Discoveries
Where it all began The First Baptist Church building in Warren, RI, stands on the original site of the college that became Brown. Credit: Brown University / Elaine Beebe

The small-town birthplace of Brown University

Although the British and Hessian troops burned down the original structure in 1778, you can still drop by the East Bay site of Brown’s first matriculation and Commencement. Here’s to the Class of 1769 – all seven of them.
By Elaine Beebe  |  July 21, 2008  |  Email to a friend

Drive south on Main Street in Warren, R.I., past the Dunkin Donuts, the first of several antique shops, the big purple building with the cow sticking out and ... Brown University?

Not its current incarnation, of course. But on the site of Warren’s First Baptist Church at 407 Main St., Brown was established in 1764 as Rhode Island College.

The Rev. James Manning moved to Rhode Island from Scotch Plains, N.J., to serve as the first pastor of the Baptist Meeting House, as it was then called, and as the college’s first president. Brown enrolled its first students in 1765, becoming the seventh institution of higher education in the 13 colonies. The first Commencement was held in Warren in September 1769: a class of seven students.

However, the present church at the corner of Main and Miller streets isn't where the first Brunonians received their education. The original Baptist building was 44 square feet with a four-sided hip roof, according to church records. A ship bell was installed in the small belfry; its rope hung down in the center of the middle aisle.

During a British-Hessian raid in 1778, the building burned to the ground. By that time, Rhode Island College was no longer in Warren. The school moved to Providence in 1770; in 1804 it was renamed Brown University in honor of a $5,000 donation from Nicholas Brown, a local merchant.

: Today, a white sign on the First Baptist Church lawn in Warren explains Brown’s history at the site, and the current church has some distinction of its own.

Built in 1844, it was designed by Russell Warren, architect of the Providence Arcade (a National Historic Landmark) and of many Bristol residences that mark the local architectural transition from late Georgian to Federal. The church is open during services or by appointment: call (401) 245-3669 or (401) 245-6130.

And if you’re really into historic houses of worship, Warren’s small downtown is also home to the oldest Masonic temple in New England (39 Baker St.) and Rhode Island’s first Methodist Church (25 Church St.).