The Tall Ship Providence, a reproduction of the original Providence, has arrived at its new permanent home in Old Town!
Just before midnight on July 1, 2019, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge opened to allow entry for Providence to come through and be greeted by the Alexandria Fire Department’s water arch. Providence was accompanied by welcome boats that guided her to her new home in Old Town.
Guests now have the chance to board and learn more about this reproduction of the original Providence, a merchant ship once called Katy and owned by John Brown of Rhode Island (one of the brothers for which Brown University was named). When Rhode Island decided to establish its own small navy to protect its merchant ships from British Navy captains, Brown chartered 
the ship to the colony to become the flagship of the tiny, two-vessel Rhode Island navy. Katy was later renamed Providence, and became the fifth ship commissioned in the Continental Navy, ending up one of the most renowned ships in the Revolutionary War!
Old Town’s Providence reproduction was built for the American Bicentennial celebration in 1976 and has appeared in a number of tall ship festivals and several movies, including two of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Now, it will enliven Alexandria’s waterfront.
“We are delighted to bring Providence to Alexandria. Providence will entertain, educate and serve as an economic development vehicle for the City,” says Clair Sassin, executive director of the Tall Ship Providence Foundation in a press release. “We are looking forward to welcoming City residents and tourists alike aboard the ship.”
The ship opens to the public in late summer when visitors can step aboard and learn about 18th-century life on the sea, the history of the original ship, and meet a John Paul Jones re-enactor. Weekly sails, tours, craft brew cruises, private tours, and charters will take place.
