New England History Blog

Burr-Eddy-Peck House // c.1786

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This Federal style residence on Main Street in Warren, Rhode Island, features one of the town’s most spectacular entries, likely dates to the 1780s and exhibits later alterations. The house was originally owned by Rufus and Anna Burr, and was possibly built following their marriage in 1786. The late 18th century front entrance is one of Warren’s most elaborate examples with fluted Ionic pilasters supporting embellished frieze blocks, above which the pediment rests and contains a elli[tical fanlight transom. In the 19th century, the property was owned by James Maxwell Eddy (1811-1901), who, after the Civil War, elongated the southernmost bay on the facade, adding a bay window on the side which ties into the roofline with a half-hipped connector. In the 20th century, this was the home of illustrator Henry Jarvis Peck 1880-1967, whose work was re gularly published in Colliers, Harper’s Weekly, Ladies Home Journal, and other prominent magazines. The shingle siding was likely added in the first half of the 20th century.

Warren Manufacturing Company Mill // 1896

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No single company had a greater impact on the town of Warren in the 19″ century than the Warren Manufacturing Company. The company built, expanded and rebuilt major mill buildings, established new streets in town, and provided mill housing for its workers, both native-born residents and immigrants who enlivened the community building new churches and housing. The company was founded in 1847, as whaling and shipping declined in Warren prior to the Civil War. Wealthy manufacturers and investors with ties to the South turned to textile manufacturing. The newly established company built three mills in the 19th century, all of which burned to the ground in a massive fire in 1895. A year later, in 1896, The Warren Manufacturing Company rebuilt this brick mill which features a handsome Romanesque tower with open belfry and brick corbelling, with a repeated pattern of pier-spandrel-and-arch construction running down the elongated facade. After the company closed, the building was occupied by the American Tourister Company, a luggage manufacturer. In 2015, the building was awarded federal and state preservation grants, and restored and adaptively reused as apartments, today known as Tourister Mill.

Dow-Starr House // c.1850

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A big departure from the less ornate, yet classically proportioned Georgian and Federal style homes in Warren, Rhode Island, this Gothic Revival beauty on the town’s Main Street stands out for its detail and materiality. Built as a quintessential Gothic “cottage,” the facade of the Dow-Starr House in Warren has also been graced by a three-sectioned Gothic Revival porch as illustrated in Alexander Jackson Downing’s plan books from the 1840s. As completed, this house followed almost exactly Andrew Jackson Downing’s Design II as illustrated in Cottage Residences 1842 ; it differed only in its use of speckled fieldstone over coursed ashlar. The house was later acquired by and used as a convent for the St. Jean Baptiste Church in Warren, who also built a school building behind. The house has seen some alterations, but remains an important architectural landmark of the town.

Wheaton-Capper House and Store // c.1760

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Built before the Revolutionary War, this charming building on Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island, dates to around 1760 and was The house was occupied by D. B. Wheaton as a residence and later by James Capper (1819-1891), an Irish immigrant who settled in Warren. James’ wife Ann, worked as a dressmaker and the couple sold goods out of the storefront in their residence. The retail storefront helps to tell the evolution of Water Street from a more industrial and residential street to a commercial corridor, similar to Main Street. The Wheaton-Capper House and Store legacy lives on with the building still occupied by a local business and residence.

Warren Masonic Temple-Washington Lodge No.3 // 1796

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Located next door to the Randall House (last post) on Baker Street in Warren, Rhode Island, this early building has some history! Constructed in 1796 by the Washington Association, Inc., this two-story Federal period building is an architectural and historic landmark in the immensely beautiful town of Warren. The elongated building is fairly plain in plan, but is adorned by corner quoins, elaborate pedimented entries, ornate cornice, and (now filled) ocular windows in the gable ends. It is believed that many of the timbers used in the building are oak beams that were formerly part of the British Frigate Juno and other ships which were sunk in Newport harbor during the American Revolution. Brother Sylvester Child, a member of the building committee purchased the old ships and floated the timbers up Narragansett Bay and into the Warren River and his shipyard at the base of Miller and Baker streets. The rib cuts in the oak plate beams can clearly be seen in the curvature of the ceiling in the lodge room.The Lodge was likely built by local carpenters using Asher Benjamin’s plan books for the detailing and was utilized as the Warren Town Hall and the Warren Academy, a private school, in the early 1800’s with meeting space for the local masonic lodge. The building has lost its original cupola at the roof, and its principal interior meeting room was redone in 1914 with elaborate murals by the Rhode Island artist Max Muller, some of which in Egyptian depictions.

Judge Samuel and Patty Randall House // 1809

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This stately three-story Federal style mansion on Baker Street in the lovely town of Warren, Rhode Island, was built in 1809 as a gift from a father to his daughter as a wedding gift. The house was funded by James Maxwell, of the local family of merchants and slave traders, for his daughter Martha “Patty” Maxwell and her soon-to-be husband, Samuel Randall. Judge Randall operated a school in town and published three local newspapers, the Telescope, the Clarion, and the Telegraph, all rather short-lived. In 1822, he was appointed judge of the court of common pleas for Bristol County, Rhode Island, and served in that capacity until 1824, when he was made justice of the supreme court of the state. The pop of color at the entry and the bracketed, Victorian era door hood complete the facade to give it some serious curb-appeal.

St. Mark’s Chapel, Warren // c.1853

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This charming shingled building on School Street in Warren, Rhode Island, was built around 1853 as a chapel for the accompanying St. Mark’s Episcopal Church a stone’s throw away on Lyndon Street. The chapel was originally constructed on the same lot as the church, but in 1863, was moved to its present location and rotated to face the street. The formerly plain chapel would be expanded in 1900, where a rear addition perpendicular to the main building was added, a new octagonal entry on the facade, and the entire building clad with cedar shingles. The chapel remained in use as a sunday school and for smaller services and later as a parish house. In 2012, the building was sold by the congregation and has since been a residence, which preserves the important architecture of the chapel while supplying much needed housing for the community. Oh how I love adaptive reuse!

Caleb Carr Tavern // c.1760

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This house, located on Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island, is said to have been built in the 1760s, but its present appearance in the Federal style is credited to owner, Caleb Carr (1768-1853). In around 1790, Caleb fully renovated the property in the Federal style for his residence and as a tavern, with an elegant fanlighted door put on each facade—one for household use, the other for tavern customers. The property was inherited by his son, Captain Caleb Carr Jr., who continued as a tavern owner, but was also an important shipbuilder and operator of the ferry to Barrington, which docked at the end of the street. The Carr Tavern is today covered with later aluminum siding and has Victorian-era two-over-two windows but if restored, would shine as one of the best Federal style homes in town!

George Hail Free Library // 1888

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The George Hail Free Library on Main Street in Warren, Rhode Island, is a unique, Victorian-era public library building that has been lovingly preserved by the community. Built in 1888, the building cost just over $16,000 and was designed in a more vertical expression of the Romanesque Revival style by the Providence architectural firm of William Walker and Son and built of rough-faced granite. The library is named after George Hail (1793-1873), a merchant, philanthropist, industrialist, and native son of Warren. His second wife, Martha Hail died in 1882 and left $5,000 and their home to the Warren Public Library provided that the name of the Library be changed to the George Hail Free Library in memory of her husband. The Library Committee agreed and planning began soon after for a new, purpose built library we see today. The exterior is distinguished, but the interior is also well-preserved, with original cherry woodwork grained to resemble mahogany, brass gaslighting fixtures, fireplaces, and leaded glass windows patterned with stained glass, together with some of the original furniture, that preserve a sense of the original setting.

Eddy-Cutler House // c.1806

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Located next door to the Rebecca Maxwell Phillips House on State Street in Warren, Rhode Island the Eddy-Cutler House remains as one of the finest Federal style residences built of brick in the charming waterfront town. Warren merchant and slave trader Benjamin Eddy purchased this desirable house lot in 1806 from John Throop Child, a town councilman and slave owner in 1774 who built slave ships before the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Eddy began construction on his mansion by 1806, and it was completed sometime before the War of 1812. Like many of the town’s wealthiest residents, Benjamin Eddy was engaged in the slave trade. Captain Benjamin Eddy was captain of at least three slave voyages, delivering 139 captives to docks in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 1806 alone. In 1808, just before the “Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves” he purchased and imprisoned 176 Africans – the largest number ever carried on a Warren slave ship. Nineteen died during the return voyage. When he reached Charleston, South Carolina the remaining 157 people were sold into slavery. At the time, the sale would have returned nearly $33,000. He would return home to this mansion on money profited from human suffering, a story as American as apple pie. In 1871, the Eddy Homestead was sold to Charles R. Cutler, a ship master and whaler who had many successful voyages to the Indian Ocean before working in the manufacturing of cotton cordage. The three-story, five-bay Federal style mansion of brick features a Victorian-era porch, but retains its Palladian window with blind fan and lights over the entry and belvedere at the roof. Once painted, the brick is now slowly being re-exposed, a great sight to see.