Random Stories
The Spite Tower
Built in 1905, the Spite Tower’s history is clouded by legend. Dr. John Hathaway and his second wife, Claudia Church, built this unique structure for reasons that have been debated for decades.
Late in the eighteenth century, the Church…
Federal Hill House
While some radicals fought against a system that they saw as rigged, other radical acts came from the world of privilege. Alida Sprague Whitmarsh was born into a wealthy family but devoted herself to helping the poor working women of Providence. In…
Orpheum Theater and French Sharpshooters Hall
Although known today as the Orpheum Theater, the French Sharpshooter’s Club of New Bedford—Le Club des Francs-Tireurs—constructed this building to serve as its headquarters. Formed by French-Canadian immigrants, the Sharpshooters Club was a…
DePasquale Square
Entering Narragansett Bay in 1524, the explorer Giovanni de Verrazano was probably the first Italian visitor to Rhode Island, long before tomatoes made it to these parts. Rhode Island named the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge (in the southeastern part of…
Gray's Grist Mill
Adamsville’s first mill was established by Philip Taber prior to 1700. Most early mills in the Little Compton area were wind-powered, but in order to saw wood, it was necessary to have water power. The Adamsville mill pond provided power for both a…
Admiral Packaging
When Alfred Augustus Reed of Providence formed the Oriental Mills Manufacturing Company for the production of cotton sheet goods, he and his associates also formed the Oriental Print Works, located in Warwick, RI. Although the printworks failed…
Take a Tour
Industrial Heritage Along the Woonasquatucket
10 Locations ~ Curated by Jane GerhardTiverton: Almost Forgotten
12 Locations ~ Curated by The Little Compton Historical Society, the Tiverton Public Library, and the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Brown University.Music and Dancing at the "Queen of Resorts"
5 Locations ~ Curated by Brian Knoth, PhDMashapaug Pond
15 Locations ~ Curated by Brown University students in "Oral History and Community Memory," Spring 2014Downtown Providence
16 Locations ~ Curated by Amelia GolcheskiFeatured Stories
Alexander Crummell
“We claim . . . that to deprive the colored people of this State of the immunities of citizenship, on account of the color of the skin, (a matter over which they have no control), is…
Bicycle Racing at the Pawtucket Cotton Centenary
Despite the rain, a troupe of bicyclists and mustached men costumed as knights, clowns, pages, and a prince paraded through the streets of Pawtucket. Thousands of people from Rhode Island and the…
Del's
“Stop at the sign of the lemon!” declares the Del’s soft frozen lemonade slogan. The Del’s symbol, a frost-covered lemon, can be seen everywhere during summer in the Ocean State.
Made from…
Rhode Tour
A project by the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Rhode Island Council for the HumanitiesRhode Tour is a statewide mobile historical smartphone application. Captivating places, intriguing people, and exciting events fill Rhode Island's history. Rhode Tour offers a new way to interact with these untold tales of the state's past. Using stories, sounds, and images, history comes alive on Rhode Tour. Read more About Us