The Woonsocket City Hall, (also known as the Harris Institute) is located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Edward Harris, a leading Woonsocket industrialist, constructed the earliest part of the building in 1856, and it was known as the Harris Block, with stores on the first floor, and an auditorium hall seating 1,100 on the third floor. This brick structure has elements of Italianate styling, including round-arch windows and a heavily dentilled cornice. A major Richardsonian Romanesque addition, called the Granite Block, was made to the north of this structure in 1891. In 1902 the city purchased the building for use as city hall.[2]
The builders of the original building were Albert B. Cole of Woonsocket and a Mr. Slade of Providence,[2] probably Obadiah Slade, carpenter.[3] The 1891 addition was built by Cutting & Bishop of Worcester.[4] The architect of neither section is known.[2]
The building served as the first public library in Rhode Island, housed on the second floor, which is now the Woonsocket Harris Public Library.
In March 1860 Abraham Lincoln spoke to a packed crowd in Harris Hall, which at the time contained one of the largest assembly rooms in the state.[5]
Edward Harris, founder of the Harris Institute, the first public library in Rhode Island
The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 900 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, on the border of downtown in Providence. It is a neoclassical building designed by McKim, Mead & White which features the fourth largest structural-stone dome in the world, topped by a gilded statue of "The Independent Man", representing freedom and independence. The building houses the Rhode Island General Assembly – the state House of Representatives is located in the west wing, and the Senate in the east – and the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and general treasurer of Rhode Island. Other state offices are located in separate buildings on a campus just north of the State House.
Howells & Stokes was an American architectural firm founded in 1897 by John Mead Howells and Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes. The firm dissolved in 1917.
The Clemence–Irons House is a historic house located in Johnston, Rhode Island. It was built by Richard Clemence in 1691 and is a rare surviving example of a "stone ender", a building type first developed in the western part of England and common in colonial Rhode Island. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a historic house museum owned and operated by Historic New England. It is open Saturdays between June and mid-October.
The Nightingale–Brown House is a historic house at 357 Benefit Street on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island. It is home to the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University. The house is architecturally significant as one of the largest surviving wood-frame houses of the 18th century, and is historically significant as the longtime seat of the Brown family, whose members have been leaders of the Providence civic, social, and business community since the 17th century, and include nationally significant leaders of America's industrialization in the 19th century. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
Providence City Hall is the center of the municipal government in Providence, Rhode Island. It is located at the southwest end of Kennedy Plaza at 25 Dorrance Street in Providence. The building was constructed between 1875 and 1878, and designed by Samuel J. F. Thayer in the Second Empire style. In 1975, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a contributing structure to the broader Downtown Providence Historic District.
The Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Centre & Conservatory is a historic movie theater and concert venue and commercial building at 28 Monument Square in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The complex consists of two connected sections, one housing the theater, the other offices, both with retail spaces on the ground floor. The theater was designed by Perry and Whipple of Providence and built in 1926.
The Harris Warehouse is an historic storage facility on 61 Railroad Street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The 3-1/2 story stone structure, built in 1855, by Edward Harris, a leading Woonsocket industrialist, rises abruptly from the street opposite the railroad tracks. The building is distinctive for its rubble stone construction, and its curved facade, designed to match the layout of the railroad spur on which it is located.
The Main Street Historic District is a historic district in the central business district of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA. It extends along Main Street, between the railroad tracks just northeast of its junction with Clinton Street, and roughly Ascension Street at the southwest. Most of the sixteen buildings in this area were built at the height of Woonsocket's prosperity, roughly between 1850 and 1930. The district is characterized by brick and masonry buildings generally between two and six stories in height.
Woonsocket Rubber Company Mill is an historic mill at 60-82 Main Street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The mill consists of a series of 3- and 4-story brick buildings built between 1865 and 1875 by Edward Harris, one of Woonsocket's leading businessmen. These buildings housed the Woonsocket Rubbert Company, one of Rhode Island's first manufacturer of rubber products, principally shoes, boots, and rubberized fabric. In 1910 the complex was purchased by the Falls Yarn Company, which used it for the production of fine woolen yarns.
The Market House is a historic three-story brick market house in Market Square, in the College Hill, a neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, USA. The building was constructed between 1773 and 1775 and designed by prominent local architects, Joseph Brown and Declaration of Independence signer Stephen Hopkins. The bottom floor of the house was used as a market, and the upper level was used for holding meetings. Similar buildings existed in other American cities, such as Faneuil Hall in Boston and the Old Brick Market in Newport. The building housed the Providence City Council in the decades before the completion of City Hall.
The city of Woonsocket in the U.S. state of Rhode Island was established as a union of six mill villages along the Blackstone River. These villages are described in more detail below.
Stephen Carpenter Earle was an architect who designed a number of buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut that were built in the late 19th century, with many in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trained in the office of Calvert Vaux in New York City. He worked for a time in partnership with James E. Fuller, under the firm "Earle & Fuller". In 1891, he formed a partnership with Vermont architect Clellan W. Fisher under the name "Earle & Fisher".
William R. Walker & Son was an American architectural firm in Providence, Rhode Island, active during the years 1881 to 1936. It included partners William Russell Walker (1830–1905), William Howard Walker (1856–1922) and later William Russell Walker II (1884–1936).
Edward I. Nickerson (1845–1908) was an American architect from Providence, Rhode Island, known for his work in the Queen Anne style in Providence.
This is a list of National Register of Historic Places listings in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Woonsocket Harris Public Library is a public library at 303 Clinton Street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Founded in 1866, it is Rhode Island's second public library. Founded by Edward Harris, the library was originally housed at the Harris Institute, which also included an auditorium for traveling lectures. This building has been adapted for use as Woonsocket City Hall. Harris was a major wool manufacturer and abolitionist; he used some of his wealth for philanthropic projects in Woonsocket.
Edward Harris (1801–1872) was an American wool manufacturer, abolitionist, temperance supporter, and philanthropist. He founded the Woonsocket Harris Public Library, the second public library in Rhode Island, and the Harris Institute. The latter building is now used for the Woonsocket City Hall.
The Woonsocket Senior High and Junior High Schools is an historic school complex at 357 Park Place in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Built in 1914 and enlarged several times, it served as the city's high school until 1967, and as the Woonsocket Middle School until its closure in 2009. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
William D. Warner (1929–2012) was an American architect and urban planner in practice in Providence and Exeter, Rhode Island from 1959 to 2012.
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Edward Harris, founder of the Harris Institute, the first public library in Rhode Island
