- NecronomiCon Providence

Lovecraft’s College Hill
17
Lovecraft’s College Hill Walking Tour
Walking Tour
16
© 2013 by Donovan K. Loucks
Creighton Street
reet
fit St
Bene
e et
Brown Str
1. Market House, 4 South Main Street (1773-74): The ground floor
17. Halsey House, 140 Prospect Street (1801):15
Built
by
Colonel
Street Thomas
nes
Bar
Legend (see
other
for details)
originally
served
asside
an open-air
market. This was the site of the
Lloyd Halsey, this home
was
reputed
to
be
haunted
in
Lovecraft’s
Jenckes Street
18
“Providence
Tea Party” in 1775. Markers at its southwest corner show
time. It served as the Ward house. (CDW)
1. Market House
the
water marks
during
the gales
of 1815 and 1938. (SH, CDW)
18. Jenckes Street: One of the steepest streets on College Hill, better
2. high
Providence
County
Superior
Courthouse
2. Providence
County
Superior Courthouse, 250 Benefit Street
walked down than up... (CDW)
3. Joseph Brown
House
t
(1924-33):
ThisHopkins
immense
building houses the State Supreme Court,
4. Stephen
House
e StreeStreet
19. Cathedral of St. John, Episcopal, 271 North
(1810):
KeenMain
5. Superior
Providence
Athen
æum
the
Courts,
the
Attorney General’s department, and other
Poe and Lovecraft
visited
the
graveyard
here.
The
narrator
of “The
H
PL
6. ListLovecraft
Art Building
offices.
was fond of the Georgian architectural style of this
Shunned House”
reared an urn here in memory of his uncle. Joseph
7. Van Wickle
Gates and
building,
which replaced
anBrown
earlier University
Victorian courthouse.
Curwen’s daughter, Ann, was christened here. (SH, CDW)
8. John
Hay Library
3. Joseph
Brown
House, 50 South Main Street (1774): From 1791 to
20. Sarah Helen Whitman House, 88 Benefit Street (1783-92): Home
9. H.P.
Lovecraft
Memorial
1929
this building
housed
the Providence Bank, the oldest bank in
of the poetess courted by Edgar Allan Poe.
10. H.P.
Lovecraft
Squareoldest in the country. Brown was among
New
England
and second
21. Stephen Harris House, 135 Benefit Street (1763): “The Shunned
20
19
11. town
Samuel
B. Mumford
House
the
leaders
who plotted
against Joseph Curwen. (CDW)
House” of Lovecraft’s story and also the inspiration for the poem,
12.
First
Church
of
Christ,
Street
4. Stephen Hopkins House, 15Scientist
Hopkins Street (1707, 1743): hHopkins
“The House”. Lovecraft’s aunt Lillian lived here in 1919–20.
(SH)
h
c
r
u
14
C
13. Prospect Terrace
Bowen Street
was ten times governor of Rhode Island and signer of the
22. The Old Court Bed & Breakfast, 144 Benefit Street (1863):
14. Henry Sprague House
Declaration of Independence. Providence townsmen met here to
Originally built as a rectory for St. John’s Episcopal Church, it is now
15. 10 Barnes Street
eet
determine what measures to take against Joseph Curwen. (CDW)
en Str
a B&B. In Lovecraft’s Providence & Adjacent Parts, Henry L.P.
w
o
B
16. Jenckes-Pratt House
RogerA frequent
5. Providence Athenæum, 251 Benefit Street (1836-37):
Beckwith claims this building was Lovecraft’s basis for the home of
17. Halsey House
Williams
haunt
of
Lovecraft’s,
Poe
visited
here
with
Sarah
Helen
Whitman.
Dr. Whipple in “The Shunned House” (but see number 24). (SH)
National
18. Jenckes Street
13
The
library owns
copy
of Episcopal
the American Review
in which Poe signed
23. The Old State House, 150 Benefit Street (1762): Rhode Island
Memorial
19. Cathedral
of aSt.
John,
below
his anonymously
published
declared
its independence from Great
Britain
here on 4 May 1776,
et
20. Sarah
Helen Whitman
Housepoem, “Ulalume”. An exhibit of
21
Cushing Stre
Lovecraft-related
itemsHouse
is currently on display here. (SH, CDW)
two months before the other colonies. Joseph Curwen contributed
21. Stephen Harris
22 to the lottery which financed this building’s construction. (CDW)
6. List
Art Old
Building
Lovecraft’s final home (see number 11)24
22. The
Court(1969-71):
Bed & Breakfast
was
from
this
location in 1959 to make way for this building.
24. Benjamin Cushing, Sr. House, 40 North Court Street (1737): A
23. moved
The Old
State
House
12 “Georgian
23 more likely basis for the Dr. Elihu Whipple house, this
Lovecraft
claimed
he could
look into the stacks of the John Hay
24. Benjamin
Cushing,
Sr. House
t
ee
tr
S
g
eetin
Library
from the kitchen
homestead with knocker and M
iron-railed
steps” is also the oldest
25. Shakespeare’s
Head of that house.
11
26 house27
26. The
Brick
Schoolhouse
(1901) and Brown University (1770): These gates
7. Van
Wickle
Gates
on College Hill. (SH)
27.opened
Home of
Franklin
andto
Lillian
Clark
are
twice
a year:C.once
allowD.
new
students in and once
to
25.
Shakespeare’s
Head
,
21
Meeting
Street
(1772):
John
Carter,
w
Ro
28. The
Marineout.
Corps
Arsenal in Selected Letters shows
28
Park Lovecraft
29to Benjamin Franklin, published the Providence Gazette
allow
graduates
A photograph
25 apprentice
et
Olive Stre
29. The
Colonial
Apartments
lace to the Providence
seated
here
and has
the caption, “Lovecraft in Brooklyn”.
and Country Journal here. ItDisenow
foe Phome
30. Ebenezer
Knight
House
, 20Dexter
Prospect
Street (1910): Named after the
8. John
Hay Library
Preservation Society. Joseph Curwen financially assisted the Gazette,
31. Providence
Art Club
Brown
alumnus who
was Assistant Private Secretary to Abraham
and his marriage
30 notice was printed in its pages. (CDW)
31
32. Fleur-de-Lys
Studio
32 The
Lincoln
and Secretary
of State under McKinley and Theodore
26.
Brick Schoolhouse, 24 Meeting Street (1769):
10Built to serve as
33. First Baptist
Meetinghouse
Roosevelt.
This library
holds the largest collection of Lovecraft
a school and for town meetings, this building became the temporary
manuscripts in the world, but is closed for renovations. (CDW, HD)
home
33 for Brown University when it moved from Warren, Rhode
u tucke
Woonasq
t Ri
9. H.P. Lovecraft Memorial: Erected
in a1990
through
the
efforts
of
Island,
to Providence in 1770. (CDW)
ver
S.T. Joshi, Will Murray, and the Friends of H.P. Lovecraft.
27. Home of Franklin C. and Lillian D. Clark, 161 Benefit Street: This
10. Waterplace
H.P. Lovecraft Square: Just over a month ago, the intersection of
was once the home of Lovecraft’s uncle and aunt.
Angell
28. The Marine Corps Arsenal, 176 Benefit Street (1840): This building
Parkand Prospect Streets was named in honor of Lovecraft.
11. Samuel B. Mumford House, 65 Prospect Street (1825): Lovecraft’s
is the armory of the Providence Marine Corps of 9
Artillery.
Brown
final home (1933–37),
29. The Colonial Apartments, 175-185 Benefit Street (1929): Lovecraft
B moved to this location in 1959. It served as the
8
6
home of Robert Blake in “The Haunter of the Dark”. (HD)
bemoaned the fact that this “wretched ultra-modern apartment12. First Church of Christ, Scientist (1913): This site, one of the
house with all urban sophistications” was built on College7Hill.
highest points in Providence, was used for a warning beacon against
30. Ebenezer Knight Dexter House, 187 Benefit Street (1817): Once
Indians in 1667 and against the British in 1775. It was claimed that
the1 Horace B. Knowles Funeral
of
5 Home, this is where the funerals
University
the beacon could be seen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (CDW)
Lovecraft and his aunt Lillian were held.
13. Prospect Terrace, 75 Congdon Street (1867): This small park was
31. Providence Art Club, 10 and 11 Thomas Street (1786-89 and 1791):
2
Burnsidehaunts. It is the third resting place of
one of Lovecraft’s favorite
Lovecraft and his aunts attended art shows here and his elder aunt,
Park
Providence’s founder, Roger Williams; the
statue in honor of
Lillian, had paintings exhibited here. (CC)
za
4
Williams was erected in 1939. (CDW)Pla
32. Fleur deSouth
Lys Studio, 7 Thomas Street (1885): This house, designed
Main
y
th
d Street: The address of this
14. Henry Providence
Sprague House, 100 Prospect
in the 16 Street
-century Norman
style, was built by Providence artist
3
r
ne
St
t
en Dextern Ward.
Biltmore
tree
house was
used as that of Charles
(CDW)
t Sof
Sydney
Richmond
Burleigh.
It also served asethe
home
artist
Park
K
B nevolen
ltohome upon his return from
15. 10 Barnes Street: This was Lovecraft’s
Henry Anthony Wilcox in “The Call of Cthulhu”. (CC)
u
F
New York in April 1926 until he moved into the Samuel B. Mumford
33. First Baptist Meetinghouse, 75 North Main Street (1775): The
House in May 1933. It served as the home of Dr. Willett. (CDW)
congregation was founded in 1638 by Roger Williams. This is the
750
250
500
16. Jenckes-Pratt House, 133 Prospect Street: Charles Dexter Ward’s
oldest Baptist church in0America and the mother church of the
nurse wheeled him past this “little white farmhouse”. (CDW)
Baptists. Joseph Curwen married Eliza Tillinghast here. (CDW)
pec
Pros
eet
t Str
n al
Ca
e et
Str
r
ive
ck R
ssu
sha
Mo
e
Ben
t
fit S
t
ree
ce
en
id
ov
Pr
bo
ee
tr
eS
nc
ra
t
W
ey
or
sset Steret
ee
t
r
ve
Ri
D
Feet
CC—“The Call of Cthulhu” • CDW—The Case of Charles Dexter Ward • HD—“The Haunter of the Dark” • SH—“The Shunned House”
For more information on H.P. Lovecraft, visit The H.P. Lovecraft Archive at:
http://www.hplovecraft.com
Lovecraft’s College Hill Walking Tour
1. Market House, 4 South Main Street (1773-74): The ground floor
originally served as an open-air market. This was the site of the
“Providence Tea Party” in 1775. Markers at its southwest corner show
the high water marks during the gales of 1815 and 1938. (SH, CDW)
2. Providence County Superior Courthouse, 250 Benefit Street
(1924-33): This immense building houses the State Supreme Court,
the Superior Courts, the Attorney General’s department, and other
offices. Lovecraft was fond of the Georgian architectural style of this
building, which replaced an earlier Victorian courthouse.
3. Joseph Brown House, 50 South Main Street (1774): From 1791 to
1929 this building housed the Providence Bank, the oldest bank in
New England and second oldest in the country. Brown was among
the town leaders who plotted against Joseph Curwen. (CDW)
4. Stephen Hopkins House, 15 Hopkins Street (1707, 1743): Hopkins
was ten times governor of Rhode Island and signer of the
Declaration of Independence. Providence townsmen met here to
determine what measures to take against Joseph Curwen. (CDW)
5. Providence Athenæum, 251 Benefit Street (1836-37): A frequent
haunt of Lovecraft’s, Poe visited here with Sarah Helen Whitman.
The library owns a copy of the American Review in which Poe signed
below his anonymously published poem, “Ulalume”. An exhibit of
Lovecraft-related items is currently on display here. (SH, CDW)
6. List Art Building (1969-71): Lovecraft’s final home (see number 11)
was moved from this location in 1959 to make way for this building.
Lovecraft claimed he could look into the stacks of the John Hay
Library from the kitchen of that house.
7. Van Wickle Gates (1901) and Brown University (1770): These gates
are opened twice a year: once to allow new students in and once to
allow graduates out. A photograph in Selected Letters shows Lovecraft
seated here and has the caption, “Lovecraft in Brooklyn”.
8. John Hay Library, 20 Prospect Street (1910): Named after the
Brown alumnus who was Assistant Private Secretary to Abraham
Lincoln and Secretary of State under McKinley and Theodore
Roosevelt. This library holds the largest collection of Lovecraft
manuscripts in the world, but is closed for renovations. (CDW, HD)
9. H.P. Lovecraft Memorial: Erected in 1990 through the efforts of
S.T. Joshi, Will Murray, and the Friends of H.P. Lovecraft.
10. H.P. Lovecraft Square: Just over a month ago, the intersection of
Angell and Prospect Streets was named in honor of Lovecraft.
11. Samuel B. Mumford House, 65 Prospect Street (1825): Lovecraft’s
final home (1933–37), moved to this location in 1959. It served as the
home of Robert Blake in “The Haunter of the Dark”. (HD)
12. First Church of Christ, Scientist (1913): This site, one of the
highest points in Providence, was used for a warning beacon against
Indians in 1667 and against the British in 1775. It was claimed that
the beacon could be seen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (CDW)
13. Prospect Terrace, 75 Congdon Street (1867): This small park was
one of Lovecraft’s favorite haunts. It is the third resting place of
Providence’s founder, Roger Williams; the statue in honor of
Williams was erected in 1939. (CDW)
14. Henry Sprague House, 100 Prospect Street: The address of this
house was used as that of Charles Dexter Ward. (CDW)
15. 10 Barnes Street: This was Lovecraft’s home upon his return from
New York in April 1926 until he moved into the Samuel B. Mumford
House in May 1933. It served as the home of Dr. Willett. (CDW)
16. Jenckes-Pratt House, 133 Prospect Street: Charles Dexter Ward’s
nurse wheeled him past this “little white farmhouse”. (CDW)
17. Halsey House, 140 Prospect Street (1801): Built by Colonel Thomas
Lloyd Halsey, this home was reputed to be haunted in Lovecraft’s
time. It served as the Ward house. (CDW)
18. Jenckes Street: One of the steepest streets on College Hill, better
walked down than up... (CDW)
19. Cathedral of St. John, Episcopal, 271 North Main Street (1810):
Poe and Lovecraft visited the graveyard here. The narrator of “The
Shunned House” reared an urn here in memory of his uncle. Joseph
Curwen’s daughter, Ann, was christened here. (SH, CDW)
20. Sarah Helen Whitman House, 88 Benefit Street (1783-92): Home
of the poetess courted by Edgar Allan Poe.
21. Stephen Harris House, 135 Benefit Street (1763): “The Shunned
House” of Lovecraft’s story and also the inspiration for the poem,
“The House”. Lovecraft’s aunt Lillian lived here in 1919–20. (SH)
22. The Old Court Bed & Breakfast, 144 Benefit Street (1863):
Originally built as a rectory for St. John’s Episcopal Church, it is now
a B&B. In Lovecraft’s Providence & Adjacent Parts, Henry L.P.
Beckwith claims this building was Lovecraft’s basis for the home of
Dr. Whipple in “The Shunned House” (but see number 24). (SH)
23. The Old State House, 150 Benefit Street (1762): Rhode Island
declared its independence from Great Britain here on 4 May 1776,
two months before the other colonies. Joseph Curwen contributed
to the lottery which financed this building’s construction. (CDW)
24. Benjamin Cushing, Sr. House, 40 North Court Street (1737): A
more likely basis for the Dr. Elihu Whipple house, this “Georgian
homestead with knocker and iron-railed steps” is also the oldest
house on College Hill. (SH)
25. Shakespeare’s Head, 21 Meeting Street (1772): John Carter,
apprentice to Benjamin Franklin, published the Providence Gazette
and Country Journal here. It is now home to the Providence
Preservation Society. Joseph Curwen financially assisted the Gazette,
and his marriage notice was printed in its pages. (CDW)
26. The Brick Schoolhouse, 24 Meeting Street (1769): Built to serve as
a school and for town meetings, this building became the temporary
home for Brown University when it moved from Warren, Rhode
Island, to Providence in 1770. (CDW)
27. Home of Franklin C. and Lillian D. Clark, 161 Benefit Street: This
was once the home of Lovecraft’s uncle and aunt.
28. The Marine Corps Arsenal, 176 Benefit Street (1840): This building
is the armory of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery.
29. The Colonial Apartments, 175-185 Benefit Street (1929): Lovecraft
bemoaned the fact that this “wretched ultra-modern apartmenthouse with all urban sophistications” was built on College Hill.
30. Ebenezer Knight Dexter House, 187 Benefit Street (1817): Once
the Horace B. Knowles Funeral Home, this is where the funerals of
Lovecraft and his aunt Lillian were held.
31. Providence Art Club, 10 and 11 Thomas Street (1786-89 and 1791):
Lovecraft and his aunts attended art shows here and his elder aunt,
Lillian, had paintings exhibited here. (CC)
32. Fleur de Lys Studio, 7 Thomas Street (1885): This house, designed
in the 16th-century Norman style, was built by Providence artist
Sydney Richmond Burleigh. It also served as the home of artist
Henry Anthony Wilcox in “The Call of Cthulhu”. (CC)
33. First Baptist Meetinghouse, 75 North Main Street (1775): The
congregation was founded in 1638 by Roger Williams. This is the
oldest Baptist church in America and the mother church of the
Baptists. Joseph Curwen married Eliza Tillinghast here. (CDW)
CC—“The Call of Cthulhu” • CDW—The Case of Charles Dexter Ward • HD—“The Haunter of the Dark” • SH—“The Shunned House”
For more information on H.P. Lovecraft, visit The H.P. Lovecraft Archive at:
http://www.hplovecraft.com