The New England Wireless and Steam Museum
1300 Frenchtown Road
East Greenwich, RI 02818 USA
Telephone: 401-885-0545
Robert W. Merriam, Director
1300 Frenchtown Road
East Greenwich, RI 02818 USA
Telephone: 401-885-0545
Robert W. Merriam, Director
Manufacturers of Rice & Sargent and Improved Greene Steam Engines.
The company was founded on March 28, 1899 by merging the Providence Steam Engine Company and the Rice and Sargent Company. The company employeed 350 machinists at the time.
Providence Engineering Works built tractors and parts for Maxwell Motor Cars after the decline of the steam engine industry.
The company was liquidated in 1955 and the complex was bought by the New England Butt Company, a division of the Wanskuck Company.
The engraving above shows the north-east side of the factory (adjacent to I-195) in Providence, RI. I visited the site in March of 2001 which is now called Corliss Landing. Whoever created the engraving took a lot of artistic license because the building is actually much smaller than shown.
The photograph above shows the north-west side of the factory and was taken at the turn of the century. Rowe Design Group converted the building into mixed residential, retail, and office space. The crane at the right was used to install marine steam engines and dates from the civil war. The crane building is now The Hot Club at 575 South Water Street. The image below is an overhead view of the building from 1995.
The Museum has one of two running Improved Greene engines. The other running Improved Greene engine is at the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association.
There is a Rice and Sargent on display at the Erie Canal Park.