Visit Rhode Island

Liberty Street School // 1847

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The Liberty Street School building in Warren, Rhode Island, was built in 1847 as only the third high school building constructed in the state, and is the oldest survivor of its style. Architect Thomas Alexander Tefft, one of the nation’s first professionally trained architects, designed the school when he was just 21 years old in the Italianate style, with a two-story form, center entrance set within a round-arched surround and a central projecting gable-end pavilion. The young architect would later take an excursion around Europe in the mid 1850s, but would fall ill with a fever in Florence, Italy and he died there in 1859. He was just 33 years old when he died. The Liberty Street School was remodelled as an elementary school at the turn of the 20th century and continued as a public school until the 1970s. The historically and architecturally significant building has sat vacant for years. The building is still owned by the Town of Warren, and after over decades of planning studies and proposals, the building remains vacant and deteriorating. What would you like to see as the future of the Tefft-designed Liberty Street School?

Warren Baptist Church // 1844

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The Warren Baptist Church on Main Street in Warren, Rhode Island, is a landmark example of an ecclesiastical building in the Gothic Revival style completed in stone. Like many communities in Rhode Island, Baptists in Warren, were the first and largest denomination in the community, dating back to the 18th century. The congregation’s first purpose-built church was constructed in 1764 and was burned by the British in 1778 as they left Warren. Its replacement (1784) was demolished for the present building sixty years later. Interestingly, this site is significant additionally as the site of the founding of Brown University. as when Reverend James Manning was called in 1764 to take over the congregation and its new church building, he did so with the proviso that he could open a school for the training of Baptist ministers because all existing colonial colleges at the time provided for training only in the Congregational and Episcopal ministries. The school was located behind the present location of the church and it spent its first four years here in Warren, holding its first commencement in that church until the new school (and Reverend Manning as president) were lured to Providence, where Brown University has remained ever since. The present Warren Baptist Church was built in 1844 and was designed by famed Rhode Island architect, Russell Warren, who is best-known for his work in the Federal and Greek Revival styles, but here shows his expertise and skill in the Gothic mode. The building is notable for its lancet-arched windows and belfry with narrow lancet arched louvered windows set below the clock faces set in triangular trefoil tracery. The congregation also maintains Tiffany windows donated by members of the church.

Pawtucket-Central Falls Station // 1916

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The Pawtucket-Central Falls Railroad Station is a crumbling relic of a time once dominated by rail travel. This architectural landmark spans the border of the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls, along with the tracks of the former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and is one of the more unique buildings in Rhode Island. The station opened in 1916 to replace separate stations in the two cities from plans by F.W. Mellor, architect for the New Haven Railroad with Norcross Brothers of Worcester facilitating the construction over a structural steel base spanning the tracks. As many as 140 trains per day once passed under this station, but in 1959, it closed. The building was purchased by a private owner and plans failed to materialize for decades, leaving us with a crumbling masterpiece in architecture and engineering. In 2007, the lot was partially developed with the addition of a suburban, soulless CVS store and parking lot, which today, directly abuts the station. In 2023, a new Pawtucket/Central Falls station opened nearby, which has brought new calls to demolish this building, with people actively seeking grants to fund the estimated $10 Million dollar demolition.

St. George’s Episcopal Church, Central Falls // 1922

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Tucked away in the middle of a residential neighborhood in the dense city of Central Falls, Rhode Island, this Neo-Gothic style church more closely resembles an English country church than one typically found in a dense, industrial city. This is the St. George’s Episcopal Church, located at the corner of Central and Clinton streets, and built for the local Episcopal congregation there in 1922. The church was designed by the Rhode Island architectural firm of Clarke & Howe and is built of rough-faced stone with limestone trim. The highlight of the design is the large central tower with lancet, stained glass window, and belfry. 

Cogswell Tower // 1904

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The crown jewel of the nearly one square mile city of Central Falls, Rhode Island, is Jenks Park, the only large park in one of the densest cities in America. The land was a gift of Alvin Jenks, a descendant of the family which had been among the town’s earliest settlers and one of its leading industrial families, and provided a much-needed recreational/open space for the dense industrial city. In 1890, planning began on the park with consists of hilly terrain cut through by paved paths, rocky outcroppings, and large metal gazebos which were fabricated at the nearby Fales and Jenks machinery works. At the crest of the park’s hill is Cogswell Tower, a clock and observation tower given by a former resident, Caroline E. Richards Cogswell. The stone tower was designed by architect Albert Humes, who ironically, was serving as mayor of Central Falls at the time, which may represent somewhat of a conflict of interest to gain the commission… The Cogswell Tower stands 70-feet-tall and is constructed of rough stone with a pyramidal roof that was once surmounted by an eagle. Its most remarkable aspect, a circular, iron structure which surrounds the base appearing from below as a sort of Hula-Hoop to the tower. Jenks Park and the iconic Cogswell Tower remain as a source of pride for the City of Central Falls.

David G. Fales House // c.1858

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The David G. Fales House of Central Falls, Rhode Island, is an excellent example of the Second Empire architecture style in a high-end residence. The home was built around 1858 and belonged to David Gilmore Fales (1806-1875), one of the partners of the nearby Fales and Jenks machine works. Mr. Fales either built or purchased the home which was then a flat-roofed Italianate style home, and hired architect Clifton A. Hall, to modernize the residence, adding trim and the mansard roof. Its broad eaves are supported by brackets with pendants; segmental-head dormers are set in the mansard and a square belvedere with round-head windows tops the roof. A major fire gutted much of the house in the 1960s, and its future was uncertain. It was preserved and is now a multi-family apartment building.

Nathan S. Horton House // c.1860

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This modest, Italianate style house was built around 1860 by a carpenter and builder as his own residence. Nathan S. Horton (1819-1916) was a busy builder in Central Falls, Rhode Island in the mid-late 19th century as the population boomed along with the industrial growth and wealth that the city saw. For his own residence, Horton built this two-story wood-frame house with side entrances and porches, paired brackets in the eaves, and arched top windows, all commonly found in the Italianate style, popular around the time of the Civil War. Mr. Horton lived to his late 90s and likely remained in this home until his death.

Adams Memorial Library, Central Falls // 1910

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When Stephen L. Adams, a public-spirited citizen and a member of the school committee in Central Falls, Rhode Island, passed away in 1900, he left a bequest to provide for the erection and maintenance of a library building for his community. It would take years until a site in the center of town was acquired and contracts were written for designing and building the city’s first purpose-built library. Architect, William H. McLean of the firm McLean & Wright were hired to furnish plans, which is supposed to have been modified from a number of prototypes for small-town libraries supplied to set standards by the Carnegie Corporation in conjunction with its endowment of such facilities in cities and towns throughout the United States. While this is not a Carnegie Library, it does mimic many design elements found in similar libraries by the corporation. The Adams Library in Central Falls is Classical Revival in style and built of light brick with limestone trim with a symmetrical facade dominated by a columned, pedimented portico.

Broad Street Fire Station // 1889

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Built in 1889 at the same time as the Central Falls City Hall across Broad Street, this former fire station in Central Falls, Rhode Island, is a great example of late 19th century architecture for a civic use. The fire station was built in the dense Central Falls village, before it separated from Lincoln, creating their own city. The brick, Queen Anne style structure features a unique mansard roof which is broken by a series of pedimented dormers. The original arched doors have since been infilled, but maintain the original openings, awaiting a thoughtful restoration. The fire station was designed by Pawtucket-based architect, Albert Humes. Due to ever-growing fire trucks, the historic station was eventually deemed obsolete, and a new station was built elsewhere. Today, the former Broad Street Fire Station is occupied as the Morabeza Health Center.

Eliza and Samson Almy House // 1859

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The College Hill neighborhood of Providence has some of the finest residential architecture in New England, and some really fun stories of those who built these grand homes. In 1859, the house was built with a concave mansard roof punctuated with dormers and a bold bracketed cornice below. The use of round headed windows on the second floor is a really great design detail. The residence was first owned by Eliza Talbot Almy (1808-1886), who held the title to the property. Wives holding the title of properties in this period was fairly common as it would protect their personal property and residence from financial risk if the husband was met with lawsuits or financial hardship. Eliza’s husband was cotton broker and manufacturer Samson Almy (1795-1876), who had already been sued in a case heard before the United States Supreme Court in 1851. After Eliza’s death in 1886, her daughter, Susan Smith (1837-1917) and husband, Amos Denison Smith (1835-1912), a Civil War veteran, occupied the house into the early 20th century.