Providence Harborwalk at Fox Point and India Point No. 10 - "Sails to Rails 1835: Providence's First Train Station" - Providence, Rhode Island - Rhode Island Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The historical marker Sails to Rails 1835: Providence's First Train Station is Number 10 of 12 points along the Providence Harborwalk at Fox Point and India Point. Paired with the No. 9 marker "Tockwotton and the Indiamen", it is west of the playground at India Point Park in Providence, Rhode Island. Of the two, this is the informational plaque which faces east toward the playground.

The framed marker is mounted with four iron straps between a pair of wood pylons. The display is on the north side of a paved path. A map at the top of the plaque shows and lists the dozen stops encompassed by the self-guided tour.

Topics covered include industry and commerce, railroads, and waterways and vessels. The large marker is about three feet wide and five feet tall. An archival photograph - a circa 1835 railroad carriage modeled after a stagecoach; two drawings - an 1840s elevated view of India Point along with the steamboat the Providence (built 1832); and an 1875 map showing the location of the Providence Warren & Bristol Railroad Station - accompany the text:

SAILS TO RAILS 1835: PROVIDENCE'S FIRST TRAIN STATION

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, while the China Trade was waning, pressure was increasing to find better ways to travel between Providence and coastal cities. A typical stagecoach journey took between five and six hours from Boston to Providence. Sailing packet ships ventured the long and sometimes stormy route to Boston around the arm of Cape Cod. It wasn't until 1830 that the first scheduled railroad passenger service in the country began in Charleston, South Carolina. Railroad development got under way in Rhode Island shortly thereafter. Trains began running between Boston and Dedham in June 1834, and by 1835, a railroad bridge built over the Seekonk River extended the track to India Point, where a depot and wharves were constructed. From there, passengers Did board steamboats to New York and other coastal cities as distant as Chesapeake Bay.

The next link in the system was the rail line connecting Providence and Stonington, which avoided the voyage by boat and the treacherous waters at Point Judith. The Stonington Line entered Providence in 1837. Its tracks ran up along a causeway to Hill's Wharf at Crary Street, off of what today is Allens Avenue. Through-passengers connected by ferry to the Boston & Providence depot at India Point. In 1848, Providence & Worcester Railroad constructed Union Station, which at the time was the largest passenger station in America The Stonington and Boston lines could now be united, thus relegating India Point to a secondary role of accommodating East Bay passengers and handling marine freight.

The Providence, Warren & Bristol Railroad opened in 1855 to connect the city with those living in East Bay. At first, teams of horses pulled railroad cars from Union Depot to locomotives waiting at India Point. Two years later the company built its own station on India Street at the foot of Benefit Street where passengers could take the horse car line into downtown. India Point's role as a transit hub ended in 1908, when a mile long tunnel under the East Side was completed, allowing East Bay trains direct access to Union Station.

Organization that Placed the Marker: Not listed Year Marker was Placed: Not listed Related Website: Not listed

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