Providence: The City
Providence's main attractions focus around three of its seven hills. Downtown, which centers on Kennedy Plaza , is situated just below Constitution Hill. City Hall , at the western end of the plaza, is mainly notable for the star-spangled midnight-blue ceiling in the Alderman's Chamber. Though no longer used as a train terminal, the nearby 1898 Beaux Arts Union Station is a fine example of the historic restoration at which the city excels. Southeast of the plaza, the 1828 Westminster Arcade , the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the nation, features expensive clothes shops and a food court in a small, bright, sky-lit hall. The Roger Williams National Memorial , at N Main and Smith streets, at the foot of Constitution Hill, includes part of city-founder Williams' original settlement (daily 9am-4.30pm; free), while at the top of the hill, the white marble Rhode Island Statehouse boasts a huge unsupported dome, the fourth largest in the world, topped with a statue called Independent Man , an 11-foot-tall bronze figure created by George Brewster as a symbol of freedom and independence. A handsome full-length portrait of Washington adorns the Reception Room (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm; free guided tours between 9am & noon; tel 401/222-2357).Laid-back College Hill , across the river, is an attractive district of colonial buildings and museums. Part of Williams' holy experiment was the establishment of the Baptist Church in 1638. The white clapboard First Baptist Meeting House , at the foot of the hill at 75 N Main St, dates from 1775, and is remarkable for its very tall steeple. This street leads into South Main Street , once bustling with waterfront activity, now a small stretch of potpourri and pottery shops. Benefit Street , a block up the hill, is Providence's " mile of history ," lined with the ice-cream-colored former clapboard homes of merchants and sea captains. Now beautifully restored, the street was once just a dirt path leading to graveyards until it was improved in the nineteenth century for the "benefit of the people of Providence" - hence its name. The elegant John Brown House , 52 Power St at Benefit Street (March-Dec Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-4pm; Jan & Feb Fri & Sat 10am-5pm & Sun noon-4pm; $6), was home to the patriot and entrepreneur who made his fortune trading in slaves and with China. The first house built on the hill (nicely conspicuous from the river), it retains its original furnishings and holds displays on the formidable Brown family and the city itself.
Ivy League Brown University sets the tone for this three-centuries-old district with its relaxed, intellectual feel; for free tours, contact the admissions office, 45 Prospect St (Mon-Fri 8am-4pm; tours 10am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 4pm; 11am & 3pm only during Christmas & spring break; mid-Sept to mid-Nov Sat tours 10am, 11am & noon). At the eastern edge of College Hill, Wickenden Street buzzes with a creative assortment of bookstores, cafés, and antiques and thrift stores.
The small but excellent collection of the RISD Museum of Art , 224 Benefit St, is worthy of its status as one of the best art school museums in the country, and includes ancient and Oriental works, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist American art and one of Rodin's statues of Balzac (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; $5). Also on the RISD campus, the Woods-Gerry Gallery , 62 Prospect St (Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 2-5pm; free), is a solid redbrick mansion set in a tree-shaded garden with heavy stone benches and exhibiting innovative student art.
Across the road, the Greek Revival Providence Athenaeum , 251 Benefit St (Mon-Thurs 10am-6pm, Fri-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; free), is where Edgar Allan Poe unsuccessfully wooed fellow poet Sarah Whitman. Today the library holds original Audubon prints and rare books, and the place feels more like a living room, with its piano and hand-painted chairs in the cozy reading rooms.
Federal Hill , west of downtown, is Providence's Little Italy , entered through a large arch topped by a bronze pinecone at Atwells Avenue. Long a powerful Mafia stronghold, this area is one of the friendliest and safest in the city - alive with cafés, delis, bakeries and bars, and with a large Italianate fountain in the Piazza de Pasquale.
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