W. W. Joyce Tourist Home
24 Camp St., as depicted on the 1937 Hopkins map. The building was home to both the W.W. Joyce Tourist Home and the Retlaw House Tourist Home.
Known Name(s)
W. W. Joyce Tourist Home
Address
24 Camp St. Providence, RI (Primary) (1939, 1940, 1941, 1946)12 Benefit St. Providence, RI (Secondary) (1947)
Physical Status
Demolished
Detailed History
Walter W. Joyce and his wife, Elsie, listed their house at 24 Camp St. as a tourist home in The Green Book beginning in 1939. While the business appeared under Walter’s initials, Elsie took the lead in running the business, as Walter held down two jobs, working as a houseman and a salesman. Elsie may have been assisted by Max A. Kovitch, who is associated with the property but who lived at 50 Hamilton St. on Providence’s south side. Kovitch’s formal relationship to the business is not known.
In 1941, the Joyces moved to 12 Benefit St., which still stands as part of the College Hill Historic District. This location was short-lived for the couple; Walter died on April 13 that year. The Joyce Tourist Home was listed once more after this, in 1946 at the Benefit St. address, but was discontinued after that.
Curiously, in 1954, The Green Book listed the Retlaw House Tourist Home at 24 Camp St., the same address as the W.W. Joyce Tourist Home. George Hammond, a porter at Michaels-Brauer Inc., had occupied 24 Camp St. since at least 1942 and held it until 1960, when the area was redeveloped for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Elementary School, among other new structures.
