The Mechanical Fabric Company is a historic factory complex on Cromwell and Sprague Streets in the West End neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island.
Mechanical Fabric Company | |
 55 Cromwell St is home to commercial kitchens in 2021 | |
   | |
| Location | 55 Cromwell St., 40, 40R, 50, and 50R Sprague St., Providence, Rhode Island |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°48′33″N 71°25′35″W / 41.80917°N 71.42639°W |
| Built | 1891 |
| NRHP reference No. | 13001059 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 8, 2014 |
Description
editThe complex consists of six brick buildings, arranged in roughly parallel rows in a city block bounded by Cromwell, Sprague, and Dexter Streets, and Elmwood Avenue. They were built between 1891 and about 1925. The Mechanical Fabric Company was a major player in the city's rubber industry, and was particularly notable as the site of innovations in the development and manufacture of pneumatic bicycle tires.[2]
The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.[1]
Renovations
editThe former mill space was renovated to include several businesses. The larger building at 55 Cromwell Street has been rebranded as "Rooms & Works."[3] It was briefly home to a food incubator, and in 2019 a local gourmet doughnut company moved in with a 5,000 square foot commercial kitchen.[3] Also in 2019, the former mill building at 40R Sprague Street welcomed a two-level, 3,500-square-foot bar and brewery.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "NRHP nomination for Mechanical Fabric Company" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
- ^ a b Pelletier, Jenna (9 April 2019). "Providence's Knead Doughnuts expands again". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
Three-year-old Knead [donuts] has relocated all of its production ... to the 5,000-square-foot commercial kitchen space ... located at 55 Cromwell St., in a former factory complex now known as Rooms & Works
- ^ Pelletier, Jenna (8 April 2019). "Providence's Long Live Beerworks moves to spacious new location". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
The brewery's 3,500-square-foot new location opened this week in the renovated Mechanical Fabric Company factory complex on the West End.