Discover 5 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Kingston (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Ryan Center, URI Fine Arts Center, and University of Rhode Island. Also, be sure to include George Fayerweather Blacksmith Shop in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Kingston (Rhode Island).
Table of Contents
Ryan Center
Arena in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Ryan Center is a 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Kingston, Rhode Island. The arena opened as a replacement for Keaney Gymnasium, which was built in 1953 for the needs of a much smaller student population at URI. It is home to the University of Rhode Island Rams basketball. The building is named for Thomas M. Ryan, Class of 1975, former CEO of Rhode Island-based CVS Pharmacy and lead benefactor of the arena.
The $54 million center opened in June 2002. The first game in the arena was a women's basketball game against Kent State University on Nov. 22, 2002, and the first men's game was an upset win against USC on Nov. 26, 2002.
The building is recognizable for its three corner towers, which were modeled after lighthouses. (The fourth corner would be where the building meets the Tootell Physical Education Center.) It stands directly next to Meade Stadium, and the original field house and west (visitor's side) grandstands were demolished to make way for the building. There are seven luxury boxes that can view both the basketball floor and the football stadium outside, and new grandstands were built in 2006.
The women's basketball team won the first-ever regular season game in the Ryan Center 53-39 over Kent State on Nov. 22, 2002 and four days later the men made their official debut in the building with a 73-71 overtime upset over the University of Southern California. Ever since, the Ryan Center has been a hard place for opponents to play, with the men's team drawing a standing room only crowd of 8,121 against No. 2-ranked Pittsburgh in 2002, and the women's team setting its attendance record with 3,402 fans against St. Bonaventure on Jan. 16. Both the men's and women's teams more than doubled their attendance from the last year in Keaney Gymnasium.
With the opening of the Ryan Center, URI was able to move all of its games on campus for the first time since the 1970s. The team had played occasional home games at the larger Dunkin' Donuts Center since 1973.[1]
Address: 1 Lincoln Almond Plz, 02881 Kingston
URI Fine Arts Center
The University of Rhode Island Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens located on the University of Rhode Island campus in Kingston, Rhode Island. The gardens are open to the public free of charge at all times.
The gardens were started as the Learning Landscape in 1992 as a donation of materials and labor from the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association. The gardens were renamed the URI Botanical Gardens in 2003.
The URI Botanical Gardens showcase sustainable landscape plants and practices. The gardens feature a home garden and landscape, a Memorial White Garden, the Ericaceous Garden, the Annual Garden, the Formal Gardens and Graduation Stage, the Shade Garden, the Matthew J. Horridge Conservatory and the Chester Clayton Rose Garden.[2]
Address: 105 Upper College Rd, 02881 Kingston
University of Rhode Island
Land-grant university in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The University of Rhode Island is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in the village of Kingston in southern Rhode Island. Satellite campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Downtown Providence, the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence's Jewelry District, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich.
The university offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in 80 undergraduate and 49 graduate areas of study through nine academic schools and colleges. These schools and colleges include Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Professional Studies, Engineering, Health Sciences, Environment and Life Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy and Oceanography. Another college, University College for Academic Success, serves primarily as an advising college for all incoming undergraduates and follows them through their first two years of enrollment at URI. The university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". As of 2019, the URI enrolled 14,653 undergraduate students, 1,982 graduate students, and 1,339 non-degree students, making it the largest university in the state.[3]
Address: 2900 Kingstown Road, Kingston
George Fayerweather Blacksmith Shop
The George Fayerweather Blacksmith Shop is an historic homestead and blacksmith shop at 1859 Mooresfield Road on the eastern outskirts of the Kingston Historic District in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. It was the home of George Fayerweather, an African-American blacksmith and his family, including his wife Sarah Harris Fayerweather. The shop was built in 1820 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The property is maintained by the Kingston Improvement Association, a non-profit organization of local residents, and is now the home of the Fayerweather Craft Guild and the Kingston Garden Club.[4]
Address: 1859 Mooresfield Rd (RI-138 Just East of RI-108), Kingston
Tootell House
Housing. The Tootell House is a house at 1747 Mooresfield Road in Kingston, Rhode Island that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The two-story, wood-shingled Colonial Revival house on a 3-acre (12,000 m2) tract was designed by Gunther and Bemis Associates of Boston for Fred Tootell. It was built in 1932–1933, while Tootell was married to his first wife Anne Parsons. House design was by John J. G. Gunther. Elizabeth Clark Gunther was the landscape architect for the grounds.[5]