Sometimes all we need to do to experience another era is to take a look at the photographs – of the people and of the buildings that represented it. These houses in Rhode Island give us just a glimpse into life back in the dawn of the 1940s. From tenaments to mansions, Rhode Island’s homes represented residents from all walks of life.

1. A wintery scene in Downtown Providence: Traffic passes a snow-capped home as flakes continue to tumble down in this snapshot from 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
2. A couple relaxes in their Foster, Rhode Island, home as they read the newspaper in 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
3. The wife of a government worker sits at her kitchen table, near the stove, in Johnston in 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
4. While it might look like a cozy home, the building featured in this 1940 photograph is Kenyon’s Flour Mill in Usquepaugh.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
5. Clothes sway in the breeze as they dry outside of company housing in Ashton in 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
6. Children walk along the river’s shore in Woonsocket. Local homes sit in the background.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano

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7. Smoke billows behind the homes in Woonsocket in 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
8. A snapshot of tenement housing in Woonsocket, housing that usually housed the poor and typically offered few amenities. Many were rundown and lacked basic necessities like indoor plumbing.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
9. A child sits at what appears to be a kitchen table in Portsmouth in 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
10. A snowy scene in Ashton. Snow-capped company houses sit flanked by bare trees in this photo from 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
11. A gate leads to one of Newport’s opulent mansions in 1940.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
12. A waterfront home on Low Lane in Bristol is pictured sometime in the 1940s.
Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
13. The Fayerweather House in Kingston is pictured in 1940.
Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

What do you remember of Rhode Island in the 1940s? If you weren’t here yet, do you remember stories from your parents or grandparents? Share in the comments! Ready to turn the pages of time back even further? Check out these photos from Rhode Island in the 1920s.

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