DEXTER TRAINING-GROUND, a part of the 'Dexter Donation', was reserved and
appropriated by the will of Ebenzer Knight Dexter, for a training-ground.
It is a grassy enclosure of about 9 1/12 acres, west of Dexter St., near
High St., and is now seldom used for military purposes."
continued in part 15.
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Beth Hurd
Johnston, RI USA
beth(a)the-hurds.com
http://www.the-hurds.com
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