It's probably worth reading through this thread -
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16693One of the players (Darwoth) claims to be reaping the final rewards and being close to closing the server, but it's technically possible that he's nowhere near being a powerful enough witch to actually do so... And even if he was, it's possible he might drag it on for an extended amount of time to try to make a number of huge characters to inherit back to Providence.
However, to make it worth the effort to start on that server you'd need to be able to play for a full 20 weeks (you get to keep an additional 5% every week if you use the family statue, so 100% after 20 weeks) which the server will more likely than not end well before then... So unless you really want a challenge and don't mind getting wiped I'd suggest you just start on Providence and wait until the next expedition (devs guessed roughly 90 days or more after the end of Popham) to get your expedition thrills on.
You could always start on both if you have more time than you know what to do with, though.