Jewelry District, Providence, Rhode Island

The Jewelry District is a neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island located just south of Downtown between Interstate 195 and Henderson Street. Interstate 95 lies at the western edge of the neighborhood, which includes Davol Square and the waterfront along the west bank of the Providence River. [ [http://204.17.79.244/profiles/altnames.html Providence Neighborhood Profiles ] ] [ [http://www.jewelrydistrict.org/ The Jewelry District ] ] The neighborhood was home to a large number of jewelry manufacturing companies beginning in the 19th century. The area was detached from the rest of downtown with the construction of Interstate 195 in the 1960s. However, a major construction project, known as the "Iway" is currently under way to relocate Interstate 195 further south, thereby reconnecting the district with Downtown. [ [http://www.dot.state.ri.us/projects/construction/195intro.htm RIDOT's Iway - Relocating I-195 in Providence ] ]

Contained within the Jewelry District neighborhood is the Providence Jewelry Manufacturing Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Landmarks

The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is the most prominent feature of this area . The barrier protects Providence from storm surge flooding like that it had endured in the 1938 New England Hurricane and again in 1954 from Hurricane Carol. [cite web|url=http://www.providencebiltmore.com/history.htm|publisher=The Providence Biltimore|title=History: A Rhode Island Tradition|accessdate=2007-07-11] In both storms, downtown flooded to a depth of over eight feet at some locations. [ [http://www.providenceri.com/PEMA/hurricane.html Providence Emergency Management Agency ] ] Downtown has not suffered substantial flooding since the construction of the barrier.

A segment of Interstate 195 that spans the Jewelry District and Fox Point is in the process of being relocated south, in what the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) has dubbed the "Iway" project. The relocation has resulted in a new Providence River bridge crossing. This recent addition spans the Providence River just south of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier. Originally constructed in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, the Iway bridge had been floated north up Narragansett Bay for the project. [ [http://www.dot.ri.gov/news/pages/dispNews.asp?id=238 RIDOT News- Carcieri Christens Iway Bridge ] ]

There are plans for a new museum, the 'Heritage Harbor Museum,' to be located in a former power plant north of Davol Square that is now called the Dynamo House. The museum will highlight Providence's history as a commercial port. [ [http://www.heritageharbor.org/ Heritage Harbor Museum - HHM ] ]

Collier Point Park

Collier Point Park is located along the Providence waterfront south of Davol Square. The park is home to a decommissioned Russian submarine, Juliet 484, which was used in 2000 for the filming of the movie in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [ [http://www.juliett484.org/juliett/history/historyofjuliett484.html Juliett 484 - A History of Submarine K-77 ] ] The submarine had been in use as a museum until the submarine sank in a storm April 17-18, 2007. The submarine's owners plan to salvage the submarine and reopen the museum. [ [http://www.juliett484.org/juliett/index.html Juliett 484 ] ]

References

External links

* [http://204.17.79.244/profiles/maprnks/jdist.gifAerial Map of Jewelry District]