Prospect Terrace has long been a strategic hilltop in Providence, first used for a beacon that communicated between settlements along Narragansett Bay and later, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, for a tall beacon that formed part of the area's defenses and fortifications. In 1775, Prospect Hill fort was built around the beacon on the brow of the hill, and remnants of its earthworks were still visible in the 1850's near the northeast corner of what is now Prospect Terrace. In 1863, public-spirited citizens bought the land and gave it to the city as a public park, where a retaining wall created a terrace overlook that became a popular destination with benches, a carriageway, a tall flagpole, and an ornate central fountain. The site was also chosen for a grand monument to honor Roger Williams and serve as the resting place for his remains, but although various proposals were made, a commemorative monument was not achieved until decades later. With the city's tercentenary in 1936, renewed commitment led to expansion of the park to nearly three times its original size, and architect Ralph Walker was commissioned to redesign it with a monument to Williams. Sculptor Leo Friedlander designed the statue within the monument seen today. Walker's original plan called for a dramatic composition centered on a fourteen-foot statue of Roger Williams in a massive granite portal supported by a high marble-clad retaining wall, approached by a grand walkway from the Old State House on Benefit Street, with broad steps leading to a terrace decorated with statues of prominent Native American tribal leaders and a large reflecting pool. From there, Roger Williams would have overlooked the city he founded, standing with hand extended at the bow of the boat that carried him across the Seekonk River. The design was reduced before construction, and the monument as built includes only the upper portion of the original concept: the portal with statue, a repository for Roger Williams' ashes and a time capsule, and the overlook terrace with walks and lawn. Visitors still enjoy a magnificent view of Providence and the western hills beyond, while the memorial stands as a lasting tribute to Roger Williams' statesmanship, tolerance, and justice.
