Orange Street Livery Stable

Orange Street Livery Stable The building shown in last Friday’s image from an early issue of Providence Magazine was actually once sandwiched in between both Orange and Dorrance Streets amongst several businesses and shops.  At one time, it sat opposite the Narragansett Hotel and kitty-corner (nearly parallel) to the Providence Opera House as can be seen in this map from 1889 where it has been plainly labeled as ‘Livery’.

1900 Sanborn Map

As the label and caption from the photograph suggest, this building functioned primarily as a livery stable;  it was a place where patrons could keep their horses and it’s not unrealistic to assume that patrons may have even once been able to hire horses from here as well.  The livery stable is a fantastic visual representation of some of the many more architecturally simplistic and purely functional structures quite common of colonial Providence.  Unfortunately, the building was most likely demolished sometime before 1920 to make way for a new structure which would serve a more modern purpose as a parking garage for the Narragansett Hotel. 

The garage which replaced the stable was built of brick and concrete and has an entrance directly on Dorrance Street.  Although significantly altered, it still stands today and remains as the oldest automobile parking garage in the city of Providence.