The Arcade Providence, America’s First Indoor Mall (1828)

Westminster Arcade, Providence, RI — Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Arcade in downtown Providence, formally the Westminster Arcade, opened in 1828 and is considered the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States. It runs straight through the block from 130 Westminster Street to 65 Weybosset Street, a short walk from PPAC.

Who built the Arcade?

Cyrus Butler, a Providence merchant, developed it as a business venture. The architects were Russell Warren and the firm of Tallman & Bucklin, who modeled it on the glass-roofed shopping arcades of European cities: a lane of shops lit by skylights, in the Greek Revival style.

Why was it called “Butler’s Folly”?

Because at first nobody came. In 1828 most of the city’s shopping was east of the Providence River, and the Arcade sat on the far side. It took years, and a fashionable hat shop opening next door, before Westminster Street turned into the downtown shopping district it became.

A few things worth knowing

In June 1843, President John Tyler stopped at the Arcade on a New England tour and reportedly shook hands with 5,000 people.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
After decades of decline it was restored and reopened in 1980, closed again in 2008, and reopened in October 2013 with micro-loft apartments upstairs and shops on the ground floor.

Seeing it today

You can walk through from Westminster to Weybosset Street. It’s on the way to a show at the Downcity theaters, and close to the restaurants on our Providence restaurants list.

Sources: Wikipedia, Westminster Arcade.

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