How the Clean-Up of the Woonasquatucket Helped Transform a Blighted Neighborhood into an Industrial Arts Hub
By Karen Greco
The Woonasquatucket River bisects Providence, running through Olneyville Square all the way through downtown Providence and out to the bay. A narrow river with a swift current, it was an ideal power source for the burgeoning mill industries that drove Rhode Island’s industrial revolution. Steam power’s introduction in the early 20th century solidified the river as an economic driver for the neighborhoods it traversed.
Read the web version of the story on The Providence Monthly website.