Providence, a booming city of the industrial revolution, was home to scores of successful industrial mills. Now, nearly two centuries later, many of the mills remain a significant part of the Providence landscape-abandoned, useless, and falling apart. Many of these currently under utilized mills, including National and Providence Worsted Mills of Olneyville, have recently been added to the National Registry of Historic Places, acknowledging their importance to the history of American cities. Renewed commercial interest in the mills has burgeoned of late, as private developers seek to turn these huge run-down spaces into mixed-income housing, artists' lofts, offices, and other commercial space. In many cities, revival of the mill spaces is strongly linked to the desire to redevelop downtown areas. Though some fear the increased gentrification of poorer urban neighborhoods, many mill revivals are promising new job sources, some opportunity for lower-income housing, and more commercial traffic to less developed areas. The National and Providence Worsted Mill, of which Rising Sun is a part, is undergoing such changes now.