Olneyville (Providence, Rhode Island)

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Olneyville is of the oldest neighborhoods in Providence. The topography, typified by the spectacular view across the city from Bowdoin Street, is one of the most diverse and engaging of any neighborhood in Providence. Olneyville is the core of a larger historically and geographically defined area called the Woonasquatucket River Valley. Olneyville Square has long been the industrial, commercial, cultural, and transportation hub of the entire west side of Providence.

Settlement began around Olneyville Square in the early 1700s. From as early as 1745, the Ruttenburg family had established a paper mill and a distillery just north of the intersection of Atwells Avenue and the Woonasquatucket River. The road that the Ruttenburgs built from their mill to their farm near Plainfield Road still exists today as Valley Street. Christopher Olney operated a grist mill and a paper mill on a wide part of the river known as Olney's Pond which exists north of where Kossuth Street now runs. Olney's prominence and active involvement in industry eventually gave Olneyville its name.

Development in Olneyville intensified early in the 19th century. The Woonasquatucket River, a source of water power, made Olneyville attractive to industry, and numerous mill villages popped up along its banks. Throughout the 19th century, Olneyville remained a leading industrial center. Christopher Olney's 18th century paper mill continued to operate into the early 19th century, but by then the textile industry had become the dominant industry in Providence.

During the 1830s the establishment of the railroad made the area in and around the Woonasquatucket River Valley and the area to the northeast of Olneyville more attractive as industrial sites. By 1847, there were major railroads entering Providence from the south which met at the new central terminal on Exchange Place (now known as John F. Kennedy Plaza). Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendaring Company opened a plant in Olneyville on Valley Street. The 1850s marked the beginning of one of the most important industrial facilities in Olneyville, the Atlantic Mills. The mill complex still stands today on Manton Avenue and is used by various neighborhood-based groups and artists.

The expansion of public transportation ahad a significant influence on Olneyville's residential development, particularly in the area around Olneyville Square. By 1895, the original horse-drawn streetcars had been replaced by electric trolleys, and new lines were extended out along Atwells Avenue to Academy Avenue. During the 1880s and 1890s, the streets between Atwells and Manton Avenues were completely filled with two family houses. Many of the homes were originally built by mill owners who provided housing for their workers. By 1900, Olneyville's physical appearance had been firmly established.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Olneyville retained much of its 19th century character as a working class neighborhood, dominated by the all-powerful textile industry. Olneyville became the home for many Polish and other Eastern European immigrants during the period just before World War II.

After World War II, however, the fortunes of Providence's textile giants declined precipitously. The effect of this demise on the Olneyville neighborhood was devastating. Thousands of jobs were lost and were never replaced. Olneyville became severely depopulated as more and more residents left the neighborhood to seek employment. This flight was exacerbated by the construction of the Route 6 connector in the early 1950s, built to alleviate the traffic snarls in Olneyville Square. The Route 6 connector had the effect of destroying a great deal of affordable, working-class housing.

Since the 1960s, the jewelry industry has replaced textiles in Olneyville. Numerous businesses in the Promenade Center provide hundreds of jobs to neighborhood residents. Despite the emergence of this new industry, however, Olneyville continued to lose population throughout the 1960s and 1970s. It was not until the 1980s that the population of Olneyville began to stabilize.

According to the Providence Plan, a local nonprofit aimed at improving city life, 57.4% of residents are Hispanic, 22% white, 13.6% African-American, 7.4% Asian, and 1.6% Native American. 63% of public school children speak a language other than English as their primary language.

The median family income is $19,046, well below the city-wide average of $32,058. 41.1% of families live in poverty while nearly one in four families receives some form of public assistance.

www.providenceri.com/ONS/neighborhoods/olneyville