Designed in 1912 by Pawtucket-based architect R.C.N. Monahan, station #1 was the last of the city’s early fire stations that was still used for its original purpose—it remained functional until 2018. The six-pointed star, often associated with Judaism, is a curious detail. The symbol was used in alchemy to represent the elements of fire and water, and was also associated with freemasonry.

The Fifth Ward Wardroom, designed by William R. Walker & Son in 1886, was originally a polling place and meeting hall. It was later used as a school and the Henrietta I. Drummond Post of the American Legion before being converted into a single family residence. At the time of this building’s construction, Pawtucket was a newly incorporated city and had given up its town-meeting form of governance. This is one of only three extant wardrooms in Rhode Island—one other is the First Ward Wardroom on Fountain Street in Pawtucket, also designed by William R. Walker & Son.

In 1844, French speaking parishioners in Pawtucket asked Bishop Hendricken for permission to attend mass at the small chapel connected to the Woodlawn Home for the Aged until they could raise the funds for their own building. The parish trustees secured a loan in 1886 to finance construction of a small wooden chapel on Quincy Avenue (on land over which I-95 now runs).

By 1895, the congregation was fast outgrowing the small building and they again got a loan for a new building. The second building was completely destroyed by fire in 1918. The third and current building was designed in 1925 by Ernest Cormier of Montreal, and is very similar to Cormier’s Notre Dame De Guadalupe Church in Montreal.

The ceiling is decorated with artwork by Jean Desauliers and the stained glass windows depict paintings by Parisian artists. St. John the Baptist now conducts mass in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The convent building across the street is now a halfway house, and the school building no longer exists.

Jeanne Jugan, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, was born in France in 1792. Her father was lost at sea when she was 4 years old. To help her mother support the family, Jeanne left home to work in a hospital. For many years she lived in a small apartment and led a quiet life of piety and good works. On a winter night in 1839, she saw a blind, paralyzed, elderly woman out in the cold alone. Jeanne brought the woman home to care for her. Eventually, more elderly and destitute women were brought to her doorstep and volunteers came to help. By 1841 the group outgrew Jeanne’s small apartment and moved into a larger house. They began calling themselves the Servants of the Poor and in 1844 were officially named Sisters of the Poor. In 1849 the name Little Sisters of the Poor was adopted. In March 1881, five Little Sisters traveled from France to open a home for the elderly of Rhode Island. They lived for two years in Providence and moved to Pawtucket in 1883. The current building was constructed in 1978 and is still staffed by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Originally called Pawtucket West High School, Shea High was designed by architect John F. O'Malley and built in 1938-39 with funding from the Public Works Administration.

In 1977, the name of the school was officially changed to Charles E. Shea High School, after the popular principal and administrator. Shea served as principal from 1949 and 1959 and as superintendent for another 18 years.

Constructed in 1928 as a service station for a Ford auto dealer, the building was later leased to the Mobil Oil Company and named for its operator, Arthur J. Normand. Before 1915, gas stations were designed as utilitarian structures exhibiting little or no architectural elaboration. Around 1915, the bungalow or Prairie School style became the predominant form used by regional and national oil companies to establish their corporate images.

Later, exotic styles and novelty structures were used to “catch the eyes” of passing motorists. This practice was the antithesis of standardization, which has now taken hold. Rather than each individual station being uniquely designed, oil companies, like retail stores, restaurants, etc., have established their identities and branding through strict uniformity.

The Potter-Collyer House was built in 1863 as a one-and-a-half story timber-frame cottage with a gable roof, a style popular in Pawtucket during the mid-19th century. Subsequent additions and expansions (1877, 1895, 1902) added a two-story hip roof and significantly altered the floor plan, but the original Gothic bargeboards have remained. Elisha O. Potter, a machinist, built the house and four years later sold it to Samuel S. Collyer, who became the Chief of the Pawtucket Fire Department in 1874. The house was moved 400 feet from its original location on the west side of Pine Street in 1962 during the construction of I-95.

The house was built in 1878 for Theodore Waters Foster and was later sold in 1882 to George W. Payne (the son of aforementioned Charles Payne, and owner of G.W. Payne & Company). Born on May 19, 1847, Foster joined the Rhode Island Cavalry in 1863 and served in the American Civil War under Nathaniel P. Banks in the Red River Campaign. In 1873, he formed a jewelry manufacturing partnership on Chestnut Street in Providence named White, Foster & Company, which became major manufacturer of silver giftware such as jewelry, trays, pins, shoe horns, vanity sets, and desk accessories.