3.0 Historic Preservation

3.1 Riverside Historical Narrative The City of East Providence was officially founded in 1862 after the state of Rhode Island annexed the land from Massachusetts. Prior to becoming part of Rhode Island, parts of the land belonged to Seekonk and Rehoboth at various times, with European settlement dating back to the early 17th century. The character of East Providence was decidedly rural at the time of its founding although a few commercial centers were beginning to develop. The early period of East Providence’s history saw four distinct villages coalesce: Watchemoket, located across the river from Providence proper; Rumford, located near the historic Rehoboth green; Phillipsdale, located in the far northwest of the town; and Riverside, located in the town’s southernmost portion.

Riverside as it exists today first began to develop with the establishment of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad Company in the early 1850s and the construction of a station in Riverside, allowing city-dwellers easy transportation to the picturesque waterfront retreat. Although some had sought recreation in Riverside prior to the railroad, either camping or staying in modest summer cottages, the mid-19th century saw the burgeoning of a veritable industry of resorts, hotels, and shore dinner halls. The first of the Riverside resorts was Vue de l’Eau in 1860, but the decades that followed saw the construction of Silver Spring, What Cheer House, Riverside Hotel, Ponham House, East Providence Hotel, and half a dozen others. Due to stiff competition, many of these recreational retreats failed as others prospered; for instance, the What Cheer House changed owners and names several times and the Riverside Hotel was dismantled and shipped to Nantucket. Many shore hall dinners also emerged alongside these resorts, the most prestigious of them being the Squantum Club. The Club was established on the shoreline north of Riverside in 1871 and quickly became one of the most prestigious eating establishments in East Providence. Alongside the development of Riverside’s shore dinner halls arose an opportunity The popularity of Riverside as a vacation destination began to spur land developers to invest in planned residential plats rather than the resorts and ad hoc cottages of previous decades. In 1871 General Lysander Flagg and a group of businessmen from Pawtucket formed the Riverside Land Company, buying several farms located in the area around the train station. The Company’s first platted community in Riverside was Cedar Grove, after the many trees that graced the landscape. Cedar Grove laid upon a unique curved streetscape that earned the neighborhood the moniker of “the maze.” Flagg’s company completed the platting of all its land, in a more regular pattern by 1873, and the entire village soon became known as Riverside, after the neighborhood adjacent to Cedar Grove dubbed Riverside Villa. The next three decades saw the area develop into a bustling resort town, accompanied by many growing pains of a small fishing community now accommodating thousands of excursionists each summer and a growing number of rear-round residents.

The most extravagant recreation areas in Riverside were Crescent Park, Boyden Heights, and Vanity Fair amusement parks, leading Riverside to be promoted as the “Coney Island of New England.” The longestlived and most noteworthy of these was Crescent Park, first founded in 1886 by George Boyden. After a successful start, Boyden sold the park and it was eventually leased to Charles I. D. Looff, who brought the park into its own. Looff was a German immigrant who came to the US in 1870. A furniture maker by trade, Looff began constructing a carousel for Coney Island in the late 1870s. Looff began making carousels full time by 1880 and opened up a small factory. Looff manufactured several carousels for East Providence parks, including one at Crescent Park in the 1890’s, and moved his business there in 1894. The Crescent Park Carousel became his showpiece, with many figures being of unique design as examples of what patrons could request