Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston. Cranston is a part of the Providence metropolitan area.
John Brown was an American merchant, politician and slave trader from Providence, Rhode Island. Together with his brothers Nicholas, Joseph and Moses, Brown was instrumental in founding Brown University and moving it to their family's former estate in Providence.
Oak Lawn or Oaklawn is a historical village in southwest Cranston, Rhode Island. Before being named "Oak Lawn" in 1872 the area was known as "Searle's Corner". The Edward Searle House, built in 1677, and one of the oldest standing structures in Rhode Island, is located in Oak Lawn. The village is known for its annual May Breakfast, a New England tradition that began in Oak Lawn in 1865 as a way for the members of the Oak Lawn Baptist Church to raise money for local American Civil War veterans. The 1855 Herman Melville novel "Israel Potter" is based on the life and adventures of an American Revolutionary soldier who was raised on a farm near present-day Oak Lawn. Oak Lawn is also the site of an important archeological excavation: in the 1950s archeologists discovered bowls and other Native American artifacts, carved from soapstone and dating back more than 10,000 years. In the pre-colonial era the area was populated with bands of the Narragansett Indians known as the "Meshanticut" and "Natick" Indians.
Arthur Fenner was an American politician who served as the fourth Governor of Rhode Island from 1790 until his death in 1805. He has the seventh longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,641 days. Fenner was a prominent Country Party (Anti-federalist) leader. Around 1764, Fenner joined several others as a petitioner for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Wickford is a small village in the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, which is named after Wickford in Essex, England. Wickford is located on the west side of Narragansett Bay, just about a 20-minute drive across two bridges from Newport, Rhode Island. The village is built around one of the most well-protected natural harbors on the eastern seaboard, and features one of the largest collections of 18th century dwellings to be found anywhere in the Northeast. Today the majority of the village's historic homes and buildings remain largely intact upon their original foundations.
The stone-ender is a unique style of Rhode Island architecture that developed in the 17th century where one wall in a house is made up of a large stone chimney.
John Cranston (1625–1680) was a colonial physician, military leader, legislator, deputy governor and governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the 17th century.
The Clement Weaver–Daniel Howland House is a historic stone-ender timber frame house built in 1679. This rare example of primitive 17th-century architecture is located at 125 Howland Road in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It is the oldest documented dwelling house in Kent County and the second oldest home in Rhode Island.
The Joseph Smith House is a historic house at 109 Smithfield Road in North Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is a 2½-story wood-frame house, six bays wide, with a shed-style addition to the rear giving it a saltbox appearance. The oldest portion of this house, built around 1705, is a classical Rhode Island stone-ender house, whose large chimney has since been completely enclosed in the structure. The lower levels of this chimney are believed to predate King Philip's War (1675–76), when the previous house was burned. The 1705 house was built by Joseph Smith, grandson of John Smith, the miller, one of Rhode Island's first settlers. It was greatly enlarged in 1762 by Daniel Jenckes, a judge from a prominent Rhode Island family, for his son, and was for many years in the hands of Jenckes' descendants. The house is the only known surviving stone-ender in North Providence.
The Governor William Sprague Mansion is an historic mansion and museum at 1351 Cranston Street in Cranston, Rhode Island. The house was the birthplace of Governor William Sprague III and his nephew, Governor William Sprague IV.
The Edward Searle House is an historic stone ender in Cranston, Rhode Island in the village of Oaklawn. The house is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the state.
The Broadway–Armory Historic District is a historic district encompassing a mainly residential mixed-used urban area west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island.
The Cranston Street Armory is an historic building in the Broadway–Armory Historic District of Providence, Rhode Island. It was built in 1907 at a cost of $650,000.00. The building was occupied by the Rhode Island National Guard from its opening until 1996. Since then, parts of the building have been used as film studios, and some of its offices occupied by the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal. The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the Armory as one of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places" in its annual list for 1997. Its distinctive yellow bricks, crenellated turrets, and decorative stonework mark it as a historically significant building and neighborhood icon.
Samuel Cranston (1659–1727) was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the first quarter of the 18th century. He held office from 1698 to 1727, being elected to office 30 times and served as governor longer than any other individual in the history of both the colony and the state of Rhode Island. The son of former Rhode Island Governor John Cranston, he was born in Newport and lived there his entire life. Going to sea as a young man, he was captured by pirates, and held captive for several years before returning to his family.
Stukely Westcott was one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and one of the original members of the first Baptist Church in America, established by Roger Williams in 1638. He came to New England from the town of Yeovil in Somerset, England and first settled in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but difficulties with the authorities prompted him to join Roger Williams in settling near the Narragansett Bay in 1638 at Providence Plantations. He remained there for a few years, but he was recorded as an inhabitant of Warwick in 1648, probably having settled there several years earlier. He was most active in colonial affairs from 1650 to 1660 when he was a commissioner, surveyor of highways, and the keeper of a house of entertainment. His highest offices were as an Assistant in 1653 and much later as a deputy to the General Court in 1671 when he was almost 80 years old. He made his will on January 12, 1677, but died the same day with it unsigned, leaving his affairs in limbo for the following two decades.
Domenic Thomas Russillo, AIA (1902-1980), was a minor American architect who practiced in mid-20th-century Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Peleg Sanford was an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving three consecutive terms from 1680 to 1683.
Frances Latham (1610–1677), was a colonial American woman who settled in Rhode Island, and is known as "the Mother of Governors." Having been widowed twice, she had three husbands, and became the ancestor of at least ten governors and three deputy/lieutenant governors, and is related by marriage to an additional six governors and one deputy governor.
William R. Walker & Son was an American architectural firm in Providence, Rhode Island, active during the years 1881 to 1936. It included partners William Russell Walker (1830–1905), William Howard Walker (1856–1922) and later William Russell Walker II (1884–1936).
