Providence Parks

History

As drafted by Providence Resident Steven Coon:

This 1.2 acre fenced playground and gardens, known colloquially as “the baby park,” was created through a gift to the city of Providence in July 1917 by Mrs. Josephine E. Potter in memory of her daughter Gladys. The two stone tablets set into the brick and stone columns that frame the entrance to the park, anchoring its wrought-iron gates, provide the basic facts:

• “The Gladys Potter Garden/ December 4, 1883/ November 16, 1891”
• “This garden was given by a mother in loving memory of her little girl who loved this spot and who used to walk here with her father when it was a part of an attractive ravine/ MCMXX”

Gladys Arnold Potter was born in Providence to Isaac Mathewson Potter, a descendant of Roger Williams, a Civil War veteran and a prominent manufacturing jeweler, and Josephine Elizabeth (Arnold) Potter. Gladys was their only child, born when Mr. Potter was 50 and Mrs. Potter was 36 years old. Little is known today of the life of Gladys Potter. In 1886, the family moved to 211 Hope Street. She would have witnessed the completion, in 1888, of the Lyman Klapp House next door at 217 Hope. On walks with her father, she would have seen some of the houses on Humboldt Avenue—but many were not yet built. Gladys passed away in her home before she turned eight; her cause of death was diagnosed uncertainly as either typhoid fever or acute tuberculosis.

The Providence Atlas of 1882 shows a pond or spring at the northeast corner of the intersection of Humboldt and Wayland Avenues, and the traces of a stream that flows eastward to the Seekonk River: the “ravine” named in the stone tablet. Elton Street had not yet been built. A photograph taken in late fall 1911 confirms the continued presence of the ravine, and Elton Street has now appeared in Providence atlases. By March 1919, the area designated for the park had been filled in and graded. In 1920, landscaping was completed and the park was formally dedicated and opened to public use.

Mrs. Potter’s gift to establish and maintain the park was substantial: about $15,000 ($250,000 in current dollars) for the land and landscaping costs, plus $10,000 ($160,000 today) provided in her will as an endowment for the maintenance of the park. Mrs. Potter described this gift in her daughter’s memory as the “fulfillment of a long cherished ambition,” and expressed the hope that “this parcel of land shall be a place of beauty and satisfaction to the neighborhood and a place where persons interested in such things may stop and rest and enjoy the beauty of the flowers and the cultivated garden which will be established here.”

In her will, Mrs. Potter left more than $660 thousand (today over $8.4 million) to the Rhode Island Hospital to establish a building in memory of her daughter and husband. The Potter Building is still operating at Rhode Island Hospital; and in a lobby of the hospital’s Davol Building is a bronze plaque that commemorates the original gift, and a large oil portrait of little Gladys Potter.

Recent Improvements

• Minor play equipment upgrades coming in 2027.
• Play tower for ages 5-12, picnic area, and new benches installed 2019.
• Redeveloped 5700 sf playground use zone featuring native Robinia wood play elements and open space for creative play and exploration, recommended for ages 2-5 in 2017.

Walking Path

A trip around the perimeter loop of the park measures approximately 0.12 mi. Popular for tricycles, balance bikes, and scooters. Please do not leave these at the park.