Market Square, Providence, Rhode Island

The colonists heaped a large pile of English tea in the center of the square, covering the mound with a barrel of tar and lighting it ablaze.

[4] As the commercial hub of colonial Providence, Market Square has been suggested as the likely site of slave sales, which constituted a significant portion of commerce in the 18th century city.

Historical references to slave sales in Providence suggest that these transactions traditionally occurred in private, commercial establishments rather than in a central, public space.

[9] The 1847 construction of Union Station effectively shifted the city's commercial center to Exchange Place in Downtown Providence.

[12] In July 1863, after the Enrollment Act established a national draft, a blindfolded official selected names of conscripted men from a wheel in Market Square.

[16] After jailing Goldman overnight, the Providence authorities ordered her to leave town within 24 hours, or else face three months imprisonment.

[19] In September 2023, a bronze sculpture of Providence artist Edward Mitchell Bannister by local sculptor Gage Prentiss was unveiled in Market Square.