Johnston Historical Society

06/04/2026

Is anyone available tomorrow morning around 9:30 to help us finish cleaning up JN016, Atwood Avenue next to the Recreation Building?

05/30/2026

Many pass by JN016 daily and don't realize it, it is located next to the Recreation Center on Atwood Ave near the new traffic light. The Daniel Thornton lot is a lovely shady family cemetery. During the winter many large branches fell. We were fortunate that only one stone was damaged. It is a large marble that we will repair once the tree is cut up and moved. We plan to return to that lot on Friday, June 5 at 9:30 AM. Is anyone available to rake, weedwack, and drag the leaves into the deeper woods outside of the granite posts?

05/26/2026

Historical Advertising:

Friendly Fruit and Deli, 681 Killingly Street. From the Providence Journal, February 12, 1981.

This little market seems to have only been in business from 1977 to 1982 (or at least, those are the years in which ads appeared in the Journal). PMA Industries, "an integrated technology and production company... specializ[ing] in professional audio, video, lighting, staging and technology services including systems design, sales, installation, service and rentals" occupies the address today.

05/26/2026

Acquisitions and Items from our Collections:

An exhibit we've put together of photos and ephemera related to the Johnston High School Class of 1963.

05/14/2026

05/14/2026

On nice days we work, on rainy days, we research. This lot was extremely overgrown in 2015, it was on our "someday" list because we knew it would take all summer to rehab. JN07, also known as the "Cedar Lot" is on George Waterman Rd/Vacca Street. No, nobody is buried in the crypt along the road. We were contacted by a group from Citizens Bank in 2017 who offered to help us clear the lot. We jumped at the offer. Once cleared, there was a year's worth of repair work to be done. We got it done! Once cleared and repaired, however, these lots must be maintained. A group of us raked and blew leaves for a few hours the other day. Next, the grass and thorny green stuff will try once again to take over and must once again be thwarted. For more photos on just how bad this lot was, see the first comment.

05/13/2026

05/09/2026

From Images of America: Johnston (1997):

“St. Peter's, an English-style, stone church was built in 1855 on the northern end of Killingly Street from plans by noted Rhode Island architect Thomas Tefft. Pictured here about 1915, it replaced an earlier wood-frame structure built in 1846 and still standing across the street. The stone church burned in 1972, but the congregation joined with St. Andrew's in Providence and still exists.“

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12/26/2025

Historical Advertising:

Ceramic City, 87 Putnam Pike. From the Providence Journal, January 9, 1976.

It appears Ceramic City moved a few times, then went out of business around 2008. 87 Putnam Pike is now the home of the Johnston Child Care Center.