National Register of Historic Places

Lippitt Mill

West Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island
Listed
January 11, 1974
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
74000053

About this property

The Lippitt Mill is a historic mill at 825 Main Street in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The cotton textile mill was built in 1809, making it the third oldest in Rhode Island after John Slater's Mills in Slatersville and Samuel Slater Slater Mill. The Lippitt Manufacturing Company was founded by Revolutionary War officer, Christopher Lippitt, his brother Charles Lippitt, and Benjamin Aborn, George Jackson, Amasa Mason, and William Mason. During the Depression following of the War of 1812 the Lippitt Manufacturing Company survived by supplying yarn to convict weavers in the Vermont prison. The company grew throughout the 19th century becoming a large profitable enterprise in which several generations of the Lippitt family were involved. In 1889, all of the Lippitt Company assets were sold to the firm of B.B. Knight & Robert Knight, founders of Fruit of the Loom. In 1925, B.B. Knight sold the Lippitt Mill property to Joseph Hayes, owner of the Riverpoint Lace Works. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The Hayes family stopped manufacturing lace here in the early 1970s, but they retained ownership of the property until it went into receivership in 2008. The mill continued operation until 2010, a bad economy forced the mill to close. A plan was announced in 2014 to convert the property to residences for people over 55. The mill is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of the earliest textile mills in Rhode Island. National Register of Historic Places listings in Kent County, Rhode Island Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. RI-338, "Lippitt Mill, 825 Main Street, West Warwick, Kent County, RI", 48 photos, 4 measured drawings, 8 data pages, 3 photo caption pages NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM

Location

825 Main St.
West Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island
41.72010, -71.52674

Categories

INDUSTRYARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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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Nearby Historic Sites

Spencer, William B., House
Industrial
0.3 mi
Harris Mill
Early Republic
0.6 mi
Pawtuxet Valley Dyeing Company
Industrial
0.6 mi
Royal Mill Complex
Early Republic
0.7 mi
Valley Queen Mill
Industrial
0.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Lippitt Mill listed on the National Register?

Lippitt Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 1974.

What type of historic resource is Lippitt Mill?

Lippitt Mill is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Lippitt Mill?

The period of significance for Lippitt Mill is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Lippitt Mill?

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