Editing Providence, Kentucky (section)

==History==
In 1820, Richard B. Savage arrived from Virginia with his wife and his elder sister Mary (Savage) Settler, and opened a general store on the site of the present city. The community that grew up was known as '''Savageville''', until the post office was established in 1828, when it was renamed "Providence". Though sometimes said to honor the [[Rhode Island]] [[Providence, Rhode Island|city of that name]],<ref name=enky>{{cite book |title=''Encyclopedia of Kentucky''|chapter=Dictionary of Places: Providence |publisher=Somerset Publishers |location=[[New York, New York|New York]] |year=1987 |isbn=0-403-09981-1}}</ref> local history records that an old trader who had been helped by nearby farmers suggested the name to honor [[divine Providence]].<ref name=ren>Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&pg=PA244 p. 244] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216123914/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Lac2FUSj_oC&pg=PA244 |date=2017-02-16 }}. University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987. Accessed 27 September 2013.</ref> On February 18, 1840,<ref name=sos/> the town had a population of 150; there were three physicians, five stores, two hotels, a school, a Baptist church, a [[Freemasons|Masonic]] lodge, and three tobacco stemmeries. Located in the heart of the state's [[Black Patch Tobacco Wars|Black Patch]] tobacco-growing region, Providence eventually became the 3rd-largest stemming market in all of America.<ref name=webster>"[http://www.webstercountyky.com/providence.php Providence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119143616/http://www.webstercountyky.com/providence.php |date=2008-11-19 }}," Webster County website.  Accessed: 1 November 2018.</ref>

Providence was incorporated in 1860, when Webster County was formed.<ref name=sos/> The onset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] slowed the economic growth, though no major battles took place. The State of Kentucky never left the Union, but inhabitants in Western Kentucky were still largely sympathetic to pro-[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/kentucky-in-the-civil-war-1861-1862.html|title=StackPath}}</ref> A [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] reconnaissance and foraging party led by then [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] passed through Webster County between November and December 1861, and Forrest reported that he had been welcomed by the inhabitants.<ref name=webster/> Limited [[guerrilla]] warfare also took place near the city in 1862.

Commercial coal mining began in 1888, and by 1930 Providence residents numbered 4,742. In the 1930s, depressed conditions in the coal fields resulted in a loss of population that continued through the 1960s. Providence's economy remains tied to coal and agriculture.<ref name=webster/>

In 1993, the [[Providence Commercial Historic District]] was created to recognize the historic buildings in the downtown area.<ref>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=93000042}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Providence Commercial Historic District |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Lynn David |date=April 1, 1992 |accessdate=April 2, 2018}} With {{NRHP url|id=93000042|photos=y|title=nine photos from 1991}}.</ref>