At the corner of Benefit and Benevolent Streets, your First Unitarian Church of Providence carries on as an American Unitarian Universalist congregation. The congregation was founded in 1723; for many years it was known as the First Congregational Church of Providence. The First Congregational Society formed in 1721 and erected its first house of worship in 1723, the building called the "Old Town House" that stood where the Providence County Courthouse now stands.
By 1728 there were nine members of the congregation, led by Josiah Cotton as pastor. A larger church was later built on this very corner, but that building was destroyed by fire on June 14, 1814. The current church building was designed by local architect John Holden Greene, who designed many buildings in Providence, and was dedicated in 1816.
Its design places a pedimented portico in front of a tower and tall spire, a scheme similar to Charles Bulfinch's design for Boston's New South Church. Notice the pedimented portico, the tower and tall spire, and the corner of Benefit and Benevolent Streets, letting that long arc of history settle in.