Blackstone Valley Historical Society

The Valley Breeze

Monday, February 5, 2007

Preservation grant clears way for North Gate cleanup, new windows on historic bakery

LINCOLN - Drivers on Route 146 are noticing the Blackstone Valley Historical Society's 200-year-old North Gate building - perhaps for the first time - since society members trimmed away bushes and trees that obscured it.

That work tapped part of a $4,651 grant from the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission given for maintenance on these historical society properties that front Old Louisquisset Pike near the limestone quarry.

The same grant is also funding replacement of windows and sashes on the reconstructed Arnold Bakery building that sits on the land next to North Gate and will cover power washing and a new coat of paint on this structure, says society president Patricia Armitage.

Repairs are part of a long-term program to maintain and upgrade properties here, she says.

Last year, the society used a similar grant to replace the roof on the historic Lime Rock Fire Station here and replace gutters and downspouts on the North Gate structure.

Albert Klyberg, vice president of the society and curator of the Wilbur Kelly Museum, suggests that historical buildings "require relentless attention to maintain the integrity of their basic frames."

The bakery, acquired by the society in the early 1990s and moved from its Chapel Street site, is a one-of-a-kind building in all Rhode Island, according to Klyberg. He says it's "typical of village businesses at the end of the 1800s, and one of a handful of survivors. The bakery both represents the scale of life in the horse and buggy age, and its surviving kitchen furnishings provide a good idea of how it worked," he says.

The fire station here that housed the Lime Rock Grange No. 22 Volunteer Fire Department from 1921 to 1952 is named for Armitage's late father, Dick Buckley, and her mother Ann Buckley. It was dedicated as a museum for the society in June of 1999 and will once again be used as a place to house artifacts, according to Armitage.

North Gate, built in 1808 to service the toll road, was accepted "from the Lime Rock Grange No. 22 for $1 in 1971."

Bringing all of its buildings up to code "is one of the preconditions for the society to mark its own vitality, sustainability, and community purpose as it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2008," said Klyberg.

The society, while located in Lincoln, serves as the historical repository for Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, Cumberland, North Smithfield and Woonsocket.

It suffered a black eye in 2005 when its former president looted and sold some of the collection without knowledge of other members.

In the aftermath, members sold off one property, the Manville Music Hall, to cover debt, and has reorganized under the leadership of individuals who are more personally involved in the day-to-day happenings, says Klyberg.

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