History
Providence's first railroad station was built in 1835 by the Boston and Providence Rail Road at India Point. The Providence and Stonington built a depot at Crary Street in South Providence in 1838, and the two were soon connected by a ferry service.
The first through service stopped at Union Station, a brick edifice built in 1847 by the Providence & Worcester, Providence & Stonington, and Boston & Providence Railroads. It was designed by 21-year-old architect Thomas Alexander Tefft. This building was lost to fire in 1896 and was replaced by a larger Union Station, completed in 1898 by the New Haven Railroad. It consisted of five large brick structures, which still form the northern side of Kennedy Plaza in the center of Downtown Providence.
In 1986, the Northeast Corridor through Providence was relocated north to free up land from a mass of train tracks that had hemmed in downtown Providence. The new and smaller station, designed by Marilyn Taylor of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, was built across Gaspee Street from the Rhode Island State House. It is a simple building in the brutalist style, with a large square clocktower. The five tracks and two platforms are located below ground level underneath the station building. Local architectural historian William McKenzie Woodward lauded the building for its aesthetics, calling its saucer dome "an obvious yet very gracious gesture toward the State House".
Read more about this topic: Providence Station
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