Old Market House, Market Square, Historic America Series
Additional Details:
| The venerable Old Market House, second oldest public building in Providence, was built in 1773. Other cities had their Common, their Green, Battery or Parade. Providence had its "Bridge" (now one of the widest in the world) and east of this the town market house was built. It stands today a sort of sentry for the "East" and "West" sides. Built to house the public market and town offices and tenants, a bronze tablet on the west wall tells of the addition of the third story in 1797, when a Masonic temple was needed in Providence. A real Masonic shrine this became, for here, on Aug. 23, 1802, Thomas Smith Webb organized the first Knights Templar in America. The building has many interesting associations. It was used as a barracks when the French were encamped in Providence during the Revolution while a bronze tablet recalls a nearby Tea Party. A third tablet marks the height reached by the water during the Great Gale, Sept. 23, 1815. History records "The first cotton thread spun by machinery in R. I. was spun in the chambers of the market-house in Providence." For forty-five years after Providence became a city, the building served as City Hall (1833-1878). It is now used by the Providence Chamber of Commerce. |
