Category Archives: Rhode Island

Paul Revere’s Ride, on piano

Posted on April 20, 2025 by David Brussat

William Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, set to piano music, written and played by the Rhode Island pianist Benjamin Nacar. Ben’s playing brings to life most beautifully the cadence of Paul Revere’s famous ride and its memorialization in poetry. It was performed … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and design, Rhode Island, Video | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Fourth of July in Providence

Posted on July 4, 2024 by David Brussat

As a blogger, I am remiss in not having posted for a month and a half, nor have I explained that what I cannot attribute to laziness I may attribute to writing a book, my first since Lost Providence (2017). … Continue reading →

Posted in Providence, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Save Pawtucket’s Ott Mansion

Posted on February 10, 2024 by David Brussat

The headline of this post is the same as when I wrote it as my weekly column for the Providence Journal in 2008. The Read-Ott Mansion was at a most dire risk of demolition then, and remains so now. Its … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Preservation, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Hunting the Bristol baluster

Posted on September 15, 2019 by David Brussat

Some collections grow slowly. My collections of miniature buildings and of historical balusters are moribund. I have about twenty or thirty of the little buildings (gathered mostly on overseas trips) and two balusters – one from the Rhode Island State … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

R.I. still has WaterFire

Posted on August 26, 2018 by David Brussat

The PawSox may be goners, but Rhode Island remains chock full of excellent attractions. One list summarizing what to see or do in the Ocean State comes from Jim Gillis’s column in the Newport Daily News lamenting that “PawSox move … Continue reading →

Posted in Providence, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

When is a folly not a folly?

Posted on February 4, 2018 by David Brussat

What’s in a name? I’ve always loved a folly, but some follies are not as useless as their definition suggests. The London Times has an article about follies called “It’s not bonkers to be fond of a folly,” by Norman … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Victorian hotel evolution

Posted on July 26, 2017 by David Brussat

With the grand history of train station hotel design no doubt cavorting in the back of his mind, British Transport Minister John Hayes argues in yesterday’s post “Sic beautiful transit? Not!” that Britons do not need to put up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Smarting in Woonsocket

Posted on June 7, 2017 by David Brussat

Grow Smart Rhode Island held its annual awards ceremony in Woonsocket yesterday. Before the awardees were celebrated at the Stadium Theater, Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt and deputy planning director Rui Almeida led a tour of the city’s awesome Main Street. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Rhode Island, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Clam shack casino in R.I.

Posted on May 19, 2017 by David Brussat

My wife’s longtime friend Christopher Scott Martin (that’s three first names!) is the author, with David Norton Stone, of Rhode Island Clam Shacks, pub- lished in April under the Images of America imprint of Arcadia Publishing. We went to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Culture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Swallow up R.I., circa 1862

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

The British writer Anthony Trollope, born in 1815, wrote over forty novels plus various nonfictional accounts, including a two-volume North America, published in 1862 and based on a nine months’ sojourn here. In 1823, his mother, Frances Trollope, wrote a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Culture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments