Providence Audio Walking Tour

Highlights

• Brown University

  Brown University occupies College Hill here in Providence, founded in 1764. This private Ivy League research university is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

• Rhode Island School of Design

  Pronounced Riz-D, your Rhode Island School of Design began in 1877 as a private art school in Providence. Founded in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, she sought to increase the accessibility of design education to women; the school's origins are often traced to her 1876 visit to the Centennial Exposition.

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  First Baptist Church in America

  Founded by Roger Williams in 1638, your First Baptist Church in America rises at 75 North Main Street in College Hill. This is the oldest church in Rhode Island and the oldest Baptist church in the United States and the Americas, established here by Roger Williams in 1638.

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  Rhode Island State House

  Just below the crest of Smith Hill at 82 Smith Street, your Rhode Island State House rose between 1891 and 1901. Designed by McKim, Mead & White of New York and constructed from 1891 to 1901, this neoclassical building is Rhode Island's seventh state house and the second located in Providence after the Old State House.

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  111 Westminster Street

  Locally nicknamed the Superman Building, your Industrial National Bank Building at 111 Westminster Street is also known as 55 Kennedy Plaza. Built in 1928 for the Industrial Trust Co. and designed by the New York firm Walker & Gillette, this towering landmark rises to 428 feet (130 m) with 26 floors.

All 36 stops

• India Point Park (Fox Point)

  Where the Seekonk River meets the Providence River in Fox Point, your India Point Park marks Providence's first 1680 port.

• Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge (Fox Point)

  Beneath your feet the old highway piers now carry your Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge across the Providence River to 195 District Park.

• Waterplace Park (downtown Providence)

  Along the Woonasquatucket River in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, your Waterplace Park occupies the original site of the Great Salt Cove.

• Kennedy Plaza (Downtown Providence)

  Once called Exchange Place, Exchange Terrace, and City Hall Park, your Kennedy Plaza anchors downtown Providence, Rhode Island.

• Burnside Park, Providence, Rhode Island (Downtown Providence)

  Tucked beside Kennedy Plaza, your Burnside Park carries the name of Civil War general Ambrose Burnside.

• Providence Biltmore (Downtown Providence)

  At 11 Dorrance Street on the southern corner of Kennedy Plaza, your Graduate by Hilton Providence opened in 1922 as the Providence Biltmore Hotel.

• Providence City Hall (Downtown Providence)

  At the southwest end of Kennedy Plaza, 25 Dorrance Street, your Providence City Hall has run the city's municipal government since 1878.

• Westminster Street Historic District (Westminster Street Historic District)

  A short way west of Interstate 95, your Westminster Street Historic District gathers six commercial buildings along the north side of the street.

• 111 Westminster Street (Downtown Providence)

  Locally nicknamed the Superman Building, your Industrial National Bank Building at 111 Westminster Street is also known as 55 Kennedy Plaza.

• Providence Performing Arts Center (Downtown Providence)

  At 220 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence, your Providence Performing Arts Center once opened as Loew's State Theatre.

• Turk's Head Building (Downtown Providence)

  Rising sixteen stories in 1913, your Turk's Head Building took its odd name from a ship's figurehead over a shopkeeper's store.

• One Financial Plaza (Downtown Providence)

  Known to many as the Sovereign Bank Tower or the Hospital Trust Tower, your One Financial Plaza rises on Kennedy Plaza in Downtown Providence.

• 50 Kennedy Plaza (Providence)

  Formerly the Fleet Center, your 50 Kennedy Plaza rises 285 feet as a postmodern presence in Providence.

• Rhode Island State House (Smith Hill)

  Just below the crest of Smith Hill at 82 Smith Street, your Rhode Island State House rose between 1891 and 1901.

• Prospect Terrace Park (College Hill)

  On Congdon Street in the College Hill neighborhood, your Prospect Terrace Park earned the name The Jewel of the City.

• Van Wickle Gates (College Hill)

  Where College Street meets Prospect Street at the crest of College Hill, your Van Wickle Gates form Brown University's ornamental entrance.

• University Hall (Providence)

  Framed today by the Van Wickle Gates, your University Hall rose in 1770 as Brown's first college building.

• John Hay Library (Providence)

  Opposite the Van Wickle Gates on Prospect Street, your John Hay Library opened in 1910 as Brown's main library in Providence.

• John Carter Brown Library (Brown University)

  Founded on John Carter Brown's private collection, your John Carter Brown Library serves as an independently funded research library at Brown University in Providence, Rhode…

• Slavery Memorial (Brown University) (Providence)

  Cast in ductile iron on the Front Green beside University Hall, your Slavery Memorial depicts a broken ball and chain.

• Providence Athenaeum (College Hill)

  Your Providence Athenaeum welcomes members into a subscription library.

• John Brown House (College Hill)

  Modeled on Mount Vernon at 52 Power Street, your John Brown House became the first mansion built in Providence.

• First Baptist Church in America (College Hill)

  Founded by Roger Williams in 1638, your First Baptist Church in America rises at 75 North Main Street in College Hill.

• First Unitarian Church of Providence (Providence)

  At the corner of Benefit and Benevolent Streets, your First Unitarian Church of Providence carries on as an American Unitarian Universalist congregation.

• St. Stephen's Church (College Hill)

  Organized on January 31, 1839 at 114 George Street, your St. Stephen's Church serves as the third-oldest Episcopal parish in Providence.

• Thomas P. Ives House (College Hill)

  Notice the Thomas P. Ives House rising at 66 Power Street in Providence's College Hill neighborhood.

• Corliss-Carrington House (College Hill)

  Corliss–Carrington House faces you at 66 Williams Street in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence.

• Corliss-Brackett House (College Hill)

  On the southeast corner of Prospect and Angell Streets, your Corliss–Brackett House, also called the Charles Brackett House, rises in stone as a deliberate monumental…

• Joseph Haile House (College Hill)

  On a College Hill slope in Providence, your Joseph Haile House, also called the Gardner House, rises three and a half stories in brick.

• Edward Dexter House (College Hill)

  Built in 1795 to 1797 on College Hill, your Edward Dexter House presents five bays wide beneath a hip roof and square monitor.

• Governor Stephen Hopkins House (Providence)

  Stephen Hopkins, the colony's governor and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived in the house you see at 15 Hopkins Street in Providence.

• Annmary Brown Memorial (Providence)

  Designed by Norman Isham and completed in 1907, your Annmary Brown Memorial rises like a granite temple with bronze doors.

• Ladd Observatory (Brown University)

  Dedicated in 1891 at Brown University, your Ladd Observatory once ran timekeeping for Providence, Rhode Island.

• Brown University (College Hill)

  Brown University occupies College Hill here in Providence, founded in 1764.

• Rhode Island School of Design (College Hill)

  Pronounced Riz-D, your Rhode Island School of Design began in 1877 as a private art school in Providence.

• Governor Henry Lippitt House (East Side)

  Textile magnate Henry Lippitt gives his name to the Italianate mansion in front of you at 199 Hope Street on the East Side of Providence.

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