L. Vaughn & Company

About this Property

#Redevelopment

This plain mill building is surrounded by smaller one-story buildings that were part of a former lumber yard. In 1889, L. Vaughn & Company was a smaller operation with a much larger Grimwood & Company Lumber Yard to the west and north and the Stanton & Farnum Marble Works to the east. By 1920, L. Vaughan had taken over the marble works and by 1956 it had expanded into the former Grimwood’s.

In 2004 a street-front, three-story wooden addition was demolished and removed. The empty lot that was left over was subdivided in 2011 to create a backyard for Roam Dog Club, a day kennel and grooming business. In late 2014, the front one-story brick garage was converted from Roam into Ogie’s Trailer Park. Roam moved into an out building at the back of the property and remains there.

The neighboring buildings that were formerly a lumber warehouse are still extant but we do not know what they have ben used for recently.

#Current Events

The larger mill building is currently home to studios and an internet data center. Ogie’s Trailer Park bar is located in front of the building in a cinder-block addition dating probably from the 1950s.

#History

From the “Industrial Sites and Commercial Buildings Survey (ICBS)” by PPS and the AIA, 2001-2002

A large, two- and three-story, brick, flat-roof building set on the north side of Westminster Street. The block set closest to the street is a two-story, flat-roof, brick structure with a modern façade featuring an applied plywood band between the two stories and modern, fixed windows and an offset entrance comprised of a metal-and-glass door. Side elevations of this block show original windows to the north. This block is identified as office space on Sanborn maps. Although this front block has been highly altered, the remainder of the complex retains it architectural integrity.

To the east stands a one-story, flat-roof, concrete block garage with vehicular entrances on both the south and east elevations. This building replaced an earlier, three-and-one-half-story, wood-frame building shown on the 1919 map.

To the north are two large, three-story, rectangular structures (No. 1 and No. 2). The westernmost block was used for the manufacture of sash and doors. The southern portion of this block was used as a sash and door warehouse while the northern portion of this block was used for sawing and planning with storage on the third story. This block features segmental-arch window openings with multi-light metal sash. The eastern block was constructed on the site of a one-and-one-half-story, wood-frame structure used as a lumber shed. This block has a prominent, corbelled brick chimney on its north end as well as a four-story elevator tower. Windows are segmental-arch with fixed and awning sash; fenestration on the elevator tower is comprised of multi-light metal sash. Pedestrian entrances are located along the building’s east elevation. A paved parking lot bound by chain link fencing is located to the east. This lot is identified as a lumber yard on the 1919 Sanborn map. Two small, one-story lumber sheds shown on the 1983 Sanborn map have since been removed.

The firm began in 1847 under the name L. Vaughn & Company, operating out of Providence. The building appears to have been constructed in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The complex appears on the 1919 map, although several small, one-story, wood-frame buildings associated with the property have since been removed. The 1937 directory identifies L. Vaughn Co., manufacturers of sash, doors, and builders’ finish with special detailed millwork and as distributors of Upson wallboard, plywood, “Lucas” paints, and window glass. It remained a Providence-based industry for 120 years until moving to Warwick in 1967. The 1983 Sanborn map identifies the building as L.Vaughn and Company, although the building was occupied by Crest Craft Inc., jewelry manufacturers.