This is a free historic site that has a really great tour. The site is just off the river and there…read moreare a few buildings on site, but not all of them are open. But there are multiple tours during the day, so after perhaps watching the intro video, you can join one. The guide took us into the mill and demonstrated multiple machines used in various stages of cotton to thread production. It was great to see the process in front of us, and it was quite a complex process that required a lot of engineering using waterpower to get completed. I found it very informative, and the guide was able to answer all of our questions, so it's a great experience for kids and adults. No gift shop though, but there is a bathroom on site. The building was described to me as "yellow" when it's peach, but I won't fault that, just saying if you're looking for it, look for peach. There is parking across the street and a small lot next to it.

Didn't feel like doing the guided tour, but having never been here as a lifelong RI-er I figured…read moreI'd take the plunge. Nice, historical sight with loads of history and information even without taking the tour. Just on the out squirts of the shady part(s) of the state, but right next to the police station. The water was really bustling on this day. On a day where I have more time I'll definitely have to take a more extended look.

We had planned a visit today with a small group of friends and family members and to be honest, we…read moredidn't really know what to expect. We were immediately impressed with how beautiful the grounds were, there were lots of beautiful flowers, magnificent water views, and abundant charm. We had an amazing time touring the house and grounds. Our guide, Maggie, was excellent, she shared interesting details and told the story of the Smith-Appleby family with humor and pride. We were most impressed at the sustainability of the homestead and how it has served this family for nearly 300 years. It was an absolute privilege to spend time here and we felt very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the morning touring the buildings and grounds, including a visit to the family cemetery at the front on the property. Tours cost $5 per person and a yearly membership is only $20.

I've always seen the sign on the highway, so last weekend I just happened to look up what their…read morehours were... sure enough, the next tour being held was the next day... Sunday. They give tours the third Sunday of the month from 1 - 4 , so plan accordingly! It was a beautiful day... I have to say the grounds are lovely. What a great place to just enjoy a short stroll. My son enjoyed picking up sticks and poking around the small stream that runs down from the road. We also took a look at the graveyard with all the old stones. The house itself is very interesting with a few things I'd never seen before. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Everyone there was very welcoming and we just had a really nice afternoon... my son ,who is 7, really enjoyed it as well. A great local place to visit, especially on a nice day. I'll be back to check out some of the events that they hold periodically.

This is a beautiful marble dome and building in the Capitol Hill section of Providence…read more Many state offices are housed here such as the Governor's, Treasurer, House of Representatives, Senators, etc. They offer guided tours a few times a day (usually from 10a-3pm on weekdays) but you can also follow a self guided tour program and enjoy the inside of the building.

This was quite lovely and parking was easy to find, but I wouldn't place it in my top state…read morecapitols I've visited. It wasn't very busy on a dreary Thursday morning. There are guided tours, but I didn't see any reference guides or pamphlets for self-guided tours. I didn't get to see inside every nook and cranny, but I did wander around and take some photos. My favorite touch is the Anchor adorning the floor of the elevator. Tres apropos for the Ocean State's State House.

A cultural treasurer that I never knew existed. I always knew the building was there, but the…read morestories of the history of RI written on the walls was very surprising to me. The space can be used for events and open to the public for learning and community engagement.

This is a large Visitor Center located on Main St in Pawtucket. It's mainly focused for those…read morewanting to learn more or wanting to visit Slater Mill. The amount of information on the textile revolution is large and they have a 15 min video on the subject. Wendy was very nice and helpful showing me the various brochures and books highlighting the tourist attractions in the area....There are about 10,000 historical sites between Providence and Worcester related to textile mill history....just amazing.... Slater Mill (1793) was the first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill in the United States and the first property to be added to the National Register of Historic Places (November 1966). For more than two centuries, people have transformed Slater Mill. These workers have changed the meaning of the mill, from a place for making thread to a place for learning about the consequences of industry....so learning about all that history which was key for our country, was really interesting.... This site is part of the National Park service, so if you want a stamp for your collection, you can ask for it and they will gladly stamp your book for you.

See a working fish ladder for herring Alewife breeding. On Saturdays, they've got a working mill…read moregrinding corn into corn meal and grits. Enthusiastic and well versed staff that'll show you how a water powered mill works from the time period. Has a gift shop where you can buy what was ground here. They sell to local restaurants and source their corn locally. Mill is indoorsb and 2 levels. The fish ladder is outdoors. Free parking lot here. Dead on Patriots Day. Great time to visit. Got the combo ticket with the Mayflower, Grist Mill, and Plimoth Patuxent Museum.

Stopped in here at the tail end of our visit to Plymouth and really enjoyed the demonstration. Our…read moreson was invited up to help turn the dials and the staff did a great job explaining how the mill works. Really neat to see the recreation.

I visited the Arnold House for the last tour of the day. The tour guide is really knowledgeable…read moreand they take you all the way up to the attic. The house is very minimalistic in its contents, but the main focus is the architecture. Free parking is available at the park next to the house. There is one bathroom available for use.

Today, Historic New England, the group that manages and maintains Arnold House, offered free tours…read moreof all their properties. I had visited Arnold House back in 2021 but the interior was closed. Today, I got a great tour of the inside. The family that originally built and lived in the house in the late 17th and early 18th century had 10 children and lived in the space of one large living/ great room, one kitchen, one huge bedroom for the entire family on the second floor and a spacious attic for storage and maybe also a few kids. The docents here were extremely knowledgeable about the site and friendly, encouraging questions and photos. There are also beautiful, short trails around the property as well as a small picnic area near the parking area.

Benefit Street is a nice little walk and The Shunned House is a sweet little surprise. What I like…read moreabout The Shunned House is that you would have NO CLUE that this house was significant amongst the others in the surrounding areas. The armory down the street stands out a lot more than the lil house that HPLovecraft wrote about. Still it's a great side trip that will only take seconds out of your day if you are in or around the colleges in the area. This is obviously a residence and they have since named the house after someone but you can see the wall that used to be used as the front of the house and the descriptions stand strong in Lovecraft's writing. No big deal but I liked being there and seeing it.

I was going to write about this curiousity, but I realized I couldn't do any better than what…read morebrought me in the first place: "The house was--and for that matter still is--of a kind to attract the attention of the curious. Originally a farm or semi-farm building, it followed the average New England colonial lines of the middle eighteenth century--the prosperous peaked-roof sort, with two stories and dormerless attic, and with the Georgian doorway and interior panelling dictated by the progress of taste at that time. It faced south, with one gable end buried to the lower windows in the eastward rising hill, and the other exposed to the foundations toward the street. Its construction, over a century and a half ago, had followed the grading and straightening of the road in that especial vicinity; for Benefit Street--at first called Back Street--was laid out as a lane winding amongst the graveyards of the first settlers, and straightened only when the removal of the bodies to the North Burial Ground made it decently possible to cut through the old family plots. "At the start, the western wall had lain some twenty feet up a precipitous lawn from the roadway; but a widening of the street at about the time of the Revolution sheared off most of the intervening space, exposing the foundations so that a brick basement wall had to be made, giving the deep cellar a street frontage with door and two windows above ground, close to the new line of public travel. When the sidewalk was laid out a century ago the last of the intervening space was removed; and Poe in his walks must have seen only a sheer ascent of dull grey brick flush with the sidewalk and surmounted at a height of ten feet by the antique shingled bulk of the house proper. "The farm-like grounds extended back very deeply up the hill, almost to Wheaton Street. The space south of the house, abutting on Benefit Street, was of course greatly above the existing sidewalk level, forming a terrace bounded by a high bank wall of damp, mossy stone pierced by a steep flight of narrow steps which led inward between canyon-like surfaces to the upper region of mangy lawn, rheumy brick walls, and neglected gardens whose dismantled cement urns, rusted kettles fallen from tripods of knotty sticks, and similar paraphernalia set off the weather-beaten front door with its broken fanlight, rotting Ionic pilasters, and wormy triangular pediment. "What I heard in my youth about the shunned house was merely that people died there in alarmingly great numbers. That, I was told, was why the original owners had moved out some twenty years after building the place. It was plainly unhealthy, perhaps because of the dampness and fungous growth in the cellar, the general sickish smell, the draughts of the hallways, or the quality of the well and pump water. These things were bad enough, and these were all that gained belief among the persons whom I knew. Only the notebooks of my antiquarian uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, revealed to me at length the darker, vaguer surmises which formed an undercurrent of folklore among old-time servants and humble folk; surmises which never travelled far, and which were largely forgotten when Providence grew to be a metropolis with a shifting modern population." H.P. Lovecraft, The Shunned House Be mindful that this is a private residence. Please be respectful.

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States; but it has a unique and diverse culture,…read moreespecially its capital city, Providence. Downtown Providence is my favorite City; maybe I'm biased because I was born there. As a teenager, I loved taking the city bus to the Providence Place Mall, then hanging out at the Waterplace Park. Once I was in college, I would frequent Thayer St., the East side, and Wickenden St. often. I was always hanging out with my friends, at one of my favorite dive bar/club, Club Hell; they had 80s nights on Tuesdays, goth nights on Wednesdays, and Rock & Roll nights on Fridays. Providence is definitely a foodie city with tons of good eats. On a warm day, just take a walk around; lots of history and beautiful architecture. The new pedestrian bridge is also a lovely addition. There are many events that goes on, Waterfire is a popular one. It is home to some notable colleges such as Brown University, Providence College, Rhode Island School of Design, and Rhode Island College (my alma mater!) If you go to Federal Hill, there are some good restaurants and bars; home to the best Italian food. If you want to be one with nature, go to Roger Williams Park and Zoo. Overall, definitely a fun little city and gem in my eyes.

I have been living in Rhode Island for 4.5 months. Never have I ever been ticketed for parking in…read morefront of my apartment building. I LIVE HERE!! What type of law prohibits tenants from parking on the street from 2-5am?! To put the cherry on top, there's no sign. And there never will be because money is the root of this city. You can tell this is the north.