Roger Williams Park in Providence RI

Dave and I have been working our way down the list of places we want to go and see before the snow flies and Roger Williams Park in Providence, RI was high up on the list. We poked around the park a little bit this past winter but it was so cold and lifeless, we just knew we had to make a return visit. We weren't disappointed!


Roger Williams came to America in pursuit of religious freedom. He ultimately ended up in what is now Providence RI where he established a colony and founded what what later became Rhode Island. You can read more about his life here.


According to Wikipedia:

The land for the park was a gift to the people of Providence in 1871, in accordance with the will of Betsy Williams, the great-great-great-granddaughter, and last surviving descendant of the founder to own the land. It had been the family farm and represented the last of the original land grant to Roger Williams in 1638 from Canonicus, chief of the Narragansett tribe. The family farmhouse (built in 1773), known as the Betsy* Williams Cottage, and the Williams family burial ground (including Betsy's grave) are still maintained within the park.^[2]

• (While her headstone name spells as "Betsey Williams," through the centuries since she has been called "Betsy" as it appears on numerous articles, postcards, and books.)

The park also contains seven lakes which comprise approximately 98 acres (40 ha). It is located in the southernmost part of the city of Providence bordering the city of Cranston. The park was designed by Horace Cleveland in 1878, and was constructed in the 1880s. Many of the roads, bridges and sidewalks were built by the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1940. Currently it contains the Roger Williams Park Zoo, the Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, the Japanese Gardens, the Victorian Rose Gardens, the Providence Police Department's Mounted Command center, the Dalrymple Boathouse and boat rentals, historical tours, a Carousel Village for children that includes the "HasbroBoundless Playground" which is accessible for handicapped children, the Temple to Music, the Roger Williams Park Casino, large greenspaces, and many miles of walking paths.The National Trust for Historic Preservation has declared Roger Williams Park to be one of the finest urban parks in the U.S.

We spent most of our day just driving around the park, stopping along the way to take pictures of the landscaping and beauty. Another time we hope to actually visit the Zoo, Park Natural History Museum, and Botanical Center. They all look worthy of an entire afternoon!


Some of the pictures from the day ...

The Casino -- just inside the park entrance. They host gatherings here.

Is this Lady Liberty? She adorns the bottom part of the statue of Roger Williams.

And this would be Roger Williams!

Betsy Williams Cottage ... I peeked in the windows and it appears
they are working to restore the inside for viewing.

The beautiful bandstand. It sits just behind (and below) The Casino. 

Roger Williams tombstone in the Williams Family Cemetery. 

Betsy Williams is buried here too. Notice the different spelling of her name.

Another view of the cemetery.

I loved the fence around the family cemetery.
And notice the "ark" on top of Roger Williams tombstone.

This is a view of the duck house in the pond near the bandstand.

This is a statue of  Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski. He is known as the
Father of the American Cavalry and was a hero of the American Revolution.

There unfortunately was no marker indicating who this statue honors. 

The Carousel -- very nice inside!

One of the horses of the Carousel.

A picture of the bridge across the water next to the Dalrymple Boathouse.

Swan paddle boats! They looked like so much fun!

Pretty ironwork on the bridge across the pond.

An example of the beautiful stonework on the roadway bridges around the park.

Doorway into the Dalrymple Boathouse.

There are benches and walkways all over the park. 

A view of the bridge from the boathouse. I just love the many swans in the park.

After we left the park we decided to check our Wrights Farm for dinner. We'd heard about this place that is just over the border in Rhode Island from one of Dave's co-workers. It's an absolutely huge restaurant and banquet facility that basically just serves chicken. It's family style dining and you just pay one price ($11.75 per adult) for an all-you-can-eat dinner. The chicken is oven roasted and the meal includes salad with their house dressing, rolls, pasta with their house sauce, french fries, and chicken. It was delicious and kind of a fun experience. We waited about 40 minutes to be seated -- which wasn't bad if you could have seen the number of people waiting.

It was starting to get dark so I really couldn't get a picture of the place but this huge chicken is above the entrance to one of the buildings in the back.


Now for some interesting Wrights Farm facts (as per our server Lori):


* They are only open Thursday through Sunday
* In those four days they typically serve between 10,000 and 12, 000 people.
* They start cooking the chickens at 7:30 a.m. to be ready for the first guests at 11:00.
* They have 88 ovens and each holds about 30 chickens.
* Unique Eats from The Cooking Channel filmed a spot about Wrights Farm that aired June 26, 2011.

So that about wraps up our Saturday ... another great weekend of exploring!