Once again, Providence is in the news and this time, a travel writer from the Huffington Post wrote about our city’s once underground water ways. This is a cool angle.

Writer Malerie Yolen-Cohen brought attention to the fact that Providence was once called the “Beehive of Industry” before the Great Depression and the famous 1938 Hurricane. And by the 1970’s, city officials decided to take action by uncovering downtown rivers that was once underneath city roads, all in an effort to revitalize the city’s spirit.

FUN FACT: Providence began rebranding itself as the nation’s “Creative Capitol” in the 1990’s.

However, this cute history intro quickly went into a list of landmark places in Providence, such as RISD, Federal Hill Italian Bakeries, and the Providence Ghost Tours. Not sure how the intro ties into the latter, but it’s a nice gesture nonetheless.

If there’s anything relevant in her article, it would be the mentioning of Captain Tom’s Providence River Boat Company Tours.

Here a tourist (and local native) will be able to get a better understanding of the Providence River and city planning. For instance, did you know that downtown Providence was once referred to as the “Great Salt Cove”? Yes, downcity was in fact a huge marsh that was filled up. According to an online journal by the University of Rhode Island, about 60% of our state’s salt marshes have been filled up with mud and sand.

All jokes aside, the Providence River and harbor do contribute to our international reputation, of being an eclectic culmination of academics, artists, food enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and unemployed citizens. And there’s only a few times out of the year that we all gather in once place: Waterfire.