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Conrad Building // 1885

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The Conrad Building on Westminster Street in Downtown Providence is an ornate and over-the-top masterpiece designed by one of the city’s premier architectural firms for an eccentric owner. Erected by Jerothmul Bowers Barnaby (1830-1889), a self made millionaire, commonly known as “Rhode Island’s Clothing Prince” who owned manufacturing plants for clothing throughout the city, the building was named after his son-in-law, John H. Conrad. Owner, J. B. Barnaby, lived in an eclectic mansion on Broadway, known as Barnaby’s Castle, which was designed by the firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, like this commercial block built as an investment in 1885. Originally used for professional offices, the structure had long been occupied as artist and photography studios on the upper floors. Eclectic in style, the Conrad Building blends Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Moorish Revival styles into a single composition, with a four-story cast-iron tower at the corner capped by a Moorish ogival dome, panel brickwork, round arched windows and recessed openings, projecting bays, cast-iron storefronts, and an oversized arch with its name, “Conrad Building”, ornamental carvings, and the initials “J. B.” for its owner, all completed in brownstone.

Packard Motor Car Showroom // 1915

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This two-story commercial building at the corner of Washington and Empire streets in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the finest structures executed in terracotta in the state. The building was erected in 1915 for the Packard Motor Company as a car showroom, with large plate glass windows to display the newest vehicles inside. Records differ on the architect, with many stating that Albert Kahn, a Detroit-based architect who designed many factories for the company, furnished the designs. He apparently did submit a design, but the company ultimately went with Rhode Island architect, John Hutchins Cady, to design the showroom. The terracotta ornamentation is similar to what is found on nearby theaters and commercial buildings downtown, making the area a sort of a museum for terracotta facades. The building has been occupied by restaurants for much of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Arnold Building // 1896

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Located next door to the narrow George C. Arnold Building on Washington Street in Downtown Providence, the 1896 Arnold Building was constructed by George’s father, who was also a real estate developer. The Arnold Building was designed by local architect Clifton A. Hall for William Rhodes Arnold (1839-1912), who employed innovative design details to make the modestly priced building stand out architecturally and provide additional light inside. The yellow brick building is notable for its upper floors with segmental arched windows, prismatic bay windows, and patterned brickwork panels and cornice which adds a lot of texture to the facade. The building serves as an important low-rise commercial building in Providence, which enhances the walkable streets there. 

Loew’s State Theatre – Providence Performing Arts Center // 1928

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The old Loew’s State Theatre, now the Providence Performing Arts Center in Downtown Providence, opened on October 6, 1928, as one of the grand movie palaces built by the Loews chain during Hollywood’s golden age. Designed by the Chicago firm Rapp & Rapp, the country’s leading theater architects at the time, the building blends Baroque and Rococo influences earning it the nickname “The Jewel of Weybosset Street.” The primary facade is a four-story, terra-cotta sheathed, steel-frame structure with with fluted pilasters, molded panels, finials at the parapet, and a large modified prismatic marquee. On the Richmond Street elevation, a one-story brick structure with terra-cotta trim and secondary entrance/exit provides additional flair to what would otherwise be a more stripped-down feature. After WWII, when theaters began to see declining revenue, the building cycled through names like the Palace Concert Theatre and Ocean State Theatre before a group of local preservationists and civic leaders saved it from possible demolition in the late 70s. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and the theater reopened as the Providence Performing Arts Center in 1982. The roughly 3,100-seat venue has since been carefully restored to its original splendor and today ranks among the largest and best-preserved movie-palace-era theaters in New England, hosting national Broadway tours, concerts, and comedy shows.

Summerfield Building // 1913

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Built by the wealthy Harkness family as an investment property, this unique building on Weybosset Street in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, takes its name from the Boston-based Summerfield Furniture Company, which occupied much of the building for many years. The six-story, reinforced concrete structure was designed by architect, Albert Harkness for his family, who gambled on the young designer who was seemingly inspired by the Chicago School of architecture, with its concrete and steel framing, large plate glass windows, ornamental terra cotta, and broad cornice. After Summerfield Furniture closed, the building was occupied in the mid-20th century by various companies until Johnson & Wales purchased the building, and have maintained the architecturally significant landmark ever-since.

Waite-Thresher Company Factory // 1911

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The Waite-Thresher Company Factory sits on Pine Street between the commercial Downtown and former industrial Jewelry District of Providence.The factory here was built in 1911 and is an excellent example of a light-industrial building of the early 20th century in Providence. The steel-frame building is sheathed with brick walls and retains its double-hung windows set within brick arches and classically designed storefronts. The Waite-Thresher Company was one of many jewelry manufacturing companies in Providence. Founded in 1885 from the merging of multiple companies, the Waite-Thresher Co. began primarily manufacturing thimbles and later became a leader in the American jewelry world as the kings of delicate, ornate filigree rings, pins, and accessories. The company eventually closed in the 1930s and after later uses, the building was acquired by Johnson & Wales University who in the 1980s, restored the building and opened it as the centerpiece of the John Hazen White College of Arts & Sciences on campus.

Old Stone Studio // c.1820

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One of the most significant buildings in the coastal town of Marion, Massachusetts, is this stone structure, which is said to have had its beginnings as a storage warehouse. Located on Spring Street north of the main village, this building was constructed as early as 1820 as a salt works storage facility, and is an extremely rare surviving storage facility associated with the early 19th century salt industry in town. While many storage facilities we know today are void of architecture and soul, this building looks like it was plucked from the French countryside, thanks to a late 19th century renovation by one of the most prestigious architects in the United States. The salt industry in Massachusetts began on Cape Cod during the Revolution. Salt was a vital necessity for the preservation and curing of fish and meat for sale in this country and overseas. According to local lore, the Old Stone Studio was originally “a place for the conversion of sea water into salt.” Around the Civil War, the building was being used for petroleum processing facility, where kerosene, which had supplanted whale oil as a fuel for home and street lamps, was made and stored. The old stone structure had fallen into disrepair by the 1880s, that was until New York magazine editor, Richard Watson Gilder bought and restored it as a studio for his wife, artist Helena de Kay Gilder. At this point, Marion had become a premier summer colony with large waterfront estates and recreational facilities built for the wealthy in Boston and New York to spend the warmer months. Gilder hired his friend, Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White, to update the warehouse into a studio, adding the multi-light windows, decorative ironwork, and interior details, including the massive stone fireplace with a nine-foot mantle. The fireplace provided a stunning backdrop for guests, including President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Folsom Cleveland, who summered in town. Ms. Gilder even painted the First Lady in the studio, and hosted her on occasions. The Old Stone Studio is now a private residence with addition off the rear.

Bird Island Light // 1819

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Perched on a tiny, treeless island at the entrance to Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts, Bird Island Lighthouse has stood since 1819, when Congress appropriated $11,500 to buy the island and erect a light guiding the whaling ships and lumber, nail, and salt cargo vessels that crowded Buzzards Bay. A 25-foot-tall conical rubblestone tower was constructed, surmounted by a 12-foot tall iron lantern with small stone keeper’s dwelling connected to the tower by a covered walkway, that has since been demolished. William S. Moore, a veteran of the War of 1812, was appointed as the first keeper, which went into operation in 1819. Today, there have been legends about murder and hauntings on the island. Some accounts claim that Moore murdered his wife—described as a “Boston society girl”—at the lighthouse and disappeared soon after. A rifle was purportedly found in a secret hiding place, along with a bag of tobacco, when the original keeper’s house was torn down in 1889. The gun was believed by some to be the murder weapon. Others have claimed that Moore prevented his ailing wife from seeking medical attention on the mainland, and that she died as a result. The truth about Moore will probably never be completely separated from the fantastic legends concerning his life. The light was decommissioned in 1933 and sold by the Federal Government in 1940, later purchased by the Town of Marion in 1966. The Sippican Historical Society oversaw the restoration of the tower with the surrounding island serving as a protected sanctuary for nesting roseate terns.

Ryder Windmill House // c.1899

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Preservation and New England ingenuity at its finest can be found at this quirky residence on Spring Street in the charming community of Marion, Massachusetts. The unique home seen here was originally built around 1899 as a water tower and windmill on the estate of William H. H. Ryder (1841-1921), which generated power from the wind to pump water from a well below ground, providing a continuous supply of water to his residence. The structure was in use until 1907 when municipally supplied water became available in town. When William Ryder, who never married or fathered children died in 1921, the property was inherited by his niece, Harriet C. Ryder (1869-1943), who lived with her uncle and kept house for him. Financial struggles forced Harriet to sell the main house and convert the windmill into a small cottage in 1926. The structure was originally used as a summer cottage but was later expanded and made a year-round residence, with later owners maintaining the unique charm and form of this iconic local landmark.

Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station Employee Hotel // 1914

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Tucked into the woods in Marion, Massachusetts, the Marconi Wireless Transmitter Station stands as one of coastal New England’s most remarkable and now largely forgotten technological landmarks. Built in 1914 by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, the Transmitting Station in Marion served as an important piece of the American half of a transatlantic relay system, sending powerful signals across the ocean to a receiving partner in Stavanger, Norway, through a sister station in Chatham. At the height of its operation, the site bristled with fourteen 400-foot tubular steel masts arranged in a rectangle stretching nearly a mile, a feat of engineering so audacious that contemporaries dubbed it a “wonder of the twentieth century.” The station in Marion included a cluster of buildings including: a powerhouse, an operating building, cottages, and an employee “hotel” pictured here that housed unmarried staff, were all built to service the towering steel structures, of which only one remains. The site was taken by the U.S. Military during WWI and WWII and later sold to a private owner and the property was subdivided and sold-off with the majority of the original 144 acres of land comprising the station donated to the Sippican Lands Trust in 1986. Scattered remnants of equipment remain on this mostly-wooded conservation land, including wires, concrete mast footings, and cables. The single remaining tower serves as a cell tower today. The old Employee Hotel is now used for offices.

Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company Factory // 1889

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The Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company traces its roots to the pioneering work of William Francis Channing and Moses Farmer of Boston, whose 1850s telegraph-based fire alarm system was the first practical fire alarm box system that consisted of telegraph-based boxes placed on street corners, which, when activated, sent a coded signal to a central fire station notifying them of a fire or emergency. The duo applied for a patent for their “Electromagnetic Fire Alarm Telegraph for Cities” which was later acquired by John Gamewell of South Carolina. Following the Civil War, Gamewell partnered with Kennard and Company and built a factory in Newton Highlands in 1873. The company would adopt the trademark of a fist gripping lightningbolts, and by 1886, the Gamewell system was operating in over 250 cities in the United States and Canada. As the company grew operations, the business moved to this site in the Upper Falls village in 1889, which was desirable for its close proximity to the railroad and markets all over the region. The first factory was the two-story wooden factory building completed in 1889, with later wings to its east (1904) and west (1912) as the company continued to expand into the 20th century. The Gamewell company remained here until the 1970’s when Gamewell became a division of Gulf and Western. Luckily, the former factory was restored by owners Alexandria Properties and architects, Kraus Associates, as Telegraph, which now offer retail and office space for small local businesses

Pettee Stone Barn // 1839

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This historic stone barn in Newton’s Upper Falls village is representative of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of this once thriving nineteenth century mill village. Known as the Pettee Stone Barn, the structure dates to 1839 when Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who managed an iron foundry and machine-works for cotton machinery, built this structure as a warehouse. The barn was said to have been used additionally as a location for raising silkworms by Pettee’s company. After the business closed, the handsome barn was used later in the 19th and early 20th century as a carriage and horse barn for a shipping company and today, is rented to local businesses. Architecturally, the barn is significant for its use of fieldstone walls with door and window surrounds of cut stone and brick. A monitor roof runs the length of the gable ridge and illuminates the interior spaces. The Stone Barn remains remarkably preserved today and is a landmark in the community. 

Chinook Kennels // c.1920

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The Chinook Kennels in Tamworth, stand today as a lasting vestige of a lesser-known dog breed and the State Dog of New Hampshire, the Chinook. The Chinook owes its existence to one man: Arthur Treadwell Walden, who lived in the Wonalancet village of Tamworth, operating a farm and inn with his wife, Katherine Sleeper Walden. The breed derives principally from one male ancestor born in 1917, named “Chinook”, who was Walden’s lead dog, bred with Huskies, mastiff, and shepards to create the iconic breed today. As Arthur Walden developed the breed, he built kennels on the grounds of the Wonalancet Farm, this structure which is a log cabin of sorts. Walden brought his dog, Chinook, then 12-years-old, with him on the Byrd Expedition to the Antarctic, and he went missing while hauling supplies miles overland from ship to shore, and was presumed to have died there. When he returned home, Arthur sold the kennels and the core of his breeding stock to Milton and Eva B. ‘Short’ Seeley, who moved the kennel building down the road to its present site. The old building has been converted to a home and remains a private, single-family residence today.

Ambrosoli Block – Stone Castle // 1890

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The Ambrosoli Block, also known as the Stone Castle, is a stunning four-story building constructed of locally quarried Milford granite and brick, that has ties to the early development and history of Italians in Milford, Massachusetts. As local granite quarries in Milford prospered, many Italian-born immigrants settled in the community near their place of employment. Bernardo Ambrosoli (1843-1896), a well-known hotel proprietor in Boston’s North End, owned this structure in Milford, which served as a residential building and meeting and social hall for the local Italian community. The building was constructed by Giovanni Battista Giacomuzzi (1857-1919), a local stone cutter and builder. Bernardo Ambrosoli had connections to Milford as he also operated a hotel there, and owned this building which became a hub of early Italian-American life in town. The Stone Castle also served as the early meeting place for congregants of what would become the Sacred Heart Church of Milford. Bernardo Ambrosoli tragically died in 1896 when he was shot and killed by a bartender at his North End hotel. The Stone Castle, when built, was three stories tall with a one-and-a-half-story four-gabled roof on top, which burned in 1900. The present fourth floor in stone was added soon after with the brick banding showing the location of that addition. Today, the building is residential use.

Irish Round Tower, St. Mary’s Cemetery // 1894

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Thought to be the only example of an Irish Round Tower in the United States, the obscure Irish Round Tower in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Milford, Massachusetts, stands as a piece of local history and an architectural landmark. The tower was envisioned by Father Patrick Cuddihy (1809-1898), the pastor of the St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church of Milford, who was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and oversaw a largely Irish-born congregation here in the States. In 1893, Father Cuddihy sought to expand the existing St. Mary’s Cemetery which had been running out of space for the ever-growing Catholic population of Milford. For the cemetery, he envisioned an Irish Round Tower as a symbol of the Emerald Isle, his land of birth and that of most of his parishioners. Irish Round Towers were historically used in Ireland as bell towers, but for the cemetery in Milford, it would serve the purpose of beautification of the new grounds of the cemetery. Local workers began construction on the tower in 1894. Constructed of locally quarried Milford granite, the tower stands 73.5′ with a conical roof and walls two feet thick. The Milford tower is said to have been modeled after the tower on Devenish Island in Ireland and stands just 10 feet shorter than its inspiration.