Silver Lake, Providence, Rhode Island

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History:

Silver Lake is situated in the western part of Providence, bordered by the West End to the east, Olneyville to the northeast, Hartford to the north, the town of Johnston to the west, and the city of Cranston to the south. One of the most recently developed neighborhoods in Providence, Silver Lake underwent rapid urbanization beginning around the turn of the century and continuing for approximately three decades.

Silver Lake was a rural area with sparse agricultural development throughout the 18th century and much of the 19th century. In 1710, the Plainfield Road was laid from Silver Lake to Plainfield, Connecticut. Soon thereafter, in 1720, the area's first settlers established King Farm. By the end of the century, several more families established farms in the area, primarily along the highway. While the Silver Lake settlement was part of Providence, its remote location allowed for very little involvement with the city. In fact, by the mid-1700s, a large portion of Silver Lake residents sought to secede from Providence. In 1759, the town of Johnston annexed Silver Lake, thus reinforcing its rural character for well into the next century. In fact, there is a now defunct dairy farm structure still standing on Lowell Avenue near Pocasset Avenue.

Industrial growth along the Woonasquatucket River Valley propelled the first wave of suburban residential development in Silver Lake. With the establishment of industry in the river valley during the mid-19th century, the residential area of Olneyville began to expand into the area's northeast section. This continuing addition of streets and houses gradually changed Silver Lake from a rural area into a suburban neighborhood. Developers attempted further residential construction during this same period, yet many of their proposed projects for suburbanization never proceeded beyond the planning stage. Perhaps this lack of coordination accounts for the fairly unorganized street pattern existing now.

While expansion from Olneyville and new development projects altered Silver Lake, improved transportation ultimately proved to be the driving force behind Silver Lake's suburbanization and eventual urbanization. The Plainfield Street trolley was completed in 1882, and additional trolley lines were soon developed along Union and Hartford Avenues. With this expansion of services, the entire area of Silver Lake underwent extensive residential development.

In 1898, this newly suburban area was finally re-acquired by the city of Providence from Johnston. In 1919, Providence expanded the size of its recent acquisition by annexing a section of Johnston's Neutaconkanut Hill. At this time, Providence's new neighborhood, formerly known as "the Annex," came to be called Silver Lake. Neutaconkanut Hill Park provides much needed open space for the western part of the city and includes hiking trails, basketball courts and baseball fields.

Development in Silver Lake began in the late 1800s, the heaviest building years were from the turn of the century to the Great Depression. During this period of growth, two distinct communities began to emerge in Silver Lake. One area, located in the northern part of Silver Lake in close proximity to the Olneyville and Hartford neighborhoods, became a lower middle class community. The other area, in the southern portion of Silver Lake near Cranston, developed as a community of single-family, middle-income homes.

Silver Lake has undergone few physical changes since the early part of this century. As with residential construction, Silver Lake's institutional growth, including churches, schools, and fire stations, was also confined to the early decades of the 20th century. Many area residents utilize the Silver Lake/Annex Community Center on Plainfield Street. St. Bartholomew's Church on Laurel Hill Avenue is also very important to the neighborhood.

Today, Silver Lake is a stable, densely settled urban neighborhood. Its large Italian population, with deep roots in the neighborhood's history, continues to be an important and influential community within Silver Lake. In 1990, more than 43 percent of Silver Lake residents claimed some Italian ancestry. Their presence is reflected in the restaurants and commercial establishments along Plainfield Street and Pocasset Avenue and during St. Bartholomew's Church Feast which takes place every summer at Neutaconkanut Park.

According to the 1990 census, 9,113 persons resided in Silver Lake, a slight increase from the 9,078 residents who called Silver Lake home in 1980. About 7 percent of Silver Lake's residents were Hispanic, 2.3 percent were Asian, and about 2 percent were African-American. More than half (57%) of the residents of age 25 or older were high school graduates.

One in four employed residents in Silver Lake worked in the manufacturing sector in 1990, a sharp drop from the nearly 40 percent who were employed in manufacturing in 1980. Professional services (21%) and retail trade (19%) were the next two largest sources of employment for Silver Lake residents in 1990. The employment rate in Silver lake in 1990 was slightly lower than the citywide average (8.9% version 9.2%).

Median family income in Silver Lake was $27,736, about two percent lower than the citywide median family income. Almost one in five persons in Silver Lake had an income below the poverty level in 1989, according to the census, and about 16 percent of all families were living in poverty. Silver Lake's youngest and oldest residents were more likely to be living in poverty in 1990 than in 1980. The poverty rate for children increased from 23.4 percent in 1980 to 30.9 percent in 1990; for persons 65 years and over, the poverty rate increased from 11.8 percent in 1980 to 19.5 percent in 1990.

Housing tenure in Silver Lake has changed over the past decade. The proportion of owner-occupied housing units declined from 41.2 percent to 36.9 percent between 1980 and 1990. About one in six housing units in Silver Lake is a single family unit, and most other structures house two to four families. Less than 5 percent of all housing units in Silver Lake are located in buildings with five or more housing units, reflecting the more suburban character of much of the neighborhood.

Though this neighborhood has few buildings which would qualify as historically significant, the housing stock in Silver Lake is among the oldest in the city. More than three out of four housing units were built more than 40 years ago. This shows that Silver Lake developed later than other neighborhoods in the city but developed more rapidly and consistently than most.

The value of owner-occupied housing units in Silver Lake is about 17 percent lower than for the city as a whole. Median rents are about 6 percent higher in Silver Lake than the citywide median. Nearly six out of ten residents in Silver Lake moved to their present housing unit within the past five years according to the 1990 census.