Knight Estate

About this property

The Knight Estate is a historic estate in Warwick, Rhode Island, that is home to the Knight Campus of the Community College of Rhode Island. Developed as a country estate for a family of industrialists and later donated to the state, the main house and its outbuildings were listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The house was built for industrialist William Sprague II circa 1830 as the centerpiece of his country estate, Natick Farm. Sprague was owner of the Cranston Print Works, and had begun developing his interests at the Natick Mills beginning in 1821. When he died in 1836, the business was reorganized by his sons, Amasa and William III, as A. & W. Sprague. William Sprague III was the firm's agent at Natick and occupied the house. The younger Sprague was a major benefactor to the village of Natick. The Natick Baptist Church was built with funds donated by him in 1838, and the village school, built in 1850, occupied a lot donated to the town by Sprague. After his death in 1856, the house continued to be owned by his descendants. From 1856 the senior member of the firm was his son, Byron Sprague. From his retirement in 1862 until its insolvency, William Sprague IV operated the firm. After the failure of the A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company in the Panic of 1873, the company was held in trust by Zechariah Chafee. Chafee was appointed trustee by the creditors of the Sprague interests to liquidate the Sprague debts. The estate was purchased by the firm of B. B. & R. Knight in 1875. The estate was then developed as a country retreat by Robert Knight. In 1883, B. B. & R. Knight also bought the Natick Mills. Robert Knight's son, Webster Knight (1854-1933), was appointed manager of the Natick Mills and moved into the house at Natick Farm. He lived there until he moved to Providence in 1898, maintaining the house as his country residence and developing the property as a gentleman's farm. In 1920, Webster Knight and his brother C. Prescott Knight divested themselves of B. B. & R. Knight, selling the entire company to the Consolidated Textile Corporation of New York. Webster Knight then converted the house at Natick Farm back into his full-time residence. Knight lived in the house until his death in 1933. The property was occupied and maintained by his daughter, Adelaide Knight, until her death in 1948, after which it became the property of his grandson, Royal Webster Knight. In 1964 Knight gave the property to the state to be used as the campus of the Community College of Rhode Island. The college, then known as the Rhode Island Junior College, opened on the property in 1972. The property was named the "Knight Campus" in honor of the Knight family.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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