Tag: The Superlatives
43 properties
The first, the largest, the oldest…
Manufacturers of one of the finest automobiles made in the United States prior to World War I
At the turn of the 20th century, the largest screw manufacturer in the country
This mill was once the largest lace producer in the country
By the late 1880s, its production of worsted and cotton-wrap fabric was the largest in Providence, employing over 2000 workers
The first permanent, multistory office building in the United States made entirely from shipping containers
The finest example of 19th-century electric power generating plants in the state
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Brown & Sharpe was one of the best-known and most influential machine tool builders and was a leading manufacturer of instruments for machinists
The first department store of its magnitude in Providence established in 1866 — the building would later be replaced in 1873
The second oldest industrial building in the state of Rhode Island, and the oldest in Providence
The largest manufacturer of costume jewelry in the 1950s and 1960s
The second largest remaining former naval base in the country, the largest being Fort Monroe (Virginia, decommissioned in 2011)
The second school for training kindergarten teachers in the Froebel method in the United States and the first private kindergarten in Rhode Island
The first all glass and steel industrial building built in Providence
Once the largest producer of electric light bases in the world
At the turn of the 20th century, the largest metal-working foundries in the world
Said to be the largest plant in world making narrow woven fabric in 1923
Home to the first trust company in New England, founded to support Rhode Island hospitals
In 1894, this was the first direct investment by a British manufacturer in the United States
The tallest building in Rhode Island as of 2022
One of the oldest brick mills in New England
After 1925, the largest laundry business in RI with 150 employees and 16 outlets throughout the state
City directories listed the company as the largest receivers of roofing materials in New England
The largest cold storage plant in New England outside of Boston with nearly 3 million cubic feet of storage by 1910
The first two-level shopping mall in the state
The nation’s first diner to be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places
By 1915, the largest lager beer brewery in New England
In the early years, one of the most financially successful horse racing tracks in the country
At one time, the largest consumer of wool in the United States
The first LEED-certified college residence hall in the state
The African Masonic Lodge was the first institution, other than the Black church, that organized on behalf of African Americans in the United States
With a capacity of 13,000 spectators, it was the largest bicycle track in the country during the 1920s
During the mid-1870s it was the largest single employer in Providence and an important American rifle manufacturer
Under the ownership of B.B. and R. Knight, part of the largest textile manufacturers in the world
Screen number one is 60 by 120 feet, the largest in RI
Built as a church, the building later housed the first private normal school in Providence
The first decentralized “Mill Village” in the Blackstone Valley
This power plant once boasted the largest steam engine in the world, weighing more than 500 tons
The first indoor shopping facility and finest Greek Revival monuments in this country
Voted in 1885 as one of the 20 best buildings in the country
Once the largest manufacturer of cutlery in the world
In 1883 this was the first mill in Rhode Island to be lit by electricity
Under the leadership of Eugene Phillips, it became the largest steel and copper wire manufacturer in the world.