Documenting Change since 2002

20 years of architectural change

We document the architectural landscape and collect the oral, written, and photographic history of important places in Rhode Island. We hope to be a safe space for storytelling, memory-sharing, and dreaming about the future of the built environment. More about A.I.R.

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1,796 anecdotes from people just like you.

  • I have a question about the L. Vaughn Woodworking and Lumber Business. I read that L. Vaughn Wood working, in Warwick, R.I., closed in 1992. Was there any particular major factor why the business was closed or did it just reach its “just closing naturally” as all things, even...
    Ralph DeMarco Jr. on L. Vaughn & Company
  • Were there any stock or bonds sold during that time or was the co family owned?
    Richard Faucher on Gorham Manufacturing Company
  • I was just a little kid when my dad first took me there one weekend. It was where he worked. After WWII he reenlist with the guard and became a “lifer.” I would spend all day wandering that massive ediface. I was in awe of the drill shed, as we called it, and the two massive g...
    Raymond Laboissonniere on Cranston Street Armory
  • I also remember seeing the Three Stooges on a stage across the street from the carousel. It was either the late fifties or early sixties. I believe they were there to promote something. There was a drummer behind them that provided some sound effects when they poked at each ot...
    Mike on Crescent Park
  • As improbable as it may seem, I am the person who left the unverified historical info here back in 2013, and nine years on I’d like to add my source. From the November 8, 1919 issue of the magazine American Contractor, page 46: “Station: $10,000. 1 sty. 50x90. Vinton st. Archt...
    JP on Vinton Street Garage
  • I lived across the street in 2001 or 2, and bowled there a few time, and enjoyed the weird, kitschy, retro vibe. The lounge sold Miller Genuine Draught in these keg-shaped “pitchers” that leaked all over the score sheets. Good times!
    Jay Savage on Down Under Duckpin Bowling
  • I was a bellboy at the original Ocean House in the summer of 1972. I have fond memories of the guests, atmosphere and creaky, musty old building that by then was definitely showing its age. Bellboys were required to live in the hotel, so I was always there, and we all wanted t...
    Steve Bousquet on Ocean House
  • I worked there for 30yrs I was a lobby maid. I worked under Allen an ohara.an then for the procachantues. Iloved working there, I met a lot of famous people even president Clinton. Then we moved to Florida an that was that.
    Denise Bienvenue on Holiday Inn