PROVIDENCE – The Providence Preservation Society has placed four so-called “Resistance Houses” on the city's South Side at the top of its 2026 Most Endangered Places list released Tuesday that for the first time also includes Providence Place mall.
The four late 19th- and early 20th-century houses sit on the edges of a large asphalt parking lot at the Rhode Island Hospital campus. One of the four homes was listed for sale two weeks ago and is already under contract. A fifth was demolished between 2011 and 2014.
“South Providence residents have fought hard for their neighborhood for decades, and continue to do so today," said society Executive Director Marisa Angell Brown. "The Resistance Houses symbolize both struggle and resilience, and their precarity speaks to the challenges facing this neighborhood as a whole, which will see more redevelopment over the next decade than at any other time since the urban renewal era and the expansion of Rhode Island Hospital that followed."
[caption id="attachment_515430" align="alignleft" width="300"]
21-23 GAY ST., built in 1918, is one of five “Resistance Houses” in Upper South Providence that just topped Providence Preservation Society’s Most Endangered Places List of 2026. / COURTESY OF KEATING ZELENKE, PROVIDENCE PRESERVATION SOCIETY[/caption]
PPS noted that the listing highlights the broader issue of displacement in historically Black neighborhoods, citing a May 2025 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition documenting a nationwide trend. The properties at 189-191 Dudley Street, 21-23 Gay Street, 78 Pearl Street, 162-164 Prairie Avenue are referred to by some as Resistance Houses because of the survival in the face of private and institutional expansion.
Providence Place mall was listed for the first time due to financial challenges that could put its future at risk.
The mall was placed in receivership in 2024. The 1,400,000-square-foot shopping complex opened in 1999, but as brick-and-mortar stores continue to collapse under the reign of online shopping, Providence Place has joined the countless malls throughout the country struggling to survive, PPS said.
PPS also reaffirmed support for exploring a public authority to preserve the historic Crook Point Bascule Bridge.
Providence Public Schools also appeared on the 2026 Most Endangered Places list, marking the 31st listing for either the district or an individual PPSD school since 1994. The preservation society cited the need to explore adaptive reuse or alternative uses when historic school buildings can no longer meet educational needs.
Seven schools scheduled for demolition between 2022 and 2027 account for roughly 625,000 square feet, which PPS said could be repurposed for nearly 700 housing units.
“School-to-housing conversions are on the rise in other cities and towns: it’s time for more creative and sustainable thinking here in Providence,” Brown said.
Other sites on the list include the Industrial Trust Building (1928) and the Cranston Street Armory (1907), grouped as “Providence Icons” to underscore the need for preservation of both landmarks.
PPS also highlighted rapid redevelopment in the 02908 ZIP code, driven by corporate landlords in Elmhurst, Smith Hill, and Wanskuck, noting ownership concentration by entities such as the 02908 Club/Amicus Property, Strive, D&D Realty, and Green Light around Providence College.
The PPS Most Endangered Places list is published annually to draw attention to structures and neighborhoods of architectural, historic, or cultural significance under threat, guiding the organization’s advocacy and policy priorities for the year.
Providence Preservation Society’s Most Endangered Places List of 2026 can be
found online here.
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
