Like every other mill you are visiting, Phenix Mill was “paternalistic” providing necessities such as housing, utilities, fuel, churches, civic organizations and education. Shopping and professional services grew along with the village and Phenix “achieved an importance unrelated to its size” providing services for surrounding villages. Check out the village square in the next block up the street, and the 1871 Phenix Hotel which still exists. Outside of Providence, Phenix was THE place to shop in the 1800s until Arctic surpassed it!
\nA spinning mill was built here next to the river by the Roger Williams Manufacturing Company in 1809. It burned in 1821. The Phenix Company rebuilt, and added a new stone mill in 1821 along with a water wheel and force pump for fire protection; but the company failed in 1830 and was bought by a new partnership that produced what was said to be the first 2¼-to 3-yard wide sheeting made in the country.
\nAdditional construction by 1882 produced a mill 328’ X 43’, capable of operating 21,536 spindles and 430 looms. The 122 by 192-foot weave shed across the street was built in 1902.
\nTextile manufacturing continued until 1960 when the factory was purchased by a pharmaceutical company, Scott Laboratories. It later housed various other manufacturers, including Adams Scientific, a biotech company that moved out in 1994. In the summer of 1995, fire destroyed one of the complex’s smaller buildings, which Adams Scientific had used. By 2003 the mill was vacant and sold at tax sale for $1. Then, on March 30, 2005 the main four-story building burned to the ground.
\nThe remaining three-story building is now condominiums and the weave shed across the street is occupied by Ricci Furniture.
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["","Gary Kulik and Julia C. Bonham, Rhode Island: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, (U. S. Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Historic American Engineering Record, 1978).
","West Warwick, Rhode Island Statewide Historical Preservation Report, (Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, 1987)
"],"factoids":["Watching a historic landmark burn in 2005. The next day, the Providence Journal had this report:
\n“An intense fire swallowed the vacant Phenix Mill building last night, sending 40-foot smoke plumes and bright embers into the air and drawing hundreds of spectators….Chief Charles Hall said Wednesday’s fire will be ‘one for the scrapbooks.’
\nNo one was injured in the fire. Hall said all five stories of the building were aflame “within four minutes,” and firefighters did not enter the building, but fought the fire entirely from outside.
\nFor the first hour, the mill building stayed mostly intact as flames leaped through scores of large windows. But at 7:40, a four-story extension collapsed, and from that point on, pieces of walls began to crumble around the building.
\nAt about 7:50 p.m., the steeple atop the mill’s bell tower collapsed to the collective gasp of West Warwick, Coventry and Warwick residents who had stood behind yellow police tape, aiming camcorders and camera phones at the spectacular sight.
\nBy 9 p.m., Hall said that the fire had been contained. By 10 p.m., firefighters were aiming their hoses at the mill wall facing Main Street, hoping to keep the wall from collapsing onto the power lines below.”
"],"files":{"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/08435ca5a3b2b2864ab22f9aea9d30f0.jpg":{"id":1698,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Current view of remains Phenix Mill Main Building","description":"This beautiful building is all that remains the main part of the mill which burned in 2005. It is now condominiums. | Larry Manire | 2021","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/08435ca5a3b2b2864ab22f9aea9d30f0.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/d10ffc0e0fae5db72c72ad189a66c300.jpg":{"id":1699,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Current view of Phenix Mill weave shed.","description":"The Phenix weave shed was built in 1902 and was connected to the main mill with a bridge which has since been removed. | Larry Manire | 2021","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/d10ffc0e0fae5db72c72ad189a66c300.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/527eefcb7143083855d52b4fa9b534a7.jpg":{"id":1700,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Current aerial view of Phenix Mill site","description":"Aerial view of the Phenix Mill site showing main building that burned in 2005. | Google Maps (annotated) | 2021","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/527eefcb7143083855d52b4fa9b534a7.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/68d14e14649b3d782b69c41d7ffc8d88.jpg":{"id":1701,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"The Phenix Mill fire, 2005","description":"Nothing could be done to save the Phenix Mill, March 30, 2005. There was no power to the building, so arson was suspected but never proved. |Wolf, Raymond A., Images of America West Warwick (Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2011).
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