The first of Narragansett Bay's so-called "floating palaces",[1] the luxuriously outfitted Providence and her sister ship Bristol, each of which could carry up to 1,200 passengers, were installed with the largest engines then built in the United States, and were considered to be amongst the finest American-built vessels of their era.

[3] The engines, designed by Erasmus W. Smith, were supplied by the Etna Iron Works, which had only recently installed a lathe capable of boring such huge cylinders.

[7] Contemporary American observers gushed over the size and sophistication of the ships, lauding them as "world renowned mammoth palace steamers", "so far in advance of the type of steamboats heretofore built that they were looked upon as marvels" and "the finest specimens of marine architecture of their day.

The two vessels began running from New York to Fall River, Massachusetts, with a stop at Newport, Rhode Island, while the service to Bristol was discontinued.

[3] In the first weeks of Providence's service, Company President Jim Fisk would dress in an elegant "Admiral's" uniform to personally welcome aboard passengers, a practice which was soon discontinued.

Fisk fitted his ship's crews with uniforms, which had an agreeable impact on customers, and he also employed a band of musicians on each vessel to entertain passengers on their journey, both innovations which would henceforth become traditions on Fall River Line steamers.

On September 10, 1875, one of Providence's paddleboxes was damaged in a heavy storm off Point Judith, and the ship was forced to turn around and return slowly to Newport for repairs.

[11] Providence was retired from regular service after the introduction of two new iron-hulled steamers, Puritan (1889) and Plymouth (1890), but was still used on occasion until Priscilla was added to the Fall River Line's fleet in 1894.

Her last commercial voyages are believed to have occurred between December 1895 and early 1896, when she was called upon to operate for a few days when some of the regular steamers were temporarily out of commission.

After the removal of her furnishings and machinery, Providence suffered the typical fate of wooden steamers of her time by being hauled onto a beach and burned in order to recover the remaining brass, copper, and other metal fittings.