View up Westminster Street, circa 1890, past Hoppin Homestead Building, at right. (Courtesy of Providence Journal archives)
The other day I received an email from Edward Mack, an editor at The History Press, an imprint of Arcadia Publishing. You all know their books. The regional literature shelves of your local bookstore are struggling even now under the weight of one of History Press’s most popular series, Images of America. Old photos of a beloved location is a theme that sells many books. What Ed Mack has asked me to write is something different.
“Lost Hartford” (The History Press)
He revealed that he had visited my blog and read “Providence’s 10 best lost buildings,” from last year, which he said he thought could be fleshed out into a good book. He noted that they had a Lost Hartford but no Lost Providence. It sounded very intriguing to me. Anticipating Arcadia’s modern-day marketing strategies, I thought I’d post here a request for readers to suggest possible “best lost buildings” not mentioned in my original post, linked to above. Perhaps I could include several from readers, and mention them by name. Hey, Modern Internet Marketing 101! That sound okay, Ed?
So anyway, dear reader, click on the link to see what lost buildings I mentioned in my post and suggest one or more that I did not get to first. There are only 10 on the list. Scores if not hundreds of cherished structures have been lost but remain embedded in the memory of Rhode Islanders. So there must be wealth of opportunity for new best lost buildings of Providence out there. Any takers?
Architecture Here and There 
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How exciting! Congratulations on the opportunity. Unfortunately I don’t have any buildings to contribute to your list though!
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The original YMCA ca. 1887 by Gould & Young.
Clubhouse for the Narragansett Boat Club ca. 1883 by Gould & Young
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Excellent suggestions, Dan!!
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At least tonight they didn’t give RI Hospital the go ahead.
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Good, though I doubt that’s the end of it.
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Demo by intentional neglect. An art form here in R.I.!
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I don’t have an addition to your list, but I do have a story about one of your ten lost. About six months before the Police and Fire headquarters were torn down, I called the Providence Historic District Commission to warn them that a crew was stripping the copper flashing off the top of the walls. They hemmed and hawed. Six months later, the owner was given an emergency demolition permit because of the danger posed by the water infiltration into the walls. Surprise, surprise, surprise!
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