Rhode Island's Vanishing Slate Rock
New England Legends Podcast
Jeff Belanger
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 441, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore Roger Williams Square in Providence, Rhode Island, to investigate the disappearance of Slate Rock (also called What Cheer Rock) – a landmark that was on its way to becoming Rhode Island's version of Plymouth Rock before it mysteriously vanished in 1877.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So we're standing in a small park on the corner of Roger Street and Williams Street. |
| 0:07.0 | Yep, that's where we are. |
| 0:08.0 | And those street names are lost on me, Jeff. Roger Williams. |
| 0:12.0 | Exactly. Roger Williams is the founder of Providence, but also the state of Rhode Island, |
| 0:17.0 | and you can't throw a rock in Providence without hitting something with his name on it. But we wouldn't have to throw a rock very far here. We're standing in Roger Williams Square, a quaint little park that's just one square block in size. This is our destination, Ray. Now, I know you've heard of Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Of course, the nation's number one most underwhelming national landmark. Right. |
| 0:38.3 | We covered that story way back in episode 14. |
| 0:40.3 | We did. |
| 0:41.3 | Still, Plymouth is a national landmark. |
| 0:43.3 | Right. |
| 0:44.3 | This park commemorates the place that was once home to Slate Rock. |
| 0:47.3 | The very rock where they say Roger Williams once stood when he founded this city and state almost three centuries ago. |
| 0:53.3 | Well, that's very cool. So where's the rock? That's the thing. |
| 0:58.2 | Centries after the founding, after Rhode Islanders began to revere this rock the same way |
| 1:02.7 | Plymouth reveres its famous boulder, the rock vanished. |
| 1:12.7 | Hello, I'm Jeff Belanger. And I'm Ray Osier. |
| 1:14.0 | Welcome to episode 441 of the New England Legends podcast. |
| 1:18.4 | Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England one story |
| 1:21.8 | at a time. |
| 1:22.9 | We love stories of ghost monsters, aliens, eccentrics, odd history, and all the other wicked |
| 1:28.2 | strangeness that makes New England like no other place. Reach out to us anytime through |
| 1:32.8 | our website with your story leads. We love hearing from you. We'll go searching for this |
| 1:36.9 | mysterious, historic, and vanishing rock right after this word from our sponsor. |
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