Mount Pleasant (Providence, Rhode Island)

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Mount Pleasant was one of the last sections of the city to be developed, and as a result, most of the houses are of medium size on well landscaped lots and tree-lined streets. Although some houses were constructed in the 19th century, most were built in the early 20th century.

Settlement remained sparse in Mount Pleasant until nearly the end of the 19th century. During the early 1870s, plats of house lots were laid out, but the national economic panic of 1873 dramatically slowed down development plans. A couple of houses appeared along the major streets before the late 1880s, but substantial residential development occurred only after the economy picked up and public transportation improved. By 1882, streetcars traversed Chalkstone Avenue, extending out to Smith Street and North Providence by the 1890s. In the early 1900s, a neighborhood commercial strip formed along Chalkstone Avenue between River Avenue and Mount Pleasant Avenue. Today, that commercial strip is still a thriving part of the neighborhood.

By the early 20th century, the Mount Pleasant area was predominantly middle and upper middle-class. The ethnic composition of the area began to become more diverse after 1900, as second and third generation Irish began to move into the area to escape from more crowded neighborhoods like Smith Hill and Upper and Lower South Providence. By the mid 20th century, second and third-generation Italians comprised a significant portion of the neighborhood's ethnic composition, many of them having moved to Mount Pleasant from Federal Hill.

The quiet and spacious qualities of the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, in conjunction with the availability of large tracts of undeveloped land in the form of 19th century estates, attracted various large educational institutions. The area bounded by Mount Pleasant, Bullock, and Chalkstone Avenues contains Rhode Island College, Mount Pleasant High School, and LaSalle Academy. Along with Triggs Memorial Golf Course, this institutional area is significant in that it provides the neighborhood with substantial open space.

As of 2000, the neighborhood was 60.5% Non-Hispanic White, 24.1% Hispanic, 10.0% Black or African American, and 2.7% Asian or Pacific Islander.

The median family income is $41,017, above the city-wide average of $32,058. 16.2% of families live below the poverty line while 7.2% of families receive some form of public assistance.

www.providenceri.com/ONS/neighborhoods/mount-pleasant