You are now in the oldest settlement of Providence.
The original plots of land granted to the early settlers by
Roger Williams we very narrow and thin running from
the cove (now a canal) on the other side of the Roger
Williams Memorial all the way up College Hill. That
gave each settler access to the water, shoreline and fishing.
Rhode Island’s Constituton still guarantees
the right of every citizen to go to the shore to
collect seaweed. (It was a valued fertilizer).
Imagine dreaming of being a US Park Ranger riding
the range on horseback and the being assigned to ride a
(John) Deere tractor cutting grass in Providence instead.
The good news is that our troop of rangers are the best
there are and they can tell you the story of the founding
of Rhode Island here at the Roger Williams National
Memorial.