Busy Manton Avenue is a mix of shops and single-family and multifamily houses.

Manton is one of the smallest neighborhoods in Providence, both in land area (less than one half of a square mile) and population (2,718, in 2000).

Its size, along with its location in the city’s northwest corner, bordering Johnston and North Providence, contribute to the fact that, as one resident put it, “we are a pretty forgotten part of Providence.”

It may be far from the center of town, but Manton is a former industrial area that faces many inner-city problems and issues. But neighborhood activists are working to revive Manton, a former mill community that is home to Rhode Island College.

According to Jen Zolkos, a longtime resident, the Manton/Fruit Hill Neighborhood Association hopes to attract small businesses to the area to help develop a “family-friendly” college-town ambience.

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Manton, in Providence

In the early 1800s, the Woonasquatucket River, which forms the western border of the neighborhood, provided power for new textile mills. The Manton mill opened in 1827, and the Dyer Mill was built three years later. Mill owners built housing for workers west of Manton Avenue.

Zolkos said Fruit Hill and Manton were home to “generations of families who came to the area for work in the mills. Now the mills are gone, but the area still has that old-fashioned neighborhood feel.

“The neighborhood has an active association with the goal of maintaining the family feel by creating a walkable and friendly community.”

After the mills closed, the neighborhood fell into a decline. “Families moved in favor of a more suburban lifestyle, but over the past few years young families have found their way back to the neighborhood,” Zolkos said.

Zolkos said the Fruit Hill Farmers Market is held every Wednesday in the fall at Rhode Island College’s last parking lot near Mt. Pleasant Avenue. “This has brought the neighbors together to congregate, buy local, and it has formed a sense of community in the area,” she said.

Listings of single-family houses for sale in Manton last week showed some signs of distress, but only two of the nine listings appeared to involve foreclosures. Prices started at $74,900 for a 1930 bungalow at 67 Sisson St., with three bedrooms, one bathroom, and 1127 square feet of space. The most expensive single-family listing was $269,900, for a 1983 raised ranch with three bedrooms and two full bathrooms at 75 Rowley St., near the Triggs golf course and Rhode Island College.

There were more distressed properties in the 11 Manton listings of multifamilies for sale, and the group included the lowest-price multifamily properties in the city.

The prices started at $19,000 for a three-family at 12 Kossuth St., $24,900 for a two-family at 325 Manton Ave., $34,900 for a two-family at 871 Manton Ave., and $44,900 for a two-family at 661 Manton Ave. All these listings included the warning: “needs work.”

The listing for a three-family at 57 Bowdoin St., priced at $69,900, advised that “copper [was] removed in basement only” and that the property is “priced aggressively to sell fast.”

A bank-owned two-family at 565 Manton Ave., priced at $109,900, was described by the listing agent as “in need of bathrooms.”

POPULATION:

(Providence, 2000) 173,618

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE:

(Providence, not including East Side, 2007) $197,000

INTERESTING FACT:

The neighborhood is named for Edward Manton, who settled the area in 1683.

cdunn@projo.com