Stone and terracotta office blocks from the 1900s to the 1920s, and the Arcade Underdog used for its kidnapping scene.
What Downtown Providence looks like
Westminster Street meets at a rounded stone corner, the Turk's Head Building's own flatiron shape, with a carved face set under the cornice and paired columns over the arched entrances below. A brick and cobblestone plaza follows the building's curved base. A few doors down, the Arcade's six Ionic columns front a Greek Revival hall that runs straight through the block to Weybosset Street, with iron balconies along both interior floors above the shops.
The 's limestone and granite tower rises twenty six storeys over , an Art Deco setback tower completed in 1928. Fire escapes spiral down several of the red brick and terracotta office buildings on the side streets nearby, most three to six storeys with cast stone cornices and ground floor storefronts.
The river runs along the district's east edge, crossed by a wooden pedestrian bridge and lined with cobblestone paths through . West of Fountain Street and Exchange Terrace, the stone office blocks give way to a run of glass and concrete towers. Brick sidewalks continue north on Westminster Street past storefronts that stay lit after dark, with string lights strung between the buildings near the Arcade.
Shot in Downtown Providence
For Underdog, these blocks stood in for the fictional Capital City. The production used the Turk's Head Building's rounded corner for a rescue scene and the Arcade for a kidnapping scene. Washington Street, near Kennedy Plaza, is where Underdog first discovers he can fly.
Underdog
Weybosset and Westminster Streets. The film's Capital City exteriors ran through the corner at Turk's Head Plaza and the Arcade two blocks up.
Underdog, 2007
The Turk's Head Building corner
Played Capital City, present day
The building's rounded stone corner sets a rescue scene in the film, its carved face and paired columns filling the frame above street level. The plaza in front is brick and cobblestone, with a fire hydrant and street lamps the only furniture at night. Street View
Underdog, 2007
The Westminster Arcade
Played Capital City, present day
The Arcade's colonnade on Westminster Street sets a kidnapping scene in the film, the six columns and the iron balcony above them filling the shot. A painted mural on the building across the street is visible at the edge of a wide frame. Street View
What Downtown Providence can double for
Ninth Square in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven's Ninth Square holds the same small grid of brick and stone commercial blocks from the 1890s through the 1920s, close to the scale of Providence's own 90 acre downtown grid. New Haven's blocks run wider and sit lower on average, so a tighter street level frame holds the match better than a wide one. Try searching brick and stone commercial blocks now.
Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester's Main Street holds early twentieth century office towers in granite and limestone at a height close to Providence's own blocks, the ten storey Slater Building from 1907 chief among them. Worcester's street is wider and has more overhead wire, so a frame that excludes the roadway centre holds the period better. Try searching granite and limestone towers now.
Court Square in Springfield, Massachusetts
Court Square in Springfield holds a compact grid of stone civic and commercial buildings, with the 300 foot Italianate campanile of the Municipal Group giving the square its own tall landmark the way the Industrial Trust tower does for Providence. Interstate 91 now runs between the square and the Connecticut River, so a riverfront angle needs a different vantage than Providence's own waterfront. Try searching italianate campanile civic square now.
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