List: An Inventory of Historic Engineering & Industrial Sites, 1978

41 properties

Properties on this list have been surveyed as part of “RHODE ISLAND: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites”, by Gary Kulik and Julia C. Bonham. Full document from the RIHPHC (pdf)

  • A large mill built in stages with an iconic square, open-top stair tower visible from Interstate 95.

    East Side | Built: 1830 et seq.

  • A small, square remnant of a much larger Riverside Mills complex remained as City property for almost 30 years before being torn down.

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1863 and circa 1910 | Demolition: 2014

  • A long-standing and intact example of mill architecture from the late 1800s, available as studio and commercial space

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1871–1899

  • An aging complex of four buildings, three more than 150 years old, that once housed the largest stove manufacturer in New England

    Fox Point/India Point | Built: 1849 and later

  • A fine example of turn-of-the-19th-century hydroelectric power generation situated below Pawtucket Falls along the Blackstone River

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1893–94
    Added to NRHP: November 1983 | NRHP Reference Number: 83003805 (individual)

  • Slow and steady wins this race — vacated in 1964, some of the buildings were in use as early as 1988, but only 30 years later has the entire complex been redeveloped

    Smith Hill | Built: 1872–1941
    Added to NRHP: April 18, 2003 | NRHP Reference Number: 03000081 (individual)

  • A late 19th-century mill building used originally as a machine shop but largely as a cording manufacturer that converted to residential in 2004

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1888–1889
    Added to NRHP: 1982 | NRHP Reference Number: 82000135 (contributing)

  • The “Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge” at Crook Point was abandoned in 1976 but once carried Providence, East Providence, Warren, & Bristol train lines

    Fox Point/India Point | Built: 1907

  • A large 250,000 sf brick mill complex used for rubber manufacture over almost 100 years, now divided into office and retail space

    Jewelry District | Built: 1884—1926
    Added to NRHP: June 1980 | NRHP Reference Number: 80000093 (individual)

  • A late ninteenth century dye house of the larger Weybosset Mills which has lately become a boutique hotel

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1880–1890
    Added to NRHP: January 2008 | NRHP Reference Number: 07001381 (individual)

  • An over 180-year-old mill structure with the Woonasquatucket river at its back and a former office building fronting Manton Avenue

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1835
    Added to NRHP: June 18, 1979 | NRHP Reference Number: 79000055

  • A striking 3-story mansard former office building for a larger manufacturing complex of woven goods turned into various small office spaces

    Charles | Built: 1869
    Added to NRHP: 1970 | NRHP Reference Number: 709380013 (contributing)

  • A handsome, symmetrical façade, Greek-revival inspired mid-19th-century mill building that seems to have always been well cared for

    Fox Point/India Point | Built: 1869

  • A mid-sized 4-story mill of red brick and stucco in the middle of a residential neighborhood became apartments in 2009

    West Side | Built: 1910
    Added to NRHP: May 1, 1974 | NRHP Reference Number: 74000047 (contributing)

  • An early conversion from industrial mill to residential and commercial space visible from the highway as visitors enter from Massachusetts

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1860, 1866

  • This four hundred foot long mill had a big part to play in the industrial revolution as home to the inventor James Brown

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1848
    Added to NRHP: 1982 | NRHP Reference Number: 82000135 (contributing)

  • One of the last operating woven product mills in the area, closing in 2001, and later converted to residential starting in 2007

    Central Falls, RI | Built: 1824, 1860s
    Added to NRHP: July 1976 | NRHP Reference Number: 76000007 (contributing)

  • One of the first condominium mill conversions in Pawtucket, taking full advantage of the picturesque Blackstone river

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1901
    Added to NRHP: September 6, 2002 | NRHP Reference Number: 02000952 (contributing)

  • This imposing, 6-story cold storage facility ran continuously for 98 years. It fell to the wrecking ball before converting these buildings became the cool thing to do

    Smith Hill | Built: 1894-1911 | Demolition: 1998

  • A large mill complex of 13 buildings on 2 acres was converted to apartments and commercial space in 2005

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1881–1930
    Added to NRHP: July 11, 2003 | NRHP Reference Number: 03000656 (individual)

  • A large mill complex on the West Side of Providence turns into residential lofts at the beginning of the boom

    West Side | Built: 1865
    Added to NRHP: January 1980 | NRHP Reference Number: 80000001 (individual)

  • A beaux-arts beauty of a train station decays twenty-one feet over the tracks on the city line between Pawtucket and Central Falls

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1915

  • A stone mill formerly used as a machine parts manufacturer and now commercial office space

    Jewelry District | Built: 1848, 1863, 1907
    Added to NRHP: December 1985 | NRHP Reference Number: 85003088 (contributing)

  • This 175 year old stone mill suffered a suspicious and devastating fire in 2005 which razed it to the ground

    Warwick, RI | Built: 1822 | Demolition: 2006

  • A 1980s conversion from industrial to residential condominiums by the same developer of the Davol Rubber Company

    Fox Point/India Point | Built: 1845, 1864, 1893
    Added to NRHP: November 10, 1970 | NRHP Reference Number: 70000019 (contributing)

  • A sprawling pre-Civil-War-era complex with a proud history of metal manufacturing of many kinds, including armaments

    Providence, RI | Built: 1853–1921
    Added to NRHP: August 4, 2004 | NRHP Reference Number: 04000808 (individual)

  • A huge, castle-looking 400 foot long stone rubble mill with two impressive towers joined to a more modern red brick mill on either side of a historically hard-working river

    Warwick, RI | Built: 1876–1919
    Added to NRHP: April 29, 2004 | NRHP Reference Number: 04000377 (individual)

  • An early demolition of a large mill complex that flew under the radar in the early 2000s. Replaced by a Home Depot shopping center.

    Charles | Built: 1850-1880 | Demolition: 2001

  • After almost 100 years involved in heavy industry, this building became home to a variety of office and retail uses

    Jewelry District | Built: 1880
    Added to NRHP: June 1980 | NRHP Reference Number: 80000093 (individual)

  • A tall, handsome mill which was a cottom weaving company for about 35 years before becomming a realty company that rented space to other businesses — now residential lofts

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1881
    Added to NRHP: 1982 | NRHP Reference Number: 82000135 (contributing)

  • An early 19th-century complex with two granite stone mills in the first “Mill Village” is converted into residential apartments

    North Smithfield, RI | Built: 1806, 1826, 1843, 1893
    Added to NRHP: April 1973 | NRHP Reference Number: 73000002 (contributing)

  • A small flatiron-style 19th century mill building right on the bank of the Moshassuck River in a formerly dense industrial area

    Charles | Built: 1871–1876
    Added to NRHP: 1970 | NRHP Reference Number: 709380013 (contributing)

  • An mid-19th-century mill falters in its second life but gains a third life in the late 2010s to become residential with a boutique hotel on the same property

    Warwick, RI | Built: 1863, 1866, 1870–1874 | Demolition: 2006
    Added to NRHP: June 1972 | NRHP Reference Number: 72000019 (individual)

  • This 120-year old station has see fires and rehabilitation, but the remarkably handsome structure is still standing and useful and full of tenants

    Downtown Providence | Built: 1896-98
    Added to NRHP: February 1975 | NRHP Reference Number: 75000003 (individual)

  • A 400,000+ sq. ft. series of mill buildings dating from 1870 and converted to residential units after suffering a devastating fire that leveled half the complex

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1847–1870 | Demolition: partial post-fire 2010
    Added to NRHP: 2010 | NRHP Reference Number: 10001218 (expanded)

  • A huge turn-of-the-century brick barn for trolleys that was later used by the Narragansett Brewing Company for storage & distribution.

    Cranston, RI | Built: 1900 | Demolition: 2005

  • The one that started a revolution. A 13 acre site, bounded by Atwells Ave, Eagle Street, and Valley Street, housing cheap artist studio space and the famous Fort Thunder arts collective.

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1866-1875 | Demolition: 2002

  • A recently underutilized mill building with distinctive central octoganol tower to become 225 apartments and commercial space

    North End | Built: 1862–1906
    Added to NRHP: 1981 | NRHP Reference Number: 83003867 (contributing)

  • A large complex of mill buildings spread out over three city blocks is only partially intact and undergoing revitalization in different forms

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: 1836–1937 | Demolition: partial circa 1992
    Added to NRHP: January 2008 | NRHP Reference Number: 07001381 (individual)

  • A circa 1900 collection of mill buildings are still in use as manufacturing, small business space, and studios even though the building itself needs maintenance

    Olneyville/Valley | Built: ca 1885, ca 1900, ca 1937
    Added to NRHP: January 2008 | NRHP Reference Number: 07001381 (individual)

  • A former screw and fastener manufacturer that has been revitalized as a cooperative craft brewing collective

    Pawtucket, RI | Built: 1845, 1860, 1885, 1920
    Added to NRHP: 1982 | NRHP Reference Number: 82000135 (contributing)