Originally known as "Weybossett Neck" or "Weybossett Side", Downtown was first settled by religious dissidents from the First
Congregational Society in 1746. Their settlement was located near present-day Westminster Street. Downtown did not witness substantial development until the early 19th century, when Providence began to compete with
Newport, Rhode Island. British forces had destroyed much of Newport during the
American War for Independence, making that city's merchants vulnerable to competition from Providence.
Decline: 1960s and 1970s Providence's population declined from a peak of 253,504 in 1940 to only 179,213 in 1970. The result of decades of expansion was the isolation of
the state Capitol from the rest of downtown by an imposing mass of railroad tracks, often locally referred to as the "
Chinese Wall". As rail traffic dropped off 75 percent by 1980, city planners saw an opportunity to open up central land for development and re-unify downtown with the Capitol. A
new, smaller train station was built in 1986, located north of its predecessor, and tracks were removed or routed underground. The new land precipitated a massive remaking of the character of the city's downtown. From 1975 until 1982, under Mayor
Vincent Cianci, Jr,
$606 million of local and national
Community Development funds were invested. Roads were removed and the city's natural rivers were opened up and lined with a cobblestone-paved park called
Waterplace Park in 1994, which became host to popular
WaterFire festivals. Private and public developments followed, and the new area adjacent to the Capitol became known as "Capitol Center". Ushered in by the construction of the new train station (1986), development brought new buildings: The Gateway Building (1990),
One Citizens Plaza (1991), Center Place (1992), a
Westin hotel and Providence Convention Center (1993),
Providence Place Mall (1999), Courtyard Marriott (2000),
GTECH headquarters (2006), The Residences at the Westin (2007),
Waterplace Towers condominiums (2007), and Capitol Cove still under construction. In 2007, the Renaissance Providence Hotel opened in the
Masonic Temple building, which had been abandoned amidst the
Great Depression a half century prior. The relocation of
Interstate 195 (the "
Iway" project) in the early 2000s sparked another boom of construction in the 2010s, including the
Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge, which spans the Providence River, and the Point 225 building in 2019 (aka "Wexford Innovation Center"), designed by
Ayers Saint Gross, and a riverfront park. , several other buildings in the area are under construction or proposed. ==Demographics==