What's in a Name?
Welcome to Providence's Historic Jewelry District, and long may the name remain.
That's never a sure thing around here. Not long ago, the JDA waged a successful campaign to fight off the forces massing behind renaming us "The Knowledge District." Just imagine the JDA changing its name to The Knowledge District Association.
We recently welcomed a brand new restaurant that opened on Richmond Street proudly calling itself The District. That's pretty clear, and as far as we are concerned the word "Jewelry" is understood, just silent, like the "p" in "psychiatrist".
As the Providence Journal pointed out in a brief business note on December 30, 2016:
I-195 land has had many names
Every governor wants to put his or her stamp on economic development by renaming the former I-195 land and surrounding area in downtown Providence. Gov. Gina Raimondo's administration dubbed the land the Providence Innovation & Design District last January. The name has been more in use in recent weeks, starting when Raimondo announced the deal in which Wexford Science & Technology will build an innovation center on the land.
During Gov. Donald Carcieri's administration, the name Knowledge District was popular, based on the idea that the jobs of the future would be built on brain power. The first I-195 Commission, under Gov. Lincoln Chafee's tenure, marketed the land as "The Link," indicating development there would link together previously separated parts of the city.
But for decades before those names surfaced, the area was called the Jewelry District — when Providence was the center of the costume jewelry industry and many companies were located there. And before that, some people called the area the Old Harbor District because of its location on the waterfront.
So that's the story, but for us at the Jewelry District Association, our name speaks for itself.
And, in Providence, almost all roads lead to the Jewelry District.
That's never a sure thing around here. Not long ago, the JDA waged a successful campaign to fight off the forces massing behind renaming us "The Knowledge District." Just imagine the JDA changing its name to The Knowledge District Association.
We recently welcomed a brand new restaurant that opened on Richmond Street proudly calling itself The District. That's pretty clear, and as far as we are concerned the word "Jewelry" is understood, just silent, like the "p" in "psychiatrist".
As the Providence Journal pointed out in a brief business note on December 30, 2016:
I-195 land has had many names
Every governor wants to put his or her stamp on economic development by renaming the former I-195 land and surrounding area in downtown Providence. Gov. Gina Raimondo's administration dubbed the land the Providence Innovation & Design District last January. The name has been more in use in recent weeks, starting when Raimondo announced the deal in which Wexford Science & Technology will build an innovation center on the land.
During Gov. Donald Carcieri's administration, the name Knowledge District was popular, based on the idea that the jobs of the future would be built on brain power. The first I-195 Commission, under Gov. Lincoln Chafee's tenure, marketed the land as "The Link," indicating development there would link together previously separated parts of the city.
But for decades before those names surfaced, the area was called the Jewelry District — when Providence was the center of the costume jewelry industry and many companies were located there. And before that, some people called the area the Old Harbor District because of its location on the waterfront.
So that's the story, but for us at the Jewelry District Association, our name speaks for itself.
And, in Providence, almost all roads lead to the Jewelry District.
