News Article mentioning HPL

Culture, history — and food — awaits in Providence
By ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 22, 2009

(excerpt)at: Article


DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT HISTORY?: That’ll change after a visit to the city’s leafy East Side, chock-a-block with historic houses and churches, elite universities — and even a cemetery of note.

Look for these landmarks in the College Hill neighborhood, home to RISD and Brown University:

—The towering white steeple marks the First Baptist Church in America. The nation’s oldest Baptist congregation was established in 1638 by Roger Williams, the theologian best known for creating the colony of Rhode Island on principles of religious tolerance; 75 N. Main St., First Baptist Church in America.

—The genteel Benefit Street is the address of the Providence Athenaeum, a membership library dating to 1753 where poet Edgar Allen Poe is said to have courted love interest Sarah Helen Whitman. Browse the stacks for free inside the Greek Revival building; 251 Benefit St., Providence Athenaeum.

—Since you’re in the neighborhood, check out the view of downtown from Prospect Terrace Park. You’ll know you’re there by the oversized statue of Roger Williams.

—And if you’re into politics, follow the dome to Rhode Island’s Statehouse, an impressive marble monument completed in 1904. The state’s General Assembly and governor conduct business here. Tours are available.

—For a slightly ghoulish thrill, visit the sprawling Swan Point Cemetery — also on the East Side and stretching along Blackstone Boulevard. Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft is buried here, as are Civil War generals and past Rhode Island governors; 585 Blackstone Blvd.