Rumford Chemical Works and Mill Houses Historic District - East Providence, RI - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In the East Providence village of Rumford is the Rumford Chemical Works and Mill House Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.

The main location is at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue, Newman Avenue, and North Broadway, which is about a block from the intersection of RI State Routes 114 and 152. Most of the buildings are part of a combined residential and commercial area known as Rumford Center. These buildings are the surviving buildings of the original factory. Additional buildings include mill houses nearby on North Broadway. The text from the nomination form has the following:

"
The core of the complex, east of the intersection, originally extended to the shore of a pond that separated it from Newman Cemetery. The pond has been filled in and the eastern portion of the property has been set off, cleared of industrial buildings, and built up with two high-risc towers containing apartments for the elderly. An 8.38-acre tract west of these towers contains the remaining Chemical Works structures. Among them are three one-and-one half-
story, gable-roofed, wood-frame buildings which may well date from the
first decade after the establishment of the works on this site in 1857. The handsomest structure is a large, three-story, flat-roofed brick building with a fine corbelled cornice, constructed in 1895 and used for production of monocalcium phosphate. Most prominent is a five-story fiat-roofed brick building erected in 1928 for use as a packaging plant and warehouse. Amid these structures stand four or five small,- one- and two-story, brick or wooden buildings. Across Newman Avenue from the main complex is a two-and-one-half-story, gable-roofed, wood-frame office building. On North Broadway,
at numbers 57-59, 61-63, 66-68, 69-71, 78-80, 79-81, 90-92, and 93-95 are eight double houses built by the company to house employees, all now privately owned. The first, two--one-and-one-half-story, gable-roofed brick dwellings--were erected ca. 1910; the others are one-and-one-half- story, Queen Anne style, wood-frame dwellings of differing design built ca. 1882."

The form provides the significance of the location:

"The Rumford Chemical Works is significant as an important local industry that produced nationally known products. The limit was founded by George P. Wilson and Professor Eben Horsford to produce chemical food additives designed to increase the nutritive value of foodstuffs. It was named for Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford 1753-1814, an American-boi-n British scientist and inventor who had established a fellowsliip at Harvard that had funded some of
Horsford‘s studies in nutrition and chemistry. First located in Providence, the company moved to East Providence in 1857, purchasing land that had been part of the Ring of the Green. The works gave its name to thie surrounding neighborhood, and for over a century it was a mainstay of the local economy. The firm’s chief product was Rumford Baking Powder, a substance invented by Professor Horsford that added essential minerals to baked goods while also serving as a leavening agent. Rumford Baking Powder was marketed nationwide
and became a well known item across the country. Today it is produced at a plant in Terie Haute, Indiana, where company operations were consolidated in 1966..."

I'm not sure when the renovations were done, but the factory site has been transformed into a mixtures of residential units and commercial offices. This was probably since the application was filled out. The building bricks look blasted, with light colored 'splotching' especially on Building 1 (the manufacturing building). A wood-framed building is a dance studio-performance center. Between all these buildings is a parking lot and landscaping. Be sure to stop in the Seven Stars Bakery. One reason is that you get an opportunity to see the inside of one of the buildings. Another is the blown up photo along a wall. And another is a plaque that was presented by the American Chemical Society about Rumford Baking Powder. Then there is the good bread and coffee!

Street address: 20 Newman Avenue East Providence, RI United States of America 02916 County / Borough / Parish: Providence Year listed: 1980 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874 Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Industry/Processing/Extraction Current function: Domestic, Education, Vacant/Not In Use Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.