The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
Prior to 19th century
1635 – Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 1636 – Providence founded by Roger Williams a religious reformer. 1638 – Baptist congregation formed. 1643/44 - "Received a charter from the Parliamentary Government". 1675 — Narragansetts and white settler-colonists battle during the King Philip's War 1676 — March 29: Narragansett warriors led by Canonchet burn about fifty houses, including Roger Williams' house, as part of King Philip's War 1683 — Roger Williams dies 1700 – North Burial Ground established 1711 – First burial at North Burial Ground 1743 - Beneficent Congregational Church congregation founded. 1753 – Providence Library Company organized. 1762 State House built. William Goddard sets up printing press; Providence Gazette newspaper begins publication. 1764 – College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations established in Warren. 1768 – Brick Schoolhouse built on Meeting Street. 1770 – College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations relocated to Providence. 1774 - Rhode Island Supreme Court founded. 1775 – Market House and First Baptist Meetinghouse built. 1776 – 1777: Colonial and French troops use University Hall as a barracks and hospital during the American Revolutionary War 1784 — January: Flooding on the Moshassuck River caused the greatest damage seen since the burning of the town during King Philip's War 1785 – Beneficent Congregational Society established. 1788 John Brown House built. de Warville describes the town as "decayed". 1789 Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers Providence Society for Abolishing the Slave-Trade established. 1790 U.S. Custom House established. Population: 6,380. 1791 - October: Providence Bank on South Main Street incorporated; later known as Providence National Bank, Providence Union Bank and Trust Company, Industrial National Bank, and FleetBoston Financial. 1793 - The first covered drawbridge is built over the Seekonk River where the Washington Bridge currently stands, followed the same year by the Central Bridge farther north. 1794 – Serril Dodge opens his first jewelry store on North Main Street, thus beginning Providence's jewelry industry 1795 – Theatre opens. 1798 – Providence Marine Society established.
19th century
1800 — Population: 7,614. 1801 January 21 — The first "Great Fire" destroys 37 buildings and leaves many families homeless Providence Marine Corps of Artillery founded. 1802 – Providence Phoenix newspaper begins publication. 1805 — Providence streets receive official names for the first time 1810 Cathedral of St. John built. Population: 10,071. 1814 - Union Bank of Providence founded. 1815 - September 23: The Great Gale of 1815 causes extensive damage and flooding. 1816 - October 13: The First Congregational Church (Unitarian) dedicated, now known as First Unitarian Church. 1818 – Rhode Island Peace Society and Merchants Bank established. 1819 New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School opens. The Congdon Street Baptist Church is founded as the first independent Black church in the stat 1820 - January 3: The Manufacturers' & Farmers' Journal, Providence & Pawtucket Advertiser begins publication, precursor to The Providence Journal. 1822 - Rhode Island Historical Society founded. 1823 April — The first ordinance passed requiring snow removal from sidewalks within 24 hours after falling Providence Franklin Society incorporated. 1824 The first city directory issued Race riot in Hard Scrabble August 23 — Lafayette visited Providence for the first time since the Revolutionary War to great acclaim The Franklin Society a secret society based at Brown University founded. 1825 - May — the second "Great Fire" began at the corner of Union and Westminster Streets 1828 Dexter Asylum built. Westminster Arcade built. High Street Bank established. Herald newspaper begins publication. 1829 - The Providence Journal newspaper begins publishing daily. 1830 - "Providence had ceased to be a great port and had begun to be a textile manufacturing place". 1831 Boston and Providence Railroad begins operating. Race riot in Snow Town. Gorham Silver and Franklin Lyceum established. 1832 City incorporated. City government meets at Market House Samuel W. Bridgham elected first mayor. 1833 David Brown opens a shop on South Main Street that later becomes Brown & Sharpe Sylvester Graham Riot. 1835 – Train station and first India Point Railroad Bridge built. 1836 Providence Athenaeum formed. City hosts Rhode Island Anti-Slavery convention. 1838 Providence Association for the Benefit of Colored Children organized. Narragansett Boat Club organized. Solomon Pareira, first known Jewish resident of Providence, moves to the city from Holland 1839 – Providence Marine Corps of Artillery armory built. 1841/42 - Dorr Rebellion
1843 – Classical High School established. 1844 Butler Hospital for the Insane founded. Corliss, Nightingale & Co. in business. 1845 The City Council votes to prepare plans for a new City Hall Grace Church built. Laureldale Chemical Works established. 1846 Swan Point Cemetery established. Scholfield's Commercial College, a business college located downtown, established. A. T. Cross Company established. John Carter Brown Library established. 1847 Providence and Worcester Railroad begins operating Union Railroad Depot built Providence Tool Company established. 1848 Providence Medical Association instituted. B.B. and R. Knight, which later becomes Fruit of the Loom, established 1850 – Providence Reform School opens. 1852 Central Congregational Church established. Locust Grove Cemetery incorporated. 1853 Providence Young Men's Christian Union established Joseph Brown teams with Lucian Sharpe to form Brown & Sharpe 1854 A cholera pandemic sweeps the city, especially among crowded immigrants and workers. Local cemeteries see record numbers of burials. For the next 30 years, 1854 is remembered as "The Year of Cholera." Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad begins operating. Sons of Israel, city's first Jewish congregation established 1855 James Y. Smith becomes mayor. Providence Aid Society organized. U.S. Customshouse built. 1856 – Thomas Howland elected Warden of The Third Ward making him the first person of African heritage to hold office in the city 1860 - Population: 50,666. 1863 Bryant and Stratton National Business College (now Bryant University) opens a campus in Providence Rhode Island Hospital founded. 1865 Rhode Island Locomotive Works produced 3,400 steam locomotives until closed in 1899. Population: 54,595. 1866 - Providence receives state approval to tap the Pawtuxet River as a source of drinking water 1867 Young Women's Christian Association organized. Babcock & Wilcox founded. 1868 Rhode Island Hospital dedicated. Women's City Missionary Society organized. 1869 Morning Star newspaper begins publication. November: Prospect Terrace Park created. "1870s" – A sewer system is constructed which discharges city waste into the harbor. 1871 Roger Williams Park donated to the people of Providence by Betsy Williams Thanksgiving Day: Providence municipal water service begins, pumping water from the Pawtuxet River Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument dedicated. 1872 Roger Williams Park & Roger Williams Park Zoo founded. First Universalist Church built. First Point Street Bridge built. Construction begins on the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company Complex along the Woonasquatucket River Butler Exchange Building founded. 1874 - Cornerstone of City Hall was laid on June 24. 1876 – Rhode Island Women's Club established. 1877 Rhode Island School of Design and museum established. Providence County Court House dedicated. Grammar school built on Candace Street. 1878 Providence Grays baseball team formed; Messer Street Grounds baseball stadium built Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul completed. Providence City Hall opens on November 14. Providence Public Library opens. Homeopathic Hospital founded. 1880 – Providence Art Club incorporated. 1881 - Sayles Memorial Hall built. 1883 Providence Press Club formed. Providence Literary Association organized. 1884 Providence Lying-In Hospital founded. Providence Camera Club organized. October: The Providence Grays win baseball's 1884 World Series championship game 1885 Fleur-de-lys Studios built Providence Grays baseball team disbanded The Providence Journal begins publishing seven days per week. 1886 June 9: Thomas A. Doyle dies in office, Providence's longest-serving mayor (18 years). June 14: Providence businesses shut down as Mayor Doyle's funeral procession marches through the city. 1888 - City Hall was powered by electric lighting for the first time 1890 Providence's jewelry industry includes more than 200 firms with almost 7,000 workers Population: 132,146. 1891 Providence Athletic Association incorporated. The Outlet Company established. Providence News begins publication. 1892 Rhode Island College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts founded. First electric streetcar begins operation on January 20. 1893 – New edifice for Central Congregational Church completed. 1894 – Providence Engineering Society founded. 1896 – Providence Water Color Club organized. 1897 – Emma Goldman arrested for "open-air speaking" at Market Square. 1898 – Union Station rebuilt. 1900 Becomes the sole capital of Rhode Island. Population: 175,597.
20th century 1901 Providence's first sewage treatment plant begins "chemical precipitation" treatment of city waste, one of the first such plants in the US. Rhode Island State House built. 1903 — Manchester Street Power Station constructed. 1905 Handicraft Club organized. Population: 198,635. 1906 – Evening Tribune newspaper begins publication. 1907 – Annmary Brown Memorial museum dedicated. 1908 – Federal Building constructed. 1909 - Lincoln Woods State Park founded. 1910 – Population: 224,326. 1913 - Turk's Head Building constructed 1914 August – September: A series of civil disturbances known as the Macaroni Riots occur in Federal Hill, leading to 50 arrests and thousands of dollars in damages. September: Johnson & Wales School of Business was formed, later becomes known as Johnson & Wales University 1915 — Population of "city proper:" 247,660 (census of 1915) 1916 - June 3: 54,000 people march through downtown in a six and one-half hour parade in a show of support for Woodrow Wilson's war preparedness efforts. 1917 - October 14: A Silent Parade is held by 1,800 African-Americans in Providence as part of a national protest against racial violence. The New York Age, a black newspaper, reported that "the marchers were accorded every courtesy by the large throngs of white people." 1918 September: the first cases of Spanish flu are reported early this month; by the end of the month, over 2,500 influenza cases filled city hospitals. October 6: The Board of Health issues a general closure order to combat the influenza outbreak. October 3–9: The influenza epidemic reaches its peak, with over 6,700 cases reported. October 25: The closure order is rescinded. December: A second influenza wave hits the city, though smaller than in October. No general closure is ordered. 1919 January: The second influenza wave sweeps through the city's school system. February 5: No new cases of influenza are reported, and the pandemic is declared over. 1925 – Cycledrome opens, reportedly "the largest and fastest bicycle track in the United States." 1926 - Miriam Hospital opens. 1928 Construction finishes on the Industrial Trust Building ( "Superman Building"). February: Providence author H. P. Lovecraft publishes his most famous story The Call of Cthulhu in Weird Tales magazine