Summer Walks
(scroll down for Thursday Night Ranger Walkabouts)
National Park Service Rangers Announce
Summer Walks Schedule at Roger Williams National Memorial
Providence, RI.
The National Park Service Rangers at Roger Williams National
Memorial have announced a schedule of interpretive walks that will
take visitors through the park and highlight its significance to
Roger Williams’ quest for religious freedom.
The Roger Williams
National Memorial is the site where the city of Providence and the
state of Rhode Island were founded in 1636. “We will take visitors
on a tour of the park and point out what they can still see as part
of the early settlement of the city of Providence,” National Park
Service Ranger John McNiff explained. “Visitors will see the
location of the fresh water spring that Roger Williams used when he
settled here and we will explain how the great Salt Cove opposite
the spring was a source of food for this early settlement.”
Rangers will also
point out the proximity of the Meeting House for First Baptist
Church in America and the Old Rhode Island State House. The walk is
designed to show how the geography and history of the early
settlement is tied to the transformation of the city that visitors
experience today.
All walks are 30
minutes in length. Those scheduled in conjunction with Waterfire
will be held Saturdays at 6 pm on August 30, September 20 and
October 11. Participants should be at the Visitors Center and
prepared to walk by 6:00 p.m.
Summer Morning Walks will also start from the Visitors Office and
participants should arrive for a 10:00 a.m. start. In July, walks
are scheduled for the Wednesday the 9th, Friday the 18th
and Wednesday the 23rd. In August, walks are scheduled
for Friday the 1st, Wednesday the 6th, and
Friday the 15th. The last morning walk is scheduled for
Wednesday, September 3rd.
For more
information, call the Visitors Center at 401-521-7266.
###
The Roger Williams
National Memorial, operated by the National Park Service,
commemorates the life of the founder of Rhode Island who was a
champion of the ideal of religious freedom. For more information,
visit
http://www.nps.gov/rowi/.
------------------------------------------------
The
Rhode Island Historical Society has
debuted a new walking tour in Downtown Providence as part of this year’s
SummerWalks season.
The Rhode Island Historical Society is
excited to announce the debut of a new walking tour this summer:
DownCity Alive! The walking
tour takes a route through Downtown Providence, and will be offered this
season on a regular schedule as part of the Historical Society’s
SummerWalks program, which
runs until October 15.
The Providence
Renaissance meets the Victorian city center in
DownCity Alive! Downcity
hosts a fascinating mix of architecture, public art, waterfront
development, cart paths turned into glorious streets, and hard luck and
good luck stories galore. Residents and visitors alike are shopping,
eating, strolling, studying, going to art galleries and attending the
theater in this award-winning urban center. Everything old is new again
and very much “alive” in a re-imagined and very exciting
Providence: a city with an important past and a bright future.
DownCity Alive! departs from the main lobby of the
Providence Biltmore Hotel, 11 Dorrance Street, Providence. It is offered
on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 4:00 p.m. and runs about an
hour. Tickets are $10 per person.
For more information,
please contact Barbara Barnes, at (401) 273-7507 x62 or
bbarnes@rihs.org.
*************************************
RiverWalk: Before
the Fires are Lit
After the arrival of Roger Williams in
1636, rivers shaped the life of the city of
Providence. The Colonial waterfront was the site of a thriving
shipping economy for a young town. Eventually, factories and
railroads turned attention away from the rivers and toward the land.
After the 1950s, highways and bridges covered the waterways, and the
rivers were forgotten. But that was yesterday! Today, architects and
city planners are creating a “new” waterfront. Once again, the
rivers take center stage. And no event commands more attention than
Barnaby Evans’ WaterFire.
Smartly designed walkways, parks, and pedestrian bridges invite
strolling, especially on summer evenings. Urban outdoor sculpture
and beautiful civic and commercial buildings of varied architectural
styles provide the setting for stories of Providence’s fabled past
and dynamic present. This walk shares the history of Rhode Island’s
capital city and the history of WaterFire.
$10 per person. Reservations requested
for this tour. For schedule of WaterFire lightings:
www.waterfire.org, or (401) 272-3111.
This walk is offered in
collaboration with WaterFire.
*************************************
the
Rhode Island Historical Society’s
annual SummerWalks program
begins Friday June 15, 2007 and continues
through October 15, 2007.
Two themed walks form the
base of the summer program.
Benefit
Street: A Mile of History
A 90 minute walking tour
Tuesdays through Saturdays
at 11 a.m.
Tickets: $12/person
The tour begins at the
John Brown House, 52 Power Street
Questions: Barbara Barnes,
401-273-7507 x62 or
bbarnes@rihs.org
This walk explores the
changing fortunes of Providence’s most well known thoroughfare and recounts
the role of historic preservation in revitalizing this vital College Hill
neighborhood.
RiverWalk: Before the Fires are Lit
A 60 minute walking tour
On evenings of full
WaterFire lightings at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets: $10/person
The Tour begins at the
John Brown House, 52 Power Street
Questions: Barbara Barnes,
401-273-7507 x62 or
bbarnes@rihs.org
This walk shares the
stories of the Providence waterfront and its early development while
introducing the phenomenon known as WaterFire.
The
RiverWalk is offered in
collaboration with WaterFire Providence.
Reservations for all walks
are welcome but not necessary unless there is a group of 6 or more.
************
Founded in 1822, the Rhode Island Historical Society is the nation’s fourth
oldest state historical society and is today the steward of tens of
thousands of books, manuscripts, prints, photographs, paintings, artifacts,
and other historical materials. The Society maintains its research library
and John Brown House Museum in Providence and operates the Museum of Work &
Culture in Woonsocket. The Society’s ongoing public and educational
programming includes publication of the historical journal
Rhode Island History
and the presentation of exhibitions,
lectures, workshops, and tours
Thursday Night Ranger Walkabouts
|
June 26: Hopedale
From religious commune to factory town,
Hopedale has a long and vibrant history.
Beginning with a small group of religious
idealist seeking to create a perfect
community, Hopedale evolved into the home of
the largest manufacturer of looms in America
at the Draper Corporation. Come along with a
National Park Service Ranger from the
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage
Corridor to explore this town and discover
some of these fascinating stories. Please
meet the ranger at Hopedale Unitarian
Church, Hopedale Street, Hopedale.
July 10: Kelly House, Lincoln
From the Blackstone Canal to the Blackstone
Bikeway, this little corner of Lincoln, RI
has undergone a number of changes over the
past 200 years. Join a Rhode Island DEM
Ranger to tour the museum of transportation
at the Kelly House and explore the history
of the mill and canal activity here. The
Kelly House is located in the Blackstone
River State Park, at the end of Lower River
Road in Lincoln. Parking is also available
at Bikeway lots off Rt. 116 in Lincoln, and
at Front Street in Ashton Village,
Cumberland.
July 17: Fisherville,
Farnumsville & the Canal
Grafton Fisherville and Farnumsville are
part of the chain of mill villages along the
Blackstone River in Grafton. Join a NPS
Ranger to discover some of the stories of
these sites, as well as the transformation
that the area is undergoing today. This
program presented in association with the
Polish National Home Association & the South
Grafton Community Center |
 |
| Roger Williams
National Memorial |
| |
July 24: Roger Williams National
Memorial, Providence
Join a NPS Ranger for a lively,
entertaining and informative look at the
history and development of Rhode Island and
its Capital City. Roger Williams’ Providence
looks at the changing face of this city,
from the days of Roger Williams up to the
present, a span of more than 360 years. Tour
begins at the Roger Williams National
Memorial, 282 North Main Street, Providence,
RI. Call 401-521-7266 for more information
July 31: Camp Fire Stories at the
site of new Worcester Historical Museum.
What better way to spend the
evening than a traditional park ranger
campfire? Along with stories, you will have
a chance to view the site of the upcoming
Worcester/Blackstone Visitor Center, which
will also be home to the Worcester
Historical Museum. Program will be held at
the Washburn and Moen Wireworks building at
McKeon Road and Blackstone River Road in
Worcester. Our special partners for this
program are the Worcester Historical Museum
and the Mass Audubon Society at Broad Meadow
Brook.
August 7: Hunt House, East
Providence
The Hunt House is the Headquarters of the
East Providence Historical Society. Lt. John
Hunt built this home c. 1750. Today it not
only tells the story of those who lived
here, but is used to interpret other
wonderful stories of East Providence’s past,
including the Rumford Chemical Company. Our
partner for this program is the East
Providence Historical Society. Program held
at the Hunt House, Hunt’s Mill Road, East
Providence.
August 14: Topic TBA.
August 21: Camp Fire Stories at
the site of new Worcester Historical Museum.
What better way to spend the
evening than a traditional park ranger
campfire? Along with stories, you will have
a chance to view the site of the upcoming
Worcester/Blackstone Visitor Center, which
will also be home to the Worcester
Historical Museum. Program will be held at
the Washburn and Moen Wireworks building at
McKeon Road and Blackstone River Road in
Worcester. Our special partners for this
program are the Worcester Historical Museum
and the Mass Audubon Society at Broad Meadow
Brook. |
|
|
|