The Great Providence Scavenger Hunt

Think you know your city’s history and hidden landmarks? Prove it. Take our PVD quiz to test your street smarts in a whole new way. Then post pictures of yourself on social media in front of the answers to win awesome prizes – check out our facebook page to find out how.

START WEST OF THE CITY
1. Start on a college campus in the northern part of the city. There is a dormitory that is reputed to be haunted by the ghosts of the victims of a 1977 fire. What campus are you on?

2. Head over to the other college campus on the north side. There you’ll find an elementary school housed within that college, named for the college’s founder. What is it?

3. Make your way over to Federal Hill, and find the restaurant (pictured left) that allegedly hosted both Frank Sinatra and John Gotti. Where are you?

4. Most people only think of Atwells Avenue when they think of Federal Hill. But you know better than that, right? Head over to the main street that represents the southernmost border of Federal Hill, marking the line between it and West End.

5. Head down Atwells and follow Harris or Valley into Olneyville. Stop for a drink in Olneyville Square. Find the bar hidden in the back room of a lingerie store. What’s it called?

6. You could use some air. Take a walk towards the West Side. At this point you’re walking past a huge castle (pictured right). WTF is that place?

Bonus: Two movies have been filmed there. Name one.

7. Head over to Broadway, where you’ll walk past a giant white mansion in serious disrepair. It’s one of the city’s most beautiful and most endangered homes, and it finally got a restoration grant this year. What’s the house nicknamed?

8. Head into the South Side. See where Sollitto’s Liquors used to be? Find the new home of the giant chicken statue that once sat outside the store.

9. You’re probably hungry already. Stop for a snack at Johnny’s Chimis, one of the oldest food trucks in the city. What street are you on?

Bonus: If the truck is open, what time of day is it?

10. While you’re on the South Side, head over to the Allens Avenue/waterfront area, where you can both eat at a diner or see an exhibit on the history of the diner at a museum (or at least you will when it re-opens after renovations in September). What college campus are you on now?

THEN HEAD DOWNTOWN
11. Make your way to the Jewelry District. What name is the City trying to rebrand that area as, in part of an effort to encourage tech startups to make their home there?

12. Don’t look now, but there’s a huge Chinese dragon coming for you. What building in the Jewelry District is he crawling down?

13. At this point, you could use a drink. Find the only bar in town (pictured below) that’s housed in a former Masonic Temple. Where are you?

14. Secret societies not your speed? Clearly rules aren’t your thing. There’s a bar and restaurant on Washington Street that used to be home to a speakeasy (and, technically speaking, still is). What is it?

15. You could probably use some fresh air by now, and a non-drinking activity. Walk a couple of blocks to find the home court of the Providence Bocce League. Where do they play?

16. Find the building downtown that has a landing pad for a blimp on the top. What is it?

17. Pay homage to Providence’s bearded heritage at the statue commemorating the man who invented sideburns (pictured left). (And, also, did some stuff in the Civil War.) Who is he, and where will you find his statue?

18. Walk across the street to the building that houses the Rhode Island Foundation, and several restaurants. What was its original purpose?

19. Stay with us here – don’t get distracted by the green line running across many downtown sidewalks that will lead you on a whole other journey through the city’s history and architecture. What is that line, anyway?

20. Time to head towards the East Side. You could hop on a bus and head through the tunnel at the base of College Hill. That’s the only acceptable way to pass through that tunnel – do not try to drive or walk through it. But once upon a time there was a different mode of travel that passed through the tunnel. What was it?

FINALLY MAKE YOUR WAY EAST
21. Start walking up College Hill. Take Hopkins Street and you’ll walk past the oldest building in Providence, built in 1707. George Washington even stayed there once. Whose house was it then? (Hint: the name is the same now.)

22. If you’ve spotted the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, you’re probably on Benefit Street. What building there is he rumored to haunt?

23. Keep walking on Benefit, and find the members-only theatre on the street. What’s it called?

Bonus: How long has it been in existence?

24. Head up College Hill, but stop to pay your respects to our city’s founder. Where is Roger Williams buried?

25. Maybe it’s time for a breather. Stop at RISD and take in a sporting event. The school has a basketball team and a hockey team. What are their names?

Bonus: What’s the mascot’s name?

26. By now you’re at Thayer Street, where Brown has spent most of its 250 years.
Where was the college founded?

Bonus: What was its original name?

27. Brown has extensive archives, including four books bound in human skin. Find it.

28. Which legendary composer has his own statue on Wickenden Street?

29. Even though you’re on the East Side, you’ve found the Narragansett Boat
Club. Where are you?

Bonus: What river are you boating on?

30. Ok, Carmen Sandiego. You’ve made it through the scavenger hunt, which ends on Blackstone Boulevard at Swan Point Cemetery. Which famous author rests here?

Bonus: What does his grave say?

**Completed the hunt? See how you did here.