The Royal Mill Complex is an historic
textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
site at 125 Providence Street in
West Warwick, Rhode Island
West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the 2020 census.
West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state. Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the wester ...
. The mill complex was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2004. It has recently been completely renovated and remodeled into 250 residential apartments. The complex also includes the Ace Dye Works mill on the south side of the river, which has been converted into lofts. A pedestrian skybridge connects the two mills.
Site history
The complex is located along the banks of the
South Branch of the
Pawtuxet River
The Pawtuxet River, also known as the Pawtuxet River Main Stem and the Lower Pawtuxet, is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ac ...
in the village of River Point.
The site was first used for industrial purposes by the Greene Manufacturing Company, which built a wooden structure in 1809 and two later stone mills.
In 1885, the site was purchased by
B.B.& R. Knight Co., one of the largest textile companies in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
at the time, who marketed their cloth under the
Fruit of the Loom
Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002 it has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
Products manu ...
label. In 1890, the Knight Company razed the three old mills and built the Royal Mill from local granite. The building was designed by mill engineer
David M. Thompson
David Marcus Thompson (born 18 July 1950 in Hackney, London) is a British film and television producer, and the editor of several books about film directors.
Overview
Thompson worked for the BBC from 1978 as a film programmer and documentary ...
. The new mill would become one of the largest in the company's empire of 22 mills throughout the region.
In 1919, the Royal Mill was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt a year later in the current configuration, with twin stone towers. In 1921, the Royal Mill was the scene of
a huge textile worker strike that lasted 33 weeks. The impact of the strike as well as increased competition from Southern mills led to many mill closures throughout
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
during the 1920s. The Royal Mill survived until 1935, when the once mighty B.B.& R. Knight Co. went bankrupt.
Between 1936 and 1946 the site was occupied by Saybrooke Manufacturing Co., which produced wool cloth. After this time, and until 2004 the mill was used by a variety of small companies.
Royal Mills History Timeline
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The mill was abandoned and taken over by the town of West Warwick, Rhode Island in 1993, and there was serious consideration for demolishing the structure.
Conversion
In 2004, the Royal Mill was purchased by Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, which began a complete renovation of the site, including the adjacent stone dam, now used to produce hydropower. The Royal Mill now contains 250 apartments, and is the focal point of a revitalized riverfront that contains a public walking path along the river.
See also
*
*River Point, Rhode Island
River Point in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, is a community made up of mill houses and three mills - the Valley Queen Mill, the Royal Mill and the Cotton Shed. Built in 1834 by the Greene Company, the Valley Queen Mill is the oldest ...
*Benjamin Knight
Benjamin Brayton Knight (1813–1898) was a New England industrialist and philanthropist, who was a partner with his brother Robert Knight in the B. B. & R. Knight Company and was one of the largest textile manufacturers in the world when he di ...
*Mill conversion
Mill Conversion or mill rehab is a form of adaptive reuse in which a historic mill or industrial factory building is restored or rehabilitated into another use, such as residential housing, retail shops, office, or a mix of these non-industrial e ...
References
External links
Photo Essay on Site
{{National Register of Historic Places
Industrial buildings completed in 1890
Industrial archaeological sites in the United States
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
Buildings and structures in West Warwick, Rhode Island
National Register of Historic Places in Kent County, Rhode Island