Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints baptized two converts in Rhode Island before persecutors drove them out in 1832. Records indicate a congregation was formed four years later, and another in 1844 with 221 members. Many converts immigrated west to gather with fellow Church members. Some Church members stayed in Rhode Island en route to the Great Basin. In 1876, Erastus Snow wrote that he and another missionary met with Saints in Pawtucket who were on their way to the Great Basin from England.
The Church received favorable publicity in 1899 when the Providence Journal and the Telegram reported the events of a mission conference. Missionaries reported that residents treated them kindly. In 1938, members purchased and remodeled a private library in Providence that served as a meetinghouse until 1960.