PROVIDENCE – A mill complex in Olneyville has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, R.I. Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission Chairman Frederick C. Williamson announced today.
The Earnscliffe Woolen/Paragon Worsted Co. mill was recognized by the National Park Service for its contributions to the history of American industry, the commission said. Woolens and worsteds were spun and woven at the site by local textile workers for more than 60 years.
The former mill, at 25 and 39 Manton Ave., consists of 11 brick buildings, one to three stories tall, that were constructed between 1898 and 1956 in what remains one of the most industrialized sections of Providence.
Earnscliffe Woolen was founded in 1897 by wool buyer Walter A. Guile and designer H.J. Waterhouse, who established a partnership to manufacture fine worsted fabrics for use in men’s wear. They hired designer George Leach and contractors Maguire and Penniman to build a two-story brick building to house about 50 looms, plus a dynamo room and space for offices, dyeing, shipping and receiving.
By 1898, the mill employed 240 workers. By 1905, it had grown to three buildings – a spooling and winding facility and a dressing and shipping building, each two stories tall, were added in the early 1900s – 70 broadlooms and a work force of 425. And by 1908, it had added a third story to the spooling building, expanded the weaving operation to include two narrow looms and added a third boiler.
The plant was purchased in 1910 by Paragon Worsted, a company founded in Woonsocket the previous year by Arthur C. Milot, an immigrant from Quebec.
In 1920, Milot and fellow Quebecois Pierre Fleurant incorporated M&F Worsted. The new company, established to spin worsted yarn, purchased land south of Paragon where, in 1921, it built a two-story, 4,600-spindle mill.
The companies prospered through the 1920s and the Great Depression, the preservation commission said. By 1942, Paragon’s capacity had increased to 166 looms and M&F’s to 14,000 spindles.
The plant survived a 1946 strike, and its subsequent unionization, while continuing to expand to 18,000 spindles and triple the 1921 square footage. But by the early 1960s, it was in trouble.
Paragon closed its Olneyville plant in the early 1960s; M&F Worsted’s spinning mill continued to operate until 1964.
The Paragon plant was sold in 1964 to Artcraft Braid, which still manufactures braiding at the site. The former M&F Worsted plant and part of the Paragon plant are now occupied by Cathedral Art, a maker of religious gifts and jewelry.
A mixed-use proposal for the former Paragon plant is under consideration, the commission said.
Listing on the National Register gives a property special consideration for federal aid, and makes it eligible for state and federal historical rehabilitation tax credits, but owners of private properties on the register are free to maintain, manage or dispose of the property as they choose.
