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Stories a place tells about itself, passed down and still repeated.
North Kingstown, RI
Three unusual impressions in this roadside rock have long been explained through local folklore as footprints left by the Devil. Versions of the story vary, but the marks turned an otherwise ordinary boulder into a persistent Rhode Island legend. View from a safe lawful roadside area and do not enter neighboring private property.
Narragansett, RI
Near Gibson Avenue Cemetery is a collection of stone features known as the Druid's Chair, stone circle and, in some accounts, the "witches' altar." Rhode Island cemetery records attribute the unusual landscaping to eccentric spiritualist Joseph Peace Hazard in the late nineteenth century rather than an ancient ritual site. The area can be overgrown and should be approached only through lawful cemetery access. Secondary source: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/38961
Woonsocket, RI
Marie "Little Rose" Ferron was a Franco-American Catholic mystic whose followers reported stigmata, visions and extraordinary religious experiences during her life. Her grave in Precious Blood Cemetery remains a devotional destination, and the foundation dedicated to her records continuing reports of favors and cures attributed to her intercession. These are matters of religious belief rather than verified medical claims.
Exeter, RI
Mercy Brown became the center of Rhode Island's best-known vampire panic after several members of her family died from tuberculosis in the late 1800s. In 1892, townspeople exhumed her body, removed and burned her heart and liver, and used the ashes in an attempted folk remedy for her sick brother. Her grave survives in Chestnut Hill Cemetery and remains one of New England's most important vampire-lore sites.
North Kingstown, RI
This large inscribed boulder generated theories involving Vikings, Norse explorers and even the Knights Templar after its markings became widely known in the twentieth century. Its true origin remains unresolved, and the state recovered the stone after it was removed from Narragansett Bay in 2012. It is now displayed publicly in Wickford at 55 Brown Street. Secondary source: https://www.ri.gov/press/view/19214
Newport, RI
The circular stone tower in Touro Park has inspired centuries of speculation about Vikings, medieval explorers and other pre-Columbian visitors to New England. Archaeological and historical evidence instead strongly connects it to a seventeenth-century windmill associated with Governor Benedict Arnold. The competing theories have made it one of Rhode Island's longest-running historical mysteries.
Exeter, RI
Local tradition connects this small family cemetery with Sarah Tillinghast, whose father reportedly became convinced that she was returning from the grave while tuberculosis spread through the family. The story became one of Rhode Island's lesser-known vampire legends, although the surviving historical record is less certain than the Mercy Brown case. The cemetery is a sensitive historic burial ground and should be visited respectfully in daylight. Secondary source: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grave-mercy-brown
Adamsville, RI
Local legend claims this three-story tower was deliberately built to block a neighbor's view after a feud, earning it the name Spite Tower. Historical research indicates the much less dramatic truth: it was constructed around 1905 as a water tower supplying gravity-fed plumbing to the adjacent estate. The structure is private property but visible from the public road. Secondary source: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/77134
North Smithfield, RI
Simon Whipple Aldrich's 1841 gravestone contains the striking phrase "Consumption's vampire grasp," referring poetically to tuberculosis rather than documenting an accusation that Aldrich was a vampire. The wording has nevertheless made the grave an unusual stop within New England's broader vampire tradition. The stone is in the historic Union Cemetery Annex area; visit only during daylight and respect the graves. Secondary source: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/43658
