Manton

The Manton neighborhood is located in the northwest quadrant of Providence. It is bordered by the towns of North Providence to the north, the town of Johnston to the west, and the neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant to the east, Olneyville to the southeast, and Hartford to the southwest. The Woonasquatucket River forms the western boundary for Manton. Manton Avenue is the major commercial artery in the neighborhood, running from Olneyville Square to the adjacent town of Johnston and eventually reaching the town of North Providence. The intersection of Manton Avenue and Fruit Hill Avenue is the transportation and retail hub of the area.

The first white settlers to the area were almost exclusively farmers. Like Hartford on the other side of the Woonasquatucket River, Manton remained a rural, agricultural region throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One of the original owners during this period was Edward Manton, who established his homestead in 1683. By the time his grandson was in his 20s, the Manton family owned a huge tract of land which today bears their name.

Although the area of Manton was primarily used for farming, the proximity of the Woonasquatucket River fostered some industry. During the late 18th and early 19th century in Manton and Olneyville, farmers used to tan the hides of animals for shoes and consequently established several tanneries in Olneyville along the banks of the Woonasquatucket River.

The rural atmosphere and the rolling hills of the Manton area also provided the ideal location for the establishment of vacation homes. The Fruit Hill area, named for the hills that were filled with cherry orchards, was one of the more popular locations for retreats during the summer. A stagecoach inn originally called the Thayer Tavern House and later called Fruit Hill Hotel as one of the earliest establishments where one could take summer vacations. In 1835, the hotel was converted into a school, Fruit Hill Seminary. After the first year, the school changed its name to Fruit Hill Classical Institute. Twenty-six years later in 1862, the school was demolished. Now, this area is marked by the presence of Rhode Island College, a public, four-year institution.

In the first decades of the 19th century, the rural character of the Manton neighborhood began to change. Taking advantage of the water power provided by the Woonasquatucket River, early industrialists constructed textile mills in Manton. The Manton mill began operations in 1827, while the Dyer Mill was built three years later at 610 Manton Avenue. The workers at these early mills lived in company housing built west of Manton Avenue.

Industrial development and population growth accelerated in Manton as transportation improved. Railroad lines originating east of Manton in Olneyville and running to the center of Providence facilitated the transportation of goods and people between the neighborhood and the rest of the city. By the end of the 19th century, sections of Manton neighborhood had become heavily industrial. This industrial base remained until World War II when the textile industry declined heavily and most of the large plants closed or moved operations elsewhere.

The closing of textile plants encouraged the exodus of Manton's working-class from the neighborhood to the suburbs. In 1953, the city built Manton Heights, a 330 unit housing project, as part of its program to provide public housing to residents in Providence. The addition of a large public housing project, actually located near Manton Avenue in Olneyville but next to the Manton neighborhood border, may have contributed to flight of working class whites out of Manton. During the 1970s, Manton lost 15 percent of its population, and the price of single-family homes declined.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Manton Heights public housing complex had fallen into disrepair. During the same period, the Manton-Fruit Hill Neighborhood Association made active efforts to promote neighborhood organization and neighborhood participation in encouraging improvements. The association meets at the St. Thomas Church on Fruit Hill Avenue. Since 1893, St. Thomas has been a neighborhood landmark and one of Manton's key institutions.

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