William Hamilton
banner
waham.bsky.social
William Hamilton
@waham.bsky.social
Managing editor at Providence Business News. Ex-ProJo staffer. Often posting on quirky, little-noticed stuff in the Biggest Little State, as well as local real estate development, architecture, history and business. I ride bikes.
New but unfinished bike path along Kingsley Ave. and the Woonasquatucket River in Providence. Kingsley no longer a two way street.
August 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Afternoon thunderstorm rolling through Providence today…
July 25, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Downed trees along the East Bay Bike Path, including this that requires riders to carry their bikes over the trunk just south of the Squantum Club
July 5, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Long before "Cooler and Warmer" and "All That," Rhode Island's tourism and economic development slogan in 1960...
June 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Maybe the strangest named place in R.I. that doesn't exist anymore:

Starve Goat Island

In the 20th century, landfill on the Providence River made the island disappear. At one time, that area had the most productive oyster beds in the East.

Save the Bay HQ sits where Starve Goat Island was.
June 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Providence life hack No. 97:

If you like cherries, now is the time to pick some fresh ones at Davis Park. There are about 5 trees that have beautiful cherries. Just leave some for others.
June 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
A hot day in early summer and Dari Bee is closed in Riverside Square. Is there any hope?
June 23, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Things you notice in Providence on a beautiful Friday commute home: that ugly chainlink fence at India Point is finally gone. The work is complete, I think…
June 21, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Protesters on the move up Empire St. in Providence at 6:40 pm tonight…
June 9, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Protest outside Providence’s Doorley Municipal Building on Empire St. at about 6 pm today…
June 9, 2025 at 10:16 PM
5 years ago today, downtown Providence businesses boarded up, fearing a repeat of widespread vandalism, looting that had happened a few nights earlier after George Floyd's death. So much plywood that Westminster St. smelled like a Home Depot.
June 4, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Snapping turtle finds its place in the sun along the Blackstone River Bikeway in Lincoln. They can live 50 years or more. This guy is maybe middle-aged, and he looked at me like, 'Just try to move me. I'll take your finger off.'
May 1, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Was a little surprised to see The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg appear on "Meet the Press" today with the Providence skyline over his right shoulder. What brings him to R.I. today?
March 30, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by William Hamilton
Wow, the Washington Bridge debacle hits the big time, kinda. My favorite engineering YouTube channel, Practical Engineering, has profiled the project for its 4.28M subscribers, giving a shoutout to another engineering youtuber Casey Jones, who has been all over it www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL5N...
This Bridge’s Bizarre Design Nearly Caused It To Collapse
YouTube video by Practical Engineering
www.youtube.com
March 19, 2025 at 1:48 AM
The 195 District Commission tonight selected the Design Center Partners plan for Parcel 5 in Providence... Initial proposal: 200 residential units (5% workforce) 50,000sf Art & Design Center, "porous, walkable arrangement with both exterior storefronts and an inner pedestrian street."
March 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
When I was very young, I was convinced the president of the United States lived in Bristol at Guiteras Junior High (now an elementary school). After all, the road to it had a red, white and blue center stripe. It had to be the White House. I hear the school will be closing for good in June.
March 11, 2025 at 8:13 PM
You can literally see the Providence Journal printing press in action from the street...
March 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
PBN's Katie Castellani checked into R.I.-related lease cancellations by DOGE and had to break the news to a landlord and a NOAA employee that apparently they'd be leaving Port of Galilee in Narragansett. pbn.com/federal-comm...
Federal commercial real estate cancellations surprise R.I. landlords
PROVIDENCE – Mary Sadlier was surprised when she opened an email from the General Services Administration last week. The agency informed Sadlier the federal government was canceling the lease for 1,55...
pbn.com
March 5, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Some R.I.-Canada exporting info put out by the Canadian Consulate in Boston last year with the tagline 'Friends, Partners, Allies' ... I believe scrap metal accounts for the biggest portion of that $487M
March 4, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The center line on Smith St. in Providence has now been painted in Irish colors ahead of the St. Patrick's Day parade this weekend. I don't recall ever seeing this done before on Smith St. in Elmhurst and Smith Hill.
March 4, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The endless tangle of Lincoln Woods’ capillaries on a late Sunday winter afternoon.
February 24, 2025 at 2:12 AM
That grassy plot behind Trader Joe's in Providence is going to stay that way for the foreseeable future because a $70M project anchored by BankRI's new HQ has been halted... pbn.com/plans-for-70...
February 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM
The developer for Parcel 14/15 along Providence River has submitted reworked plans (left) for a 214-unit apartment building. (The ghostly white buildings are a future phase) The old 198-unit plans are on the right. Thoughts?

pbn.com/i-195-commis...
February 18, 2025 at 12:04 AM
My Valentine's Day message to the Washington Bridge:

(In fairness, the backup visible on the DOT cam right now is from a crash on the Iway bridge but still it is a hard pass...)
February 14, 2025 at 11:41 PM