Pond Hopping: From Cork to Providence with Norwegian - Part 4: Of Hills and other Horrors

This is part 4 of a five part series on my visit to Providence and Boston. 

Be sure to check out Part 3!

For the first time on this visit to the US, I’m actually pulled out of sleep by my alarm clock. It is 7 AM, and I’m beginning to feel the first twinges of exhaustion, as the last two days catch up with me. Well, today is going to be a more relaxed day, not least because it is Sunday, and most of Providence doesn’t really get going until the afternoon. Still, by 9, I’m back at the airport to catch the bus into the city. Now, last night, after WaterFire, I’d taken the No. 1 Bus back to the airport, and gotten a glimpse of South Providence. However, this morning, as I take the No. 20 bus, I’m taken aback by just how run down and deprived some areas in Warwick and South Providence are. I know that the entire area has taken a hit economically over the last few decades, but some of that stuff is really an eye-opener for someone with a European background like me.

The morning after the night before. No trace remains of WaterFire.

I just like the contrast here.

Hard to believe that Providence is only a "small" city by US standards.

Once in the city center, the entire city of Providence feels like it’s suffering from a bit of a hangover. The morning after the night before. I decide to ignore the Downtown area, as well as the surroundings of the State House, and head for the east bank of the Providence and Moshassuck River. Today, it’s history time, and what better way to start that than with the Roger Williams National Memorial, and the actual founding of Providence?

Where it all started. The Roger Williams National Memorial marks the spot where the colony that would become Providence was first founded.

Before the railroads, there were the canals. Displays like this, spread throughout the site, tell the history of Providence.

All in all, it's a nice, tranquil site.

Now, remember when I mentioned that Roger Williams managed to get himself kicked out of Massachusetts? Well, Roger Williams was already a pretty active figure within the Puritan movement back in England when a first group of settlers left from there on the Mayflower in 1620. He himself stayed in England until 1630, when he boarded the sailing ship Lyon, bound for the Plymouth Colony. Williams bounced around between Salem, Boston, and Plymouth for a while, but his ideas, specifically about freedom of worship and the separation of church and state did not sit well with the deeply pious puritan settlers of these colonies. Things came to a head in January 1636, when he got the boot, and was unceremoniously banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony. Williams had always been on good terms with the local Native American tribes in the area, who in turn welcomed him and sheltered him during the winter months. By June 1636, he, and a handful of likeminded people had settled on a stretch of land along the Mossashuck River, sold to him by the Narragansett tribe. This was the nucleus of what is now Providence.

Unlike other communities in the New World, Providence wasn't grouped around a central common. The linear design reflected Williams' aim for a more egalitarian society than he had seen in Boston or Salem.

As for Roger Williams, he is truly an interesting figure. He is generally described as a deeply religious and devout man. However, he was an equally firm believer in the separation of church and state, and considered any state religion “forced worship”, which “stinks in God’s nostrils”, as well as describing it as a “rape of the soul”, pretty strong stuff even by today’s standards, never mind those of the 17th century. What’s more he also propagated the freedom to worship in whatever way one chose, becoming one of the early advocates of religious freedoms, which in turn turned Providence into a haven for all sorts of persecuted religious minorities. Williams is also said to have had continuing good relationships with the local indigenous tribes, such as the Narragansett and the Wampanoag, gaining their trust, and becoming instrumental in preventing conflicts between the tribes and the new Rhode Island colony for over forty years. Now, I’m certain there’s quite a bit of historical whitewashing involved in these accounts, but even when you take them with a grain of salt, you can’t shake the impression that Roger Williams was a remarkably enlightened man, especially given the time in which he lived. 

This rather egalitarian worldview is also visible in the original street layout of Providence. Rather than clustering the houses around a central Common, as was the traditional layout seen in places like Boston, the homes and farmsteads in the new Providence colony were all lined up along the shore of the Mossashuck River as well as the Providence River, with each property containing a section of waterfront, a section of the hillside behind the waterfront, and an area of farming and grazing land on top of the hill. A freshwater spring was located on public ground, ensuring access to clean drinking water. Of course, most of these early structures have long since disappeared, but the streetscape on Providence’s East Side still shows traces of the original settlement pattern, with South Main Street tracing the path of the old Town Street, where the settler’s houses would have stood, and present day Hope Street roughly marking the eastern end of the original allotments. As for the spring, that has since fallen dry, but both the spring and the common area surrounding it have been recreated as part of the Roger Williams National Memorial, which is a pleasant city park with a historic house, and plaques describing the history of the place. On a late summer’s day, it really is a great place to check out. However, I’m aiming higher. Literally.

This rather modest building is the Old State House in Providence. Built in 1762, it was here that the Rhode Island General Assembly renounced their allegiance to the British crown and declared their independence on May 4th, 1776. That's right. Rhode Island seceded two months ahead of the remaining twelve colonies. They've always done things a bit different over there.

The First Baptist Church of Providence was built in 1774. The site however, was used as early as 1638 by Roger Williams himself, who founded the First Baptist Church of Providence, and indeed of America.

The East Side of Providence is dominated by College Hill, which is of course the home of Brown University, one of the US’s renowned Ivy League Colleges. My plan is to head up there, check out Prospect Park on the way, and then check out the campus. All seems pretty doable on the map, however, this map fails to convey just how steep that bloody hill actually is! Going farther than Prospect Terrace Park quickly goes out the window, which isn’t really such a shame because the views from said park are fantastic, and I spend quite some time up there, just chilling and snapping a few photos from the park. Incidentally, this area of Providence was also the stomping ground of a certain H.P. Lovecraft, weirdo, bona-fide racist even by the standards of his time, and one of the most influential horror authors of the 20th century. Seriously, his work has influenced pretty much everything from other horror authors like Stephen King to science fiction masterpieces such as Mass Effect or Babylon 5. Take one look at the Shadows or the Reapers and tell me that they’re not straight out of the Lovecraft playbook. And don’t even get me started on Dead Space. Lovecraft spent much of his forty-six years in the city, lived in what is now the College Hill District of the city, east of the campus of Brown University, and frequently visited Prospect Terrace Park. Judging from the View, I can’t really blame him.

At first glance, Prospect Terrace Park doesn't look like much.

Don't get me wrong, it is a nice park.

Squirrel!

The view however is spectacular. Whether it's the downtown area...

...or the New State House, it is all spread out before you.

I can think of no better location for a memorial to honour Roger Williams, the founder of Providence.

With views like that, it's no surprise that H.P. Lovecraft was a regular visitor to the park.

Eventually, I make my way back down, not least because lunchtime is drawing closer. After a quick, unremarkable lunch, I spend the rest of the day exploring the small back streets of Downtown, including Emporium Books, the most dangerous store in Providence, at least as far as my bank account is concerned ;) Alas, I only walk out with three books, I have to stay within the limits for check-in luggage after all. After a quick coffee, I make my way back down to Waybausset Neck. Sitting by the river and watching the world roll by is really something I should do more often. Too bad Cork doesn’t know how to properly utilize its own rivers, but I digress. Further shopping trawls come up empty-handed, and as the sun starts to set, I hop onto the bus to head back to the airport, and my hotel. Time to pack.

I just can't get enough of those colours!

If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't believe those images are unedited.

Time for a bit of time-lapse!

You could make a postcard out of this!

Is it just me or do those side streets just scream "New England"?

That's it for Part 4 of this five part series. In the fifth and final instalment, it'll all be about flying back to Ireland, with the weather to match ;) So be sure to check it out!