John Brown House Museum

This grand Georgian mansion on College Hill in Providence was built in 1788 for the merchant John Brown, a leading figure in the city's maritime trade. Praised in its day as one of the finest houses in the country, the brick residence displays refined woodwork, fine furniture, and decorative arts collected by a family whose wealth came in part from the China trade and, controversially, the slave trade. Operated by the Rhode Island Historical Society, its tours confront both the elegance of early American commerce and its troubling foundations.