Entry No. 39 — the Providence file — filed under: haunted
Governor Sprague Mansion
A 1790 farmhouse that the Sprague calico-printing fortune inflated into a full mansion by 1864, birthplace of two Rhode Island governors and now the Cranston Historical Society's house museum. The dark chapter is real: Amasa Sprague was bludgeoned to death near the property on New Year's Eve 1843, and John Gordon, the Irish immigrant hanged for it in 1845 — Rhode Island's last execution — was pardoned in 2011, 166 years late. The haunting is friendlier: phantom footsteps and hallway shadows that 1960s seance-and-Ouija sessions pinned on 'Charlie the butler,' whom the society honors with a costumed Ghost Party that has featured mentalist Rory Raven bending spoons in the ballroom. Civil War cannons from Governor Sprague IV's regiment sit restored in the carriage house.
→ Three at a time, never the same twice — explore weird Providence
The story
The house grew as the money did. It begins in 1790 as a farmer's home — central chimney, low ceilings, steep straight stairs. In 1864, at the family's peak, Col. Amasa Sprague made it a mansion: a wide hall under a fan-shaped window, a broad winding staircase, Italian marble on the ballroom fireplace, and a cupola from which four generations could survey the orchards, reservoir, railroad, print works and two villages of mill housing they owned. Two governors were born here: William Sprague III and his nephew William IV, governor at twenty-four and at First Bull Run.
The dark chapter is documented, not folklore. Amasa Sprague was shot in the arm and beaten to death near the Pocasset River on New Year's Eve 1843, with $60 and a gold watch still on him — not a robbery. He had pushed the Cranston council to revoke tavern keeper Nicholas Gordon's liquor license. Three Gordon brothers were tried: William acquitted, Nicholas hung juries, John convicted and hanged in 1845, Rhode Island's last execution. The judge had told jurors to weigh Yankee witnesses above Irish ones; Governor Lincoln Chafee pardoned John Gordon in 2011, 166 years late.
The Cranston Historical Society, founded in 1949, owns and runs it. When demolition loomed in 1966, members led by Virginia Lynch raised the $100,000 asking price — schoolchildren wrote essays and built sugar-cube models — and the society took title that June. Resident managers have lived on site since 1968, and restored Civil War cannons from Sprague IV's regiment sit in the carriage house under a 2017 deal with the Rhode Island National Guard. The ghost is a butler called Charlie, blamed for footsteps, hallway shadows, and a Ouija session that spelled out "tell my story"; his Ghost Party debuted in 2003 and has run every Halloween since.
What it's like
There are no posted hours. You call 401-944-9226 or email the society, and a volunteer opens the house for you — that is the whole model: an unpaid board, resident managers upstairs, and a docent who knows which parts are documented and which parts are Charlie. Tours generally work through the 1790 side first, with its low ceilings and plain stairs, then into the 1864 addition where the hall widens under the fan window and the ballroom fireplace turns to Italian marble. The carriage house holds the regimental cannons. Expect the Amasa Sprague murder and the Gordon hanging to take up real time, and expect the ghost material to arrive with a raised eyebrow. Bring cash for the donation box, and do not turn up unannounced — nobody is waiting at the door.
The move: Call the historical society and book a tour of the house — parlors, ballroom, and the Charlie stories are part of the standard patter — then carry the argument about the Ouija verdict to dinner on Federal Hill, fifteen minutes back toward Providence.
📍 Before you go Appointment-only: the society shows the house by arrangement rather than posted hours, and its website domain has lapsed, so reach the Cranston Historical Society by phone or Facebook and confirm before driving out — local press last shows public events in 2024, so expect a volunteer-run pace. Free street parking; bring cash for the donation box.
- 📍 Cranston
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1351 Cranston St, Cranston, RI 02920
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Old Slater Mill — Samuel Slater's 1793 mill in Pawtucket is where Rhode Island cotton spinning started; the Spragues industrialized it into the country's richest textile house, and the 1864 wing you are standing in is what that money bought.
- The Veiled Crow — Three miles east in Cranston's Edgewood, a shop where the readings are actual appointments rather than a docent's anecdote about a butler — the natural rebuttal to a house museum's managed ghost.
- Juniper Bar — Two miles back toward Providence, a 22-seat room behind a call box whose password is posted Thursday mornings on Instagram — somewhere for the argument about whether John Gordon did it to land, Thursday to Saturday, 6 to 11.
More weird in Providence
Good to know
How do I actually book a visit?
Phone 401-944-9226 or email [email protected]. The society launched a new website at cranstonhistory.org in January 2026, so older links to its previous domain are dead — which is why the place can look defunct online when it is not. Tours are by arrangement; there is no walk-in schedule.
What does it cost?
No published admission. It is a 501(c)(3) running on memberships, rentals and donations, so carry cash for the box. Ticketed events sell separately online: the Halloween Ghost Party, the Tour with Tea sittings in the mansion dining room that began in 2020, and the Taste of Cranston restaurant tasting the society launched in 2025.
How do I get there, and where do I park?
1351 Cranston St in Cranston, about fifteen minutes by car from downtown Providence — the mansion sits on a residential stretch with free street parking. There is no transit shortcut worth taking; drive.
Is the house accessible?
Partly. It is a 1790 farmhouse with an 1864 addition: the ballroom, parlors and dining room are on the first floor, while the bedrooms and the cupola are reached by the winding 1864 staircase or the old steep stairs. Say what you need when you call — the volunteer arranging the tour is the person who handles it.
Any seasonal quirks?
October is the busy month: the Charlie the Butler Ghost Party has run every Halloween since 2003 with a mentalist as the entertainment. The rest of the year the mansion and carriage house rent by the hour for weddings and parties — 50 seated, 75 for a reception — so your tour date can collide with somebody's wedding.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · ournewenglandlegends.com · cranstononline.com
last checked: 2026-08-25