Natural Attractions
Block Island and Mohegan Bluffs: Mohegan Bluffs are a three-mile stretch of coastal cliffs with a 200-foot drop to the ocean. At the foot of these is a beautiful beach, although the prospect of climbing back up the 151 steps might discourage you. Block Island is reached by ferry from Point Judith (Galilee),
- Victorian Southeast Lighthouse
- 1867 North Lighthouse
National Parks and Monuments
Pawtucket: Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (RI, MA) – created for the purpose of preserving, protecting, and interpreting the industrial heritage of the Blackstone River Valley and the urban, rural, and agricultural landscape of that region.
Providence: Roger Williams National Memorial – a landscaped urban park located on a common lot of the original settlement of Providence, Rhode Island, established by minister Roger Williams in 1636.
Major Attractions
Bristol:
- Blithewold – mansion resembles a 17th-century English country manor. Among the finest New England gardens open to the public.
Newport:
- ★ Breakers – Cornelius Vanderbilt 1895 Mansion
- ★ Cliff Walk – 3.5 miles, The pathway along the rocky shore provides views of breakers crashing on the rocks below, as well as the mansions’ gardens and sea-facing facades above.
- The Elms – 1901 Mansion based on the mid-18th century Château d’Asnière, near Paris.
- ★ Ocean Drive – 10 miles of Gilded Age “cottages,” as well as some of the newer Newport mansions.
- Brenton Point State Park – good place to stop for a picnic or just to sit and watch the sea.
- Fort Adams State Park, you’ll find several things to do, including the Museum of Yachting, and President Eisenhower’s summer White House.
- ★ Bellevue Avenue Mansions – between Bellevue Avenue and the ocean; Cliff Walk gives views of the ocean side, while a stroll down Bellevue reveals their facades and grand entrances.
Providence:
- ★ Benefit Street and John Brown House – “The Mile of History,” Benefit Street was the social, cultural, artistic, civic, and intellectual heart of Providence in the colonial and early Federal periods. John Brown House, built for prosperous colonial merchant.
Watch Hill: a delightful old-fashioned resort town with an excellent beach, a lighthouse, and a historic carousel.
Roadside Attractions and Oddities
Adamsville: Birthplace of the Rhode Island Red [RA] – A huge bronze plaque, attached to an even larger cornerstone of a wall. A great illustration of the Rhode Island Red Rooster, inscribed “The Rhode Island Red – To Commemorate the birthplace of the Rhode Island Red breed of fowl which originated near this location.” The plaque is dated at the bottom 1925.
- Mass Grave of Pirate Massacre [RA] – Pirate-minded Block Islanders lured a ship full of German immigrants to their doom in 1738. The mass grave of the victims is supposedly haunted, and the ghost ship can sometimes be seen off shore.
- Perpetually Painted Rock [RA] – It’s not a very big rock, but it is slowly growing larger with every layer of paint sprayed and slathered onto it by passers-by.
- Burial Mound of an Enslaved People Trader [RA] – Captain James DeWolf made a fortune in the slave trade. He was notorious for throwing sick-but-still-living slaves into the Atlantic. When he retired, he built a deer park and found it so peaceful that he built his burial mound inside it, twenty feet high. He died the second richest man in the United States (The DeWolf family mansion, Linden Place, is about a mile from the cemetery at 500 Hope St., and is open to the public for a fee).
- Bristol Historical & Preservation Society, The Most Famous Tombstone In New England [RA] – Sarah Swan died April 17, 1767, at age 20. Her headstone was carved by a cousin, William Coy (who was only 19), and was topped with a lavish carving of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is — according to curator Ray Battcher — the most famous headstone in New England, because Puritans didn’t ordinarily place that type of ornamentation on their headstones.
Burrillville: Tucky the Boulder Hound [RA] – a painted roadside boulder that looks like a goofy, lopsided dog, flanked by two rock kittens.
Central Falls: Big Rooftop Tin Man [RA] – A humanoid figure constructed of metal ductwork stands on a building roof.
- Memorial to Little Bett the Elephant [RA] – marker on the spot where an elephant named “Little Bett” was murdered.
- ★ Potato Head Elephant Tribute [RA] – A Mr. Potato Head named “Betty The Learned Elephant” stands next to the Evans one-room schoolhouse behind the Chepachet Town Hall. Betty is in great shape. She commemorates “Little Bett” the elephant
- Nine Men’s Misery Monument [RA] – Marks the spot where nine colonial-era militiamen, captured by Indians after a 1676 massacre in King Phillip’s War, were tortured and killed.
- Only Place on Earth to Find Cumberlandite [RA] – Cumberlandite, sometimes mistaken for meteoric iron, is only found at this one, back road four-acre site on Earth. Adjacent indian graveyard features Cumberlandite tombs.
East Greenwich: New England Wireless and Steam Museum [RA] – Electrical and mechanical engineering museum emphasizing the beginnings of radio and steam power.
- Grave of a Suspected Vampire [RA] – In 1883, Mercy Lena Brown’s family started dropping dead around her. Mercy “died” herself in 1892 at age 19. When her body was exhumed by family members and a doctor two months after her burial, it had shifted in its coffin and worse — her heart was juicy, fresh and uncorrupted! The grave-exhuming entourage quickly removed the heart and burned it to ashes. The ashes were mixed in a medicinal brew and fed to her ill brother Edwin, who died anyway, two months later. News accounts of the Mercy Brown vampire exhumation at the time may have helped inspire Bram Stoker in penning his novel “Dracula.”
- ★ Exeter Scrap Metal, Scrap Metal Scorpion [RA] – A large green and yellow scorpion, made of scrap metal, guards the scrap metal yard of a scrap metal company.
Foster: Highest Point in Rhode Island [RA] – Jerimoth Hill is 812 ft. high, Rhode Island’s highest point. A cantankerous property owner once made this small protuberance a no trespassing zone — but visits are now welcomed.
Glendale: World’s Oldest Penny Arcade [RA] – The Penny Arcade at Spring Lake has reportedly been in business since the early 1930s. It has some newer games, but lots of old ones as well.
- Little Compton Historical Society, Wilbor House
- Cow Vomit Rope On Display [RA] – If you have a sick cow, you force this rope down their throat until she throws up, and then she feels better. See it here.
- Peggotty – Art Boat Thing [RA] – The artist studio of Sidney Burleigh. Peggotty is a boat that he turned into a thatched-roof studio, complete with doors and windows. It was not intended as a “houseboat.”
Manville: Milk Can – Bottle Building [RA] – The Milk Bottle Shaped Building in Manville used to be an ice cream shop. Originally known as “The Milk Can,” built in the late 1920s, closed in 1968. It was moved here from Lincoln, near what is now the I-295 on-ramps.
- Bruce the Shark [RA] – 25-foot-long and toothy, weighs 900 lbs. The Great White Shark spent years in a nightclub, then was purchased by a seafood restaurant, repaired by local art students, and moved outdoors in June 2019.
- Grave of the Kissing Sailor [RA] – George Mendonsa claimed to be the “Kissing Sailor” in the famous end-of-WWII photo, which is etched into his tombstone.
- ★ Peter Toth Indian Head [RA] – (possibly under repair) One of sculptor Peter Toth’s 70+ giant Native American heads that he’s scattered across the USA and Canada.
Newport:
- ★ Belcourt Castle – Haunted Chairs [RA] – Chairs that make you cold, or prickly, or try to dump you onto the floor. Also a screaming suit of armor. The 60-room chateau offers regular tours and ghost tours.
- Bronze Organ Grinder and Monkey [RA] – Life-size bronze organ grinder and a goofy monkey — who wears a little hat — sculpted by Kay Worden in 1983.
- Dark Shadows Collinswood Mansion [RA] – The Carey Mansion is better known as the Collinswood Mansion, home of vampire Barnabas Collins from the 1970s TV soap opera.
- Mystery Tower of Newport [RA] – a round stone tower located in Touro Park, the remains of a windmill built in the mid-17th century. Alternative myths include: Vikings (1120 AD), Knights Templar (1398), Chinese (1421), Portuguese (1501), English (1583), colonists (1600s).
- Newport Tower Museum [RA] – museum dedicated to alternative myths of the tower’s purpose.
- The Feet and the Wave [RA] – A bronze sculpture of feet sticking out of a breaking wave; a popular photo-op.
North Kingstown: Fighting Seabee Museum and Statue [RA]
North Smithfield: Vampire Grasp Grave of Simon Whipple Aldrich [RA] – In 1841, Simon Whipple Aldrich probably died of consumption (tuberculosis), but his tombstone inscription mentioning a “vampire grasp” has led generations of magical thinkers to proclaim him as a victim of an immortal blood-drinker.
- Happy Dentures [RA] – An oversized version of the chattering, hopping teeth wind-up toy stands in front of a denture repair business.
- Potato Head at Hasbro Headquarters [RA] – One of five known survivors out of an original 37 artist-modified statues. PH is the “official family-travel ambassador” of Rhode Island.
- The Historic Modern Diner [RA] – An old diner confusingly named “Modern Diner.” A favorite stop among those who appreciate old diners.
Portsmouth: ★ Potato Heads [RA] – Two Potato Head statues — Meet and Potatoes and Veno D-Vine — are survivors of the state’s year 2000 family travel promotion, deploying toy company Hasbro’s beloved spud toy. These two are in the parking lot of a supermarket.
- Big Kodiak Bear [RA] – Officially named “Indomitable,” it’s an 11-foot-tall, very bulky, bronze Kodiak bear, standing upright on a four-foot-high base. Sculpted in England by Nick Bibby, it weighs over three tons. On the campus of Brown University.
- Furnished Tomb of General Hawkins [RA] – He and she are interred in this tomb with all their paintings, furniture, and Victorian bric-a-brac. Open to the public.
- Giant Bronze Wildcat [RA] – 12-foot-long, 12-ton wildcat out of bronze. Mascot of Johnson & Wales University. Placed it in front of its sports center.
- Grave of Roger Williams [RA] – New monument at Prospect Terrace Park of the founder of Rhode Island. The memorial includes an oddly-posed statue of Williams, which gazes out at the Providence landscape.
- H.P. Lovecraft’s Grave [RA] – the only reason he’s got a headstone at all is because some fans bought it for him in 1977. What is interesting is the graffiti and artifacts left behind by his fans, which include some creepy quotations and black candles, and the fact he created an enduringly entertaining mythos that spawned hundreds of books and movies.
- Killer Cannonball on Victim’s Grave [RA] – John Rogers Vinton was killed in the Mexican-American War when a cannonball hit him in the head. That same cannonball garnishes his hilltop tombstone.
- Plymouth Rock of Rhode Island Blown Up Here [RA] – Slate Rock was where Roger Williams first set foot on what would eventually be called Rhode Island, after he’d been kicked out of Massachusetts. This was only 16 years after Plymouth Rock, and nearly as important if you value separation of church and state (which Williams did). Rhode Island reportedly decided to do something similar, and in 1877 began clearing land around its rock — with dynamite. An overzealous charge accidentally blew Roger Williams’ rock to atoms. Now there is a simple monument, marking the exact place where Slate Rock had been, now several blocks from the shoreline.
- ★ Potato Head Statue [RA] – Inside the Carousel building at Roger Williams Park.
- Providence Children’s Museum, Roof Dragon [RA] – A large, Asian-inspired dragon hangs off of the roof of a local children’s museum, scaring passers-by.
- ★ The Gun Totem [RA] – A 12-foot-tall concrete obelisk has been embedded with 1,000 rusting guns. Unveiled in 2001.
- ★ Big Blue Bug Solutions, World’s Largest Bug [RA] – The 2-ton blue termite on the roof
South Kingstown: Mysterious Carter Jackson Monument [RA] – Monument erected commemorating the murder in the 1700s of William Jackson by ship captain Thomas Carter. No one knows why.
- ★ Imagine Gift Store, Cow Parade Herd [RA] – Acquired from various cow community art projects, seven artfully painted bovines populate a gift shop along with other odd displays.
- ★ Dunkin Donuts, Regular Joe the Potato Head [RA] – Coffee-themed Potato Head statue stands in front of a coffee shop.
- 1964 World’s Fair General Foods Arch [RA] – One of the few remaining parabolic General Foods Arches that greeted visitor at each of the New York World’s Fair entrances in 1964-1965.
- First Presidential Phone Call [RA] – President Rutherford B. Hayes received a phone call from Alexander Graham Bell while at a clambake. It happened in June 1877. A sign marks the site.
- Red Hot Potato Head [RA] – A six-foot-tall Potato Head is pocked with red lights that turn on at night. It looks like the spudman has an infectious disease.
- Rooftop Tin Man [RA] – A patriotic Tin Man with an American flag stands on the roof of a sheet metal company.
- Tiny Church With Million Dollar View [RA] – A small, fairy tale-style church is a popular spot for weddings, thanks in large part to its waterfront property.
West Greenwich: ★ Firefighter Potato Head [RA] – One of the ten remaining Potato Head statues in Rhode Island, a public art project from the 1990s.
West Kingston: Great Swamp Massacre Monument [RA] – The Great Swamp Fight or the Great Swamp Massacre was a crucial battle fought during King Philip’s War between the colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett tribe in December 1675. Today, the memorial is a quick mile-and-a-half hike for pedestrians, though the road leading to the site is closed to cars. The tree and swamp surrounded memorial feature a rough stone shaft surrounded by low stone markers.
- ★ Potato Head Statue [RA] – A six-foot-tall Potato Head in a bikini, sandals, and sunglasses, titled “Sunbaked 1966.”
- Ruth Buzzi Park Bench [RA] – Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In TV show cast member Ruth Buzzi played the iconic old park bench bitty Gladys Ormphby. The bench was dedicated Buzzi’s birthplace town in 1971.
Wickford: Narragansett Rune Stone [RA] – Could Vikings have carved the mysterious symbols on this rock? Formerly waterlogged in Narraganestt Bay, now high and dry and easy to visit next to a parking lot in a tiny downtown park.
- Angular Abe: Sit Inside Lincoln [RA] – An outdoor sculpture of bent, black steel creates a “negative space” outline of Abe Lincoln, complete with with stovepipe hat. Visitors can sit inside the cramped, skinny 16th President, perched on Abe’s knees.
- Precious Blood Cemetery, Grave of America’s Only Stigmatic [RA] – Rose Ferron exhibited the visible wounds of Christ, including those inflicted by the crown of thorns, for the last ten years of her life. Her tombstone is in French.
- ★ Rose Ferron Museum: America’s Stigmatic [RA] –
- ★ Sistine Chapel of Rhode Island [RA] – Painted in the 1940s by Italian artist Guido Nincheri, on the ceiling of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church. He used its members as his biblical figure models.
- Statue of Hachiko, Faithful Dog [RA]