Random Stories
Green End Fort, Middletown
In 1778, when the British built a defensive line of earthworks to protect Newport from the besieging American troops, the Battery at Green End stood near the southern end of that line. A sinuous mound of earth and a grassy open area with a steep…
The Changing City
Providence began as a sleepy farming village along the Great Salt Cove and The Great Salt River (the Providence River, today). It stayed that way into the eighteenth century, even while seaports like Newport amassed incredible wealth through the…
Market Square and the Market House
As you stroll the streets of the East Side, pay attention to the street signs: many of the streets you pass bear witness to some of the significant people and structures that have come and gone, making and remaking the city. Power Street, for…
Hurricanes and Hotels at Watch Hill
The year? 1938. The weather? The worst you’ve ever seen. The hurricane that hit Rhode Island shook the coast to its core, wreaking havoc on its beaches. Watch Hill was no exception.
Watch Hill in Westerly, RI, one of Rhode Island’s finest…
The Old Burial Ground on the Commons
In the Old Burial Ground is an odd grave maker. It reads, “In memory of Elizabeth, who Should have been the Wife of Mr. Simeon Palmer… died Augst 14th 1776 in the 64th year of her age.” A clue to the meaning of this inscription may lie in a 1901…
1812 - 1864: Reverend Edward Scott
Reverend Edward Scott was a political activist and anti-slavery agitator who had, himself, escaped from slavery in Virginia before becoming a minister and community leader.
Scott was born a slave in Virginia around 1812. He freed himself as well…
Take a Tour
Westport River Watershed
10 Locations ~ Curated by students in the 2017 Brown University course, "Power & Water: Material Culture and Environmental Impact." The students Julia Bianchi, Lauren Black, Alexander Fredman, Sasha Lieblein, Luke Perrotta, Charlotte Senders, and Liza Yeager. The instructor was Ron M. Potvin. Other entries were contributed by the Little Compton Historical Society and the Westport Historical Society.Stories from Pawtucket
7 Locations ~ Curated by Brown University students in "Methods in Public Humanities," Spring 2014Telling (Her)Story: Women Designers in Rhode Island
16 Locations ~ Curated by Brown University students in "Telling Her Story: Women Designers in Rhode Island," Fall 2017Featured Stories
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 adjoining states thronged the streets. For a week,…
Adamsville Hill: A Rum Runner's Hideout
“Young man, if you don’t get out you’re going to end up with a little round hole in the middle of your forehead.”
The words were polite and calm, but ominous, spoken to a youthful group of summer people during a late night visit to Briggs Beach…
The Battle of Rhode Island
During August 1778, Tiverton was the fulcrum on which the American Revolution teetered. From all over New England militiamen marched along dusty roads to rendezvous at the fort on Tiverton Heights.
From Gloucester, Newburyport, and Marblehead…
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.
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