Tag: The Superlatives

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

At one time, the largest stove company in New England

The second oldest armory in the state — second to the Armory of the Artillery Company of Newport, 1835

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

A well-preserved example of early 19th-century industrial architecture and probably the least altered mill in Providence

Started in 1936 as the Brown Network, the first college radio station in the country later evolved into 95.5 WBRU which still broadcasts on the web

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

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 earliest buildings erected specifically for the storage of household goods, at least, in the City, but perhaps anywhere

The first LEED-certified college residence hall in the state

The older building in this complex is one of only a handful of wood-framed mill buildings 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

The oldest surviving intact mill building in Olneyville, dating from 1880

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.

After 1925, the largest laundry business in RI with 150 employees and 16 outlets throughout the state

Called “one of the most important operating industrial sites in the state”