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Waterplace Park
1 Financial Way, Providence, RI 02903
The original site of the Great Salt Cove. Finished in 1994, Waterplace Park is connected to 3/4 mile of cobblestone-paved pedestrian walkways along the waterfront known as Riverwalk. Venice-styled pedestrian bridges cross the river. Most of Riverwalk is below street level and automotive traffic. Waterplace Park and Riverwalk together are host to Providence's popular summertime Waterfire events, a series of bonfires lit on the river accompanied by classical and world music.
Events
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#waterplacepark
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History
Today’s Waterplace Park, with its circular lagoon, harkens back to the taming of the great salt cove that 200 years ago stretched from today’s Kennedy Plaza to the bottom of Smith Hill, to Canal Street (once called North Water) on its eastern shore and through the valley between Smith Hill and Federal Hill to the west. The city began filling in and shaping the cove—a process that was eventually driven by the expansions of railroads—and by 1850 the downtown portion of the cove had been tamed into the beginnings of a circle. By the 1880s, the circle was complete, lined by a pedestrian promenade and renamed the Cove Basin. By 1900 the cove had vanished completely. This photo was taken in 1983.
Historical context courtesy of @pvdnowandthen.
Map
Waterplace Park is maintained, managed, programmed, and developed by the City of Providence Parks Department.
