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We've compiled the best of the best in East Side - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Built in 1910 and named for Abraham Lincoln's secretary, "the Hay" houses Brown University Library's collections of rare books and manuscripts. World-class collections of Lincoln-related items, H. P. Lovecraft letters, Napoléon's death mask, Walt Whitman's personal copy of Leaves of Grass, and 6,000 toy soldiers are of particular interest. The library is open to the public from 9 am to 5 pm, but you need a photo ID to enter.
This pocket park in College Hill offers one of the most scenic views of Downtown, particularly in the fall when the surrounding foliage plays spectacularly off the urban backdrop. Prospect Terrace's centerpiece is a statue of Roger Williams, Rhode Island's forward-thinking founder—who here seems to be groovin' to the 1980s song "Walk Like an Egyptian." In reality, however, he's buried under the statue.
This 4½-acre park dedicated to Rhode Island's founder has a symbolic well to mark the site of the spring around which Roger Williams built Providence's original settlement in 1636. A visitor center has a five-minute film about the park's namesake. The modest park has gardens, several picnic tables, public restrooms, and 20 free parking spaces (a two-hour parking limit is strictly enforced).
Bustling Thayer Street bears a proud old New England name and is very much a part of campus life at Brown, RISD, and other local colleges. Gentrification has resulted in an influx of chain stores. In the blocks between Waterman and Bowen Streets, though, you'll still find fashion boutiques, shops selling funky gifts, the art deco--style Avon Cinema, and restaurants serving every kind of cuisine from Greek to Korean.
Named for a Baptist minister who was one of Providence's first settlers, this main artery in the Fox Point district is home to antiques stores, art galleries, and trendy cafés. It also hosts the Coffee Exchange, one of the area's most popular gathering spots. Sidewalk sales are held in the spring and fall. Once home to mainly working-class Portuguese-Americans, the Wickenden Street area has become a popular area for off-campus student housing; Our Lady of the Rosary Church on adjacent Traverse Street still conducts some weekend Masses in Portuguese. Broadway impresario George M. Cohan was born at 536 Wickenden St.; look for his statue at the corner of Governor St.
