What is it? 4 ft. tall cast iron object

[Sargeguy]

Standing on the sidewalk adjacent to the street in Wayland Square in Providence, RI is this rust old cast iron...thing.  I initially thought it was a hydrant or stand pipe, but the fixtures seem incorrect.  Anyone?

[dsk]

It reminds me of what was used in the Oslo Streets when people not had water in their houses, "water post"  Here they had an underground valve and a hole in the pipe to drain to reduce the risk of frost.  you may look at the pictures here:
https://lokalhistoriewiki.no/index.php/Oslos_vannforsyning

dsk

[Sargeguy]

Interesting.  I was also thinking it might have been attached to a trough for watering horses.

[dsk]

They still make them: http://hagefokus.no/hage/vannposter/klassisk-vannpost.html
dsk

[WEBellSystemChristian]

My dad says it looks like a turn-of-the-century railing post. That would explain the opening towards the bottom as well as the top.

[twocvbloke]

I'd say it's a standpipe or early hydrant that's missing it's fittings...

[NorthernElectric]

If there are any maker's marks on it, you could look it up on firehydrant.org before your rule that out.

[Sargeguy]

I'm leaning towards railing post.  I was driving by and pulled over to it, when I stuck my hand in the hole, my fingers hit the flat surface.  There is no hole for water or way of turning the water on.  This raises the question of why would there be a railing post on the sidewalk right on the curb. 

[NorthernElectric]

This raises the question of why would there be a railing post on the sidewalk right on the curb.

So I can tie up my horse?

[DavePEI]

Standing on the sidewalk adjacent to the street in Wayland Square in Providence, RI is this rust old cast iron...thing.  I initially thought it was a hydrant or stand pipe, but the fixtures seem incorrect.  Anyone?

Remnants of a hitching post.

[NorthernElectric]

Could also just be a bollard, like one of these at city hall.

[Bill]

Like Cliff, my first thought was a hitching post - an iron ring would have been mounted in the hole near the top in the third and fourth pictures. However, the second picture shows a similar hole near the base, so unless you have really short horses, that idea doesn't pan out. To me, this says a pair of fence rails, leading to another such post a few feet away. There would have been vertical balusters connecting the two rails. Why a fence at that spot? Could be any number of reasons, so I won't speculate. The fence could have been long, with several such sections - or short, with just one section.

Are there other holes in the other side of the post, the side away from the camera? Are there any better pictures? Is there any sign of other posts in the pavement or curbing?

Shorpy has a number of pictures of hose-and-buggy days in Providence, and many of them seem to have vertcial posts of various kinds.

Bill

[Sargeguy]

It looks good for a hitching post, although the remaining hitching posts in the neighborhood are a different style.  The only things that are inconsistent with hitching post are the two rail footings.  One is at the top, parallel to the street, the other is at the base of the post, at a right angle to the street facing inwards.  This might have been one for multiple horses, since it is a commercial area, and may have been more involved than it is now. 

[Sargeguy]

It could also have been some sort of trolley stop, there was trolley service on that street in the 1910s

[DavePEI]

It looks good for a hitching post, although the remaining hitching posts in the neighborhood are a different style.  The only things that are inconsistent with hitching post are the two rail footings.  One is at the top, parallel to the street, the other is at the base of the post, at a right angle to the street facing inwards.  This might have been one for multiple horses, since it is a commercial area, and may have been more involved than it is now.

We had an identical one in my Home town of Brockville left over from the old days. At the top was a heavy iron ring that one would tie your horse to. It is missing on this one.

I am sure the one in Brockville is long gone. In the 50s there was still a law on the books giving a horse owner a hefty fine if he didn't properly hitch his horse. That fact was often brought up in correlation to the post :-)

Dave