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Step outside to sight see history
The guided walking tours of Newport are a great way for parents to explore while herding little ones. Learn about the history and walk the same streets as our forefathers while expert guides from Newport History Tours spin tales of entrepreneurship, African American heritage, and religious diversity during Newport’s colonial period. These excursions are a great outing for kids of all ages, and a perfect setting for Instagrammable snapshots! To join the tour, meet at Brick Market & Museum of Newport History at 127 Thames Street, Newport.
Peer into the basement
The John Brown House Museum will be free and open to the public for Doors Open RI and Smithsonian Museum Day Live. There will be special curator-led behind-the-scenes tours of the basement, which itself has been a subject of myth and rumor. Learn about the history of how the basement was used by past owners while peering at the Rhode Island Historical Society’s object collections storage. Basement tours will take place at 10:30, 1:30, and 3. Space is limited for these tours and will be first come, first served.
The Great Road Day
Six historic sites along seventeenth-century Great Road (Route 123) in Lincoln, Rhode Island, host special tours and displays! All sites are open free to the public: Arnold House, Blackstone Valley Historical Society, Hannaway Blacksmith Shop, Hearthside, Saylesville Meeting House, and Valentine Whitman Jr. House. You can pile your family into the car and take a short jaunt between all the sites, or just make it a destination day! Explore the area and discover how local residents and visitors lived and worked from the seventeenth century through the twentieth century. Taking place during late September when leaves start to change their colors, a day trip along this route is sure to be beautiful. The historic homes, farms, and mills create a rolling landscape along the Great Road Historic District, which retains much of the Blackstone Valley’s early 19th-century rural character.
Cider Social & Cow Pie Bingo
Little Compton Historical Society will be hosting a cider social with local vendors, a Cow Pie Bingo Fundraising event, and a booth selling vintage and antique items donated by the community. Complimentary cider and donuts will be available while supplies last, free tours of the Wilbor House Museum, a candy haystack, corn husk-doll making, and the last opportunity to see this year’s exhibition, “Little Compton’s 20th-Century Artists,” for free. The highlight of the day will be the Cow Pie Bingo event taking place between 3 and 4 pm. Oreo, a Belted Galloway, will return for his second year of Cow Pie Bingo. Oreo will be accompanied by his farmer, Pete Dellasanta of Pete’s Farm. Pete, who began his own farm in high school and is now a college freshman, will lead Oreo onto a gridded field promptly at 3 PM and the first square in the grid to receive a cow pie will be the winner. Tickets corresponding to each square on the grid are on sale now at the Historical Society for $10 each or three for $25 and will also be sold the day of the event until 2:55 PM. The holder of the winning ticket will receive a $500 prize. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Historical Society.
Lanterns & Legends Tour
Back by popular demand! It’s the Lanterns & Legends Tours at the Old Washington County Jail, where tour-goers will hear about some of South County’s creepiest history, including brazen murders, gruesome executions, and supposed vampires. The tour highlights grim artifacts from the Center’s collection that are not usually on display. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for Center members and students (including college). Tickets must be purchased prior to the event. Tours will be offered on October 20th, 21st, 27th and 28th at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Space is limited, and tours quickly sell out each year.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, please click here.
Lanterns & Legends Tour
Space is limited because this tour sells out every year, and it is back by popular demand! Tour-goers on the Lanterns & Legends will hear about some of South County’s creepiest history, including brazen murders, gruesome executions, and supposed vampires all in the hallowed halls of the Old Washington County Jail. The tour highlights grim artifacts from the collection that are not usually on display. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for Center members and students (including college). Tickets must be purchased prior to the event. Tours will be also be offered on October 20th, 27th and 28th at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Space is limited, and tours quickly sell out each year.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, please click here.
Lanterns & Legends
Tour-goers for this excursion will hear about some of South County’s creepiest history, including brazen murders, gruesome executions, and supposed vampires, all in the hallowed halls of the Old Washington County Jail. The tour highlights grim artifacts from the collection that are not usually on display. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for Center members and students (including college). Tickets must be purchased prior to the event. Tours will be also be offered on October 20th, 21st, and 28th at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Space is limited, and tours quickly sell out each year.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, please click here.
Creepy, Crawly Fun
Mysteries at the museum! Head to the Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History and Planetarium for Halloween inspired fun, all weekend long! Spooky crafts, a museum quest, creature features, and a trick-or-treat bag full of Halloween delight! See bats, mini-beasts, vultures, spiders, and more! Visitors receive a complimentary treat bag and free museum and planetarium admission for costumed visitors. Cost: $5.00, includes museum admission/does not include planetarium admission.
Lanterns & Legends
Tour-goers for this excursion will hear about some of South County’s creepiest history, including brazen murders, gruesome executions, and supposed vampires, all in the hallowed halls of the Old Washington County Jail. The tour highlights grim artifacts from the collection that are not usually on display. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for Center members and students (including college). Tickets must be purchased prior to the event. Tours will be also be offered on October 20th, 21st, and 27th at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Space is limited, and tours quickly sell out each year.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, please click here.
Imaginary Worlds: Storytelling in Words & Pictures
Come explore the “Imaginary Worlds” exhibition during weekly open gallery hours on Tuesdays & Thursdays. The Sayles Gorham Children’s Library and Philbrick Rare Book Room at the Providence Athenæum present an exhibition showcasing the Old Juveniles Collection of Children’s Literature and the great talent of generations of artists and authors who give children windows to worlds they could only imagine. There’s even a scavenger hunt for kids! All ages welcome.