Old State House

The Old State House in Providence is a Georgian-style brick building completed in 1762 and remains one of the surviving Colonial‑era state houses in the United States. It hosted Rhode Island’s General Assembly for nearly 149 years and was the site where the colony became the first to formally renounce allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776. The building witnessed landmark legislative acts, including the repeal of Catholic voting restrictions in 1783, passage of a Gradual Emancipation Act in 1784, and the abolition of the death penalty in 1852. Over the 19th century it received significant additions—a tower on the Main Street side by Thomas A. Tefft (1850–51) and an extension on the Benefit Street side by James C. Bucklin (1867)—preserving its architectural harmony. After the legislature moved out in 1901, it served as a courthouse until becoming the headquarters of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission in the 1970s.