Federal-style wood-frame mansion built 1795-1797 and sawed in half to be moved to its current 72 Waterman Street site in 1860; later used by RISD as a dormitory, with ghost-tour lore of disembodied whispers — exterior viewing only.
72 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02906
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
RISD-owned property. Exterior viewing from the public sidewalk on Waterman Street.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Public sidewalk along Waterman Street; some grade changes on College Hill.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1797 · Federal-Style Architecture · Notable 1860 House Move · Library of Congress HABS RI-179 Survey · RISD Campus Property
The Edward Dexter House was built between 1795 and 1797 for merchant Edward Dexter as a two-and-a-half-story Federal-style wood-frame residence with a hip roof topped by a distinctive square monitor — an unusual feature for the period and style. The house originally stood at the corner of George and Prospect Streets on College Hill.
In 1860 the entire structure was sawed in half and moved in two sections to its present location at 72 Waterman Street, a feat of 19th-century house-moving that is documented in the Library of Congress HABS survey. The relocation preserved the building's original architectural character while making way for development on the original site.
The Dexter House was acquired by the Rhode Island School of Design and has been used for both administrative and dormitory purposes over the decades. The Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS RI-179) documents the property in detail. The Wikipedia entry confirms the current address at 72 Waterman Street.
Sources
According to the US Ghost Adventures Providence Ghost Tour and HauntedPlaces.org, the Dexter House's reputation rests on a claim that the building was used as a morgue in the 18th century — leading to reports of disembodied whispers and the sensation of someone sitting on the foot of dormitory beds. We note the building was completed in 1797 (the very end of the 18th century) and that the 'morgue' tradition has not been corroborated in primary historical sources we examined; we present it as ghost-tour lore rather than documented fact.
Residents and tour participants have reported feeling 'menacing, spine-tingling energy' in the home's halls. FrightFind and similar paranormal-tour sites add accounts of a 'forlorn woman' figure inside the home and unexplained cold spots. These reports trace to a small number of overlapping tour-narrative sources rather than independent investigations, and we treat them as single-source lore.
This venue is RISD-owned and not open to the public — appreciate from the public sidewalk only.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
View the Federal-style mansion's exterior from the public sidewalk on Waterman Street. Often included as a stop on College Hill architectural walks and the Providence Ghost Tour route.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Providence, RI
The Samuel B. Mumford House is a Federal-style 1825 private residence with a monitor-on-hip roof and Gothic-colonette-framed entrance. It was originally located at 66 College Street and moved to 65 Prospect Street in the late 1950s when Brown University expanded onto its former lot. H.P. Lovecraft lived here from May 1933 until shortly before his death in March 1937.
Providence, RI
Built between 1783 and 1794 and originally known as the John Reynolds House, 88 Benefit Street was rented from 1816 by Anna Power, mother of poet Sarah Helen Whitman (1803-1878). It is best known as the site of Whitman's 1848 courtship with Edgar Allan Poe, including the rose-garden meeting that inspired Poe's second poem titled 'To Helen.' The house has been owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island since 1959 and remains a private residence.
Providence, RI
The Stephen Harris House at 135 Benefit Street is a colonial-era Providence residence built around 1763. According to local tradition, it was constructed near or atop a former Huguenot burial ground, and a series of misfortunes — failed shipping ventures and multiple stillbirths — befell the Harris family in the early 19th century. H.P. Lovecraft fictionalized the dwelling in his 1924 novelette 'The Shunned House.'