USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The civic and architectural development of Providence, 1636-1950 > Part 18
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48. U. S. Census of Manufactures, 1880.
49. Robert Whitten, The Providence Zone Plan, 1923, P. 3.
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plant of the Oriental Mills (established 1860), manufacturers of cotton cloth. The Silver Spring Bleaching and Dyeing Company, established 1864 by Henry Lippitt and Charles H. Merriman in the bleachery of Frieze and Dow (1850) on the south bank of West river, a tributary of the Moshassuck, erected a new mill near the old one on Charles Street, east of a spring from which the company took its name. Farther west on West river, at 725 Branch Avenue, were the woolen and worsted mills of the Wanskuck Company, organized 1862 by Jesse Metcalf and Henry J. Steere.50
A number of plants were located along Woonasquatucket river, the easterly end of which originally was a part of the cove. At the corner of Promenade and Park streets William A. Harris, engine builder (first established on Eddy Street) erected a machine shop in 1864, where the Harris-Corliss steam engines were made. Farther west, on Promenade Street, Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company erected, in 1870, the first building of
Hig.
CO, MACHINERY AND TOOLS.
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UR
ME
251
1872
R.I.H.S.
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co., Promenade Street.
their present plant (illustration above). The firm was founded in 1833 as David Brown and Son, with a shop at 43 South Main Street; it was changed to J. R. Brown and Sharpe in 1853 and was incorporated under its present name in 1868. On Acorn Street, south of the river, the Nicholson File Company erected a plant in 1864; this company was successor to Nicholson and Brownell (established 1858) which had been located, successively, at 85 Eddy Street and 110 Dorrance Street. At Hemlock and Valley streets, north of the river, was
50. The Rhode Island Tool Co. and the Wanskuck Co. extended their plants and were still in operation in 1950. The plant of Fletcher Manufacturing Co. was extended westerly beyond Ormsbee Avenue to the railroad property; it was later operated by the International Braid Co., subsequently vacated. Oriental Mills have been taken over by the American Silk Spinning Co. Allen's Print Works and Corliss Steam Engine Co. suspended operations. Franklin Machine Co. moved from its original location to the Corliss plant and sub- sequently removed from Providence, establishing plants in East Providence and Cranston. Silver Spring Bleachery was enlarged and West river was dammed and reservoirs constructed to provide a water supply; the plant was acquired by the United States Finishing Co. in 1903 and was operated by that company until 1937. American Screw Co. removed to Willimantic, Conn. in 1949.
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1880-1890
the plant of the Rhode Island Locomotive Works, incorporated by Earl P. Mason and others in 1865 as successor to the Burnside Rifle Company (page 131); steam locomotives were manufactured here until the suspension of business about 1890. The Woonasquatucket Print Works was operated by the Richmond Manufacturing Company between Valley Street and the river, west of Eagle Street. On Eagle Street, south of the river, stood the Valley Worsted Mills, incorporated 1872 for the manufacture of braids and yarns; it was the earliest worsted mill in the country and, when first opened in 1842, its machinery was operated by means of a windlass turned by oxen. The Providence Worsted Mills (incorpo- rated 1883), established by Charles Fletcher in 1876, manufactured worsted, mohair and genappe yarns on Valley Street, south of the bend in the river. In the Olneyville section of Valley Street, east of the river, was the plant of the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company (incorporated 1842), founded in 1814 as the Patent Calender Com- pany on Sabin Street where the first steam engine used in the United States for bleaching, dyeing and finishing was put in operation; the company's first dye house, on Valley Street, was a converted grist mill, later replaced by a brick factory. The Atlantic Mills, incorporated 1 879 for the manufacture of worsted and cotton warp fabrics, occupied two mills, built 1851 and 1865, respectively, by the Atlantic DeLaine Company on Manton Avenue, east of the river above its Olneyville loop. Farther north, on Aleppo Street, were the Riverside Worsted Mills (incorporated 1865), founded by George W. Chapin and Louis T. Downs; the earlier products were coffin coverings, cassimeres and astrachan coatings, and later the first worsted goods for men's wear made in the country were produced in the mill.51
Another concentrated manufacturing area was developed along the fringe of Eddy Street. The Kendall Manufacturing Company (incorporated 1860), founded by Henry L. Kendall in 1827, was at the corner of Friendship and Page streets where "French laundry soap" and" soapine" were manufactured. The plant of the Providence Steam and Gas Piping Company (incorporated 1865) was at Eddy and Ship streets; established in 1850 by J. C. Hartshorn in association with Thomas Arnold, William Barbour and Thomas Angell, it was acquired in 1869 by Frederick Grinnell who developed the Grinnell automatic sprinkler. The Phenix Iron Foundry (incorporated 1832), founded by George D. Holmes for the manufacture of textile machinery, stood at Eddy and Elm streets. The Barstow Stove Foundry (incorporated 1859) was established by Amos C. Barstow at Point and Chestnut streets in 1836. Providence Machine Company (incorporated 1879), established by Thomas J. Hill in 1834 (page 137), operated a plant, built in 1845, for the manufacture of cotton and worsted roving forms. At Eddy and Henderson streets were the New England Mills of the American Screw Company, erected 1860 (illustration, page 174). A number of manu- facturing jewelers and other industrial establishments were located on Pine, Friendship and Clifford streets, most of which were tenants in brick buildings four to five stories in height.52
Located in the Fox Point section of the Neck were the Household Sewing Machine Company at Wickenden and Bridge streets, incorporated 1882 as an offshoot of the
51. Of the Woonasquatucket river plants only Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Co. and Nicholson File Co. have survived.
52. None of the manufacturing establishments in this group remain in operation. The Providence Steam and Gas Piping Co. was succeeded in 1893 by the General Fire Extinguisher Co. and the plant was moved to West Exchange Street. The Providence Machine Co. site is occupied by the Franklin Process Co. who erected new buildings. The site of the Phenix Iron Foundry is a part of the Narragansett Electric plant. Barstow Stove Company's building has been converted to other uses. The American Screw Co. removed to Willimantic, Conn. in 1949. Several manufacturing buildings on Friendship and Clifford streets, including Kendall Manu- facturing Co., were torn down to provide parking lots. Others were razed in 1956 for a freeway project.
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Providence Tool Company who erected the building in 1844; the Providence Steam Engine Company (incorporated 1863) at South Main and Bridge streets, founded by R. L. Thurston and John Babcock in 1834; and the Fuller Iron Works at South Main and Pike streets, established in 1840 by Frederick A. Fuller who commenced the manufacture of steam engines, pipes and castings in a factory built by the Fox Point Foundry Company.53
Of the many manufacturing plants which spotted the map of Providence in isolated locations a few were of particular consequence. The American Ship Windlass Company (established 1857) manufactured windlasses, capstans and other marine products on East River Street, near Red Bridge.54 Builders Iron Foundry (incorporated 1853), first established in 1822 as High Street Furnace, manufactured iron castings, water meters and architectural
R.I.H.S.
American Screw Co., Eddy and Henderson Streets.
iron work on Codding Street (page 131). New England Butt Company (incorporated 1853), founded by Nicholas A. Fenner in 1842, manufactured braiding machinery on Pearl Street. Weybosset Mills (incorporated 1865), established by Royal C. Taft and William B. Weeden in 1864, were located on Dike Street in the Olneyville section; operations commenced in a stone mill built by John Waterman in 1836 for manufacturing cotton, to which additions were made.55 Gorham Manufacturing Company, founded by Jabez Gorham in 1813 and
53. The Household Sewing Machine building was razed in 1920 to provide a wider approach to Point Street Bridge (page 235). Providence Steam Engine Company was succeeded by the Providence Engineering Works. The Fuller Iron Works were discontinued in 1933.
54. The plant was damaged by fire April 22, 1904, and went up in flames January 19, 1918; the site is now occupied by a filling station.
55. Weybosset Mills were absorbed by the American Woolen Company in 1889 and are no longer in operation.
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1880- 1890
incorporated 1863 for the manufacture of jewelry and silverware, maintained a shop at North Main and Steeple streets until 1889 when it erected a large plant in the Elmwood section between the railroad and Mashapaug pond.
The Providence Drydock and Marine Railway Company was established at Bold Point, East Providence, in 1884 with facilities for hauling and repairing sailing vessels and steamboats not exceeding 1800 tons in weight (see map, page 220). The three-masted schooner Asa T. Stowell, named for the company's superintendent, was built at the plant and launched October 13, 1891.56
Mayor Thomas A. Doyle died in office June 9, 1886, two weeks before the municipal observance of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Providence, having served as chief executive since the year 1864 except for the intervening terms of George L. Clarke (1869-70) and William A. Hayward (1881-84). A bronze statue of Mayor Doyle, designed by Henry H. Kitson, was erected on Cathedral Square (illustration, page 176) and dedicated June 3, 1889. Another monument, a bronze equestrian statue of General Ambrose E. Burnside, executed by Launt Thompson, was erected on a foundation of piles in front of the Central Fire Station57 at the east end of Exchange Place and dedicated July 4, 1887.
56. The drydock continued operations until 1919 when the reduced number of small water craft caused its liquidation. A drydock capable of handling larger craft was constructed on Allen's Avenue, north of Harbor Junction Pier (see map, page 220), in 1918 by the Marine Engineering and Drydock Company, but operations were suspended after a few years; the plant was later occupied by Wallace and Tucker Lumber Company.
57. The Burnside monument was moved to City Hall Park in 1905.
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Slater Mill, Pawtucket, established 1793
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Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, consecrated 1889, Cathedral Square. Doyle monument in foreground.
CHAPTER 15 1890 - 1900
A LTHOUGH the street directories of the early nineties listed several hundred "avenues," none of these had any characteristic distinguishing it from an ordinary street until Elmwood Avenue was opened in 1892 from Broad street to Elmwood Park. This was originally a section of the Greenwich Middle Road (page 28) and was named Greenwich Street after a part of Cranston had been re-annexed to Providence in 1868; the westerly fork, at Elmwood Park, was called Reservoir Avenue after completion of Sockanosset Reservoir (page 135) and the continuation of Greenwich Street, leading to Roger Williams Park, was named Elmwood Avenue in 1872. Greenwich Street, in 1890, was an attractive residential highway, 49 feet wide, its sidewalks bordered by large elm trees, and car tracks extending through the middle of the roadway, continuing to Roger Williams Park. Plans for the improvement of Greenwich Street,1 made by City Engineer J. Herbert Shedd, retained the 30-foot roadway, the curbings, and the trees, and increased the width to 73 feet by adding to each side a 6-foot grass strip, a 612-foot space for car tracks (removed from the roadway), and a 9-foot sidewalk. As most of the residences on the street were set well back from the sidewalk the land condemned for the widening consisted principally of lawn areas. The project was approved by the City Council June 30, 1891, and the reconstructed highway was opened the following year and re-named Elmwood Avenue.2
Another highway improvement was the layout of Blackstone Boulevard, first proposed by the Proprietors of Swan Point Cemetery in 1886. At that time Butler Avenue (built about 1870) extended northerly to North Street (Rochambeau Avenue) and, from the intersection, the old Neck Road (page 15) ran east and north through the cemetery grounds3 to Pawtucket. The cemetery directors engaged the services of H. W. S. Cleveland of Chicago, Illinois, under whose direction plans were made for a boulevard 200 feet wide, composed of a central park area flanked by roadways, grass strips and sidewalks. A highway act was passed by the General Assembly in 1890, under which the Supreme Court appointed a commission on the laying out, widening and extension of Butler Avenue to East Avenue in Pawtucket. Construction of the highway, which followed the Cleveland plan and was designated Blackstone Boulevard, was started in 1892; the roadways were completed in 1894 but the park area was not developed until 1904 (page 203). The cemetery erected a boulder wall along its property on the east side of the boulevard in which a new entrance gate was installed.
The old method of paving the principal city highways with cobblestones (page 143) was discontinued in 1886 when Market Square and Dorrance Street were re-paved with granite blocks, laid on a concrete foundation. The highly rounded form of roadway also was
I. C.D. No. 10, 1892.
2. The southerly part of Elmwood Avenue, extending to Roger Williams Park, subsequently was developed in the same manner. When the highway was reconstructed in 1938 the car tracks and trees were removed and the highway widened (page 262).
3. See pages 119, 149. By further acquisitions of land the cemetery owned about 123 acres west of the Neck road, mostly undeveloped, extending in part as far as East Avenue (Hope Street). Compare Cady, Swan Point Cemetery, A Centennial History, 1947, pp. 29-30.
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View south from Canal Street c. 1890. Cove Street (Burnside) Bridge, center foreground, intersected by bridge with tracks for freight cars. Weybosset Bridge, left center beyond Union Railroad Depot. Washington Row Bridge (center) and Washington Buildings (1843-1916). Central Fire Station (lower right), 1873-1902.
1890 - 1900
abandoned, and after 1889 highways were constructed with nearly flat surfaces from curb to curb.4 The first asphalt paving was laid on Union Street in 1891,5 and proved so successful that it was adopted for re-paving Pine Street in 1893 and Broadway in 1894,6 to the satis- faction of bicycle riders who thronged those highways.
Mayor Edwin D. McGuinness reported, in his inaugural address in 1897, a total of 174 miles of paved streets, surfaced as follows: macadam, 81.6 percent; granite blocks, 14.4 percent; cobblestones, 1.8 percent; asphalt, 1.6 percent; and other methods, 0.6 percent.
The Union Railroad Company was granted permission by the City Council, in 1891, to operate the "overhead trolley system" on its rails,7 and the first trolley line was opened on the Broad Street route in the following year, instituting a new era in street railway transportation. Other horse car lines, as well as the cable tramway line, were soon electrified and on April 24, 1894, the last of the horse cars were withdrawn from the streets of Providence.8 Grip cars, attached to counterweights, were coupled to cars operating on College Hill whose grade of 16 percent was too steep for electric propulsion (illustration, page 180). Following the passage by the General Assembly, in 1892, of an exclusive franchise act for the Union Railway Company to operate in Providence and its suburbs, and the authorization of an issue of bonds, that company erected a power house on Eddy Street, north of Point Street, in 1893. The lines soon began to expand into suburban districts and rails were laid on Washington Bridge in 1894 and on Red Bridge in 1895, over which cars were run to East Providence.
Construction work incident to the terminal development plan (page 163) was continued during the nineties. The retaining walls, erected through the Cove basin to confine the rivers in their new courses and completed in 1892, provided a width of 100 feet for the Woonas- quatucket and 50 feet for the Moshassuck, the two rivers converging into Providence river a short distance east of the proposed railroad buildings (see map, page 164). The remainder of the Cove basin was filled, the Cove Promenade was eradicated, and the three river bridges in the promenade were removed. The highways included in the program were built, including the extension of Francis and Gaspee streets southerly to Exchange Place, the extension of Promenade Street easterly to Canal Street, and three new highways -- Kinsley Avenue, Railroad Street and Stillman Street. Bridges of steel construction were erected on stone piers spanning, respectively, Woonasquatucket river at Francis Street and Moshassuck river at Promenade Street. The highways and bridges were paved with granite blocks and all were opened to traffic by 1896. Meanwhile, the railroad companies were constructing the elevated tracks, supported by stone walls and steel girders, and abutments for the highway underpasses, and were laying out the freight yards (illustration, page 238). The various transfers of land between the city and the railroads were consummated by 1895 and in the following year freight trains were routed over the new rails.
Construction of the new railroad buildings (illustration, page 250), designed by Stone, Carpenter and Willson, was started in 1896.9 These consisted of five units, extending
4. Report of Director of Public Works, 1891.
5. C.D. No. 10, 1892. 6. C.D. No. 22, 1894.
7. C.D. No. 21, 1891. The Union Railroad Company had received authority in 1889 to operate cars by storage batteries, but after experiments that method was abandoned.
8. Field, II, 556.
9. An act of the General Assembly, passed March 28, 1890, provided for the construction of a passenger station by the Old Colony and the New York, Providence and Boston railroads. These roads were absorbed by the New York, New Haven and Hartford in 1893.
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lengthwise 870 feet, with the Passenger Station in the center, overpassing Francis Street, its main floor located at the level of the elevated tracks to which access was provided by a system of ramps and stairways.10 The walls of the building were constructed of yellow brick and terra cotta, the facade featured by a low central clock tower and by marble colonnades connecting the station with the wings. The old passenger depot (page 117) was destroyed by fire February 20, 1896, and a temporary station was erected to serve until the new building was opened, in the latter part of 1898. Exchange Place was widened to include a portion of the area formerly occupied by the old depot, and highway approaches to the new station were constructed (see map, page 164).
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Market Square c. 1898 showing cars used on College Hill counterweight system. Market House (1773) left; Roger Williams Bank Building (1823) center; Franklin House (1823) right.
The city carried out an extensive bridge-building program, between 1892 and 1897, involving the construction of new retaining walls for Providence river from the convergence of Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck rivers southerly to the head of navigation at Crawford Bridge, and the erection of new steel spans in replacement of the wooden bridges (page 145). The retaining walls were so spaced as to provide a channel of a uniform width of 132 feet,
10. The easterly unit, comprising the freight offices, was destroyed by fire February 18, 1941. The base- ment story was reconstructed with a flat roof, providing a trucking area. Various alterations were made to the buildings in the 1950S.
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and two rows of intermediate piers were built northerly from the south side of Weybosset Bridge.11 The new spans included (1) Washington Bridge, from the north end of Washington Row to Canal Street, completed in 1893 and re-named Burnside Bridge; (2) Washington Row Bridge, erected laterally from the west wall to the west intermediate row of piers in 1895; (3) Exchange Bridge, running northeast from Exchange Place to Canal Street, opened in 1895; and (4) Weybosset Bridge, including an extension along Canal Street from the east wall to the east intermediate row of piers, constructed 1897-98 (see map, page 144). The roadway of Burnside Bridge was paved with brick and the others with asphalt.12 The old horse car depot (page 134) was removed and the river opening opposite Washington Row was narrowed, providing an increased width of Canal Street.
Tests of Red Bridge were made in 1894 which indicated that the structure, erected in 1872 (page 145), was too lightly constructed for heavy traffic. Acting on legislative authority the City Council ordered a new bridge at the same location in that year. The old abutments were lengthened and raised two and one-half feet, granite draw piers were constructed on pile foundations, and a steel superstructure was erected with a trussed draw operated by electric motors. The roadway was 30 feet wide with a six-foot sidewalk on each side. The bridge was opened to traffic December 23, 1895,13 and first named Central Bridge but later changed back to its former name.
Several smaller bridges were constructed during this period. Spanning Woonasqua- tucket river were an iron bridge in Manton village, built jointly by the city of Providence and the town of Johnston in 1890; an iron trussed bridge at Acorn Street, built in 1893 to replace a privately-owned span at Hemlock Street; and a steel bridge at Manton Avenue in Olneyville, built in 1897 to replace the former Tar Bridge (see map, page 70). Erected across Moshassuck river were a granite-arch bridge at Stevens Street in 1894 and a steel bridge at Mill Street in 1900, both replacing former wood spans. And over West river bridges were built at Hawkins and Charles streets in 1892 and 1894, respectively.14
In accordance with a plan prepared by the harbor commissioners for extending wharfage facilities on the west side of Providence river the General Assembly passed an act, in 1891,15 permitting the city to borrow $150,000 for building a retaining wall from Hill's Wharf southward to Sassafras Point, parallel to and 600 feet west of the harbor line established by the assembly April 12, 1883. The plan contemplated the filling of tide-flowed flats within the retaining walls which would provide a reclaimed area of 90 acres for commercial pur- poses, and the erection of a row of wharves extending from the wall to the harbor line. The only part of this program actually carried out by the city, however, was the erection of a dock, 105 feet wide and 600 feet long, extending to the harbor line from city-owned land south of Hill's Wharf.16 That land, acquired in 1890, extended from Eddy Street to the river and was intercepted by Allen's Avenue (see map, page 220). Several buildings were constructed for municipal departments during the ensuing five years, and the city wood yard was moved to the site from its former location adjoining the Cove basin. Additional land was purchased later extending the property south to Blackstone Street.
The shipping entering Narragansett bay toward the close of the century was almost
II. The distance between the old walls varied from 152 feet at the north end to 117 feet at the south. The intermediate wood piles flanking the river opening south of Market Square, built in 1874, were continued until 1929.
I2. C.E., Reports, 1893-1899.
13. Report of Committee on Bridges, 1896.
14. C.E., Reports, 1894-98. 15. P.L., 1891, chapter 997.
16. See page 137. A considerable amount of tide-flowed land subsequently was reclaimed by owners of shore property and several wharves were built, but the development was carried out in a haphazard manner.
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wholly engaged in coastwise trade. The most important commodity brought into the port of Providence was coal, conveyed by schooners and barges to the coal pockets of local companies and unloaded by means of mechanical appliances. Lumber, brick and other building materials were next to coal in value and amount of imports. Among the schooners bringing coal from Newport News to Providence was the Governor Ames, a five-master. The barges, in strings of two and three, were towed by powerful tugs.17
The sewerage plan, instituted in 1874 (page 146), by which storm waters and domestic sewage were conveyed into Woonasquatucket, Moshassuck and Providence rivers, brought about a high degree of pollution in those waterways which was aggravated by mill waste from manufacturing plants. This condition was investigated by a special committee con- sisting of Superintendent of Health Edwin M. Snow, City Engineer S. M. Gray, and Professor J. Howard Appleton of Brown University who proposed to the City Council, December 17, 1883, the construction of a comprehensive system of intercepting sewers, together with a means for clarifying the sewage before its final disposal. A plan was presented by the city engineer, July 23, 1884,18 whereby the sewage would be conveyed to Sassafras Point for chemical treatment and then discharged into Providence river. The council referred Mr. Gray's report to the American Society of Civil Engineers for consider- ation and, following its approval, adopted the plan July 22, 1887. About 48 acres of land, adjacent to the city's Field's Point estate (page 147) was acquired for the sewerage works under authority granted by the General Assembly March 22, 1888, and the construction of the intercepting sewers was started in 1889 under direction of Commissioner of Public Works John A. Coleman. In that year the Board of Aldermen received authority from the General Assembly to compel connection with the sewers on received streets and to cause the removal of privy vaults and cesspools.19 The intercepting sewers, and their connection with existing sewers, were so far completed that the system was opened in 1897, with the crude sewage temporarily discharging into Providence river off Sassafras Point (see map, page 220). A pumping station was erected on Ernest Street and precipitation tanks and sludge presses were installed and put in operation by 1900; on January I of that year City Engineer Otis F. Clapp reported a total of 175 miles of sewer lines, providing service for nearly all built-up sections of the city.20
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