Random Stories
1861: Benjamin Brayton Knight Mansion
Providence's population grew at an extraordinary rate throughout the 19th Century, from about 50,000 in 1850 to 175,000 in 1900, driven by the region's ever-expanding industrial complex. Providence was at the heart of New England's industrial…
A Passion for Planning and Preservation
It might be hard to imagine that Benefit Street hasn’t always been considered a special historic area. Many groups worked for years to protect, preserve, and improve the architecture and historic character of the neighborhood. One woman, Margaret…
Early Industry and Wood-Fired Pizza
Rhode Island is perhaps inordinately proud of its superlatives and firsts: first to establish religious freedom, first to rebel against the British crown, longest hold-out before ratifying the newly minted Constitution. And, in the 20th century,…
Adamsville Wayside Library
Adamsville had its very own library in the early 1920s. It was housed in the north room of Hattie and Eugene Shurtleff's house at the corner of Colebrook and Stone Church Roads. The Shurtleff's daughter Venetta (Nettie) ran the library. According to…
The Atlantic House Hotel
The Newport Mercury announced a "Grand Instrumental Concert" to be given by the full Germania Musical Society ensemble on July 16, 1849 at the grand hall of the Atlantic House. Tickets were fifty cents. Doors opened at 7:30pm. The concert began at…
Antillas Restaurant
Broad Street today is full of ethnic restaurants, but in the late 1970s Latinos anxious for a taste of home had very limited choices; Doña Fefa sold a few prepared foods in her store, but otherwise families had to cook their own. Roberto and José…
Take a Tour
Ocean State Sampler: Foodways & Cultural Heritage
11 Locations ~ Curated by Eve Harene Dewan & Maggie Unverzagt GoddardDowntown Providence
16 Locations ~ Curated by Amelia GolcheskiPond Street: A Lost Neighborhood
17 Locations ~ Curated by Taylor M. PolitesRI Film & Television Locations
7 Locations ~ Curated by Public Humanities Program, Brown UniversityRevolutionary War Fortifications of Rhode Island
6 Locations ~ Curated by Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, D. K. Abbass, Ph.DFeatured Stories
Old Traditions in a New Home: Immigration in Reservoir Triangle
In 1880, about 104,000 people lived in Providence. Thirty years later, the city’s population had more than doubled, reaching over 223,000 people. Most of this population increase was due to…
The Old Stone Bridge
A tall man in a long, dark coat and a broad-brimmed hat walked the 2,000 feet across Stone Bridge from the Portsmouth shore to the Tiverton side, where a toll keeper waited to collect his fare. The…
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 anti-republican;…
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