Granite Industry
Westerly, RI

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Babcock-Smith House Museum
124 Granite Street
Westerly, RI   02891
401-596-5704
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Industrial Trust Company

Another treasure in the downtown Westerly area is the old Industrial Trust Company building. It was cut in 1887 out of red granite by the New England Granite works.

As the banking industry grew, this remarkable building was behind by the bank. At one time it was an annex for Vars Brothers’ Drugstore. It was recently purchased by the Westerly Land Trust.

The fluted columns are not free standing but are rather engaged (that is partly embedded in the wall of the building). Each column from the capital to the base is cut out of one piece of stone. It was roughed-out and then turned on a lathe. The back side of the column was then sawed off. Finally the flutes in the column were cut by hand. The exquisite Corinthian capitals were turned on a lathe to the outside dimension and then cut by hand following a model prepared by the sculptor.
entablature:
(architecture) the structure consisting of the part of a classical temple above the columns between a capital and the roof
architrave:
the lowest part of an entablature; rests immediately on the capitals of the columns
frieze:
an architectural ornament consisting of a horizontal sculptured band between the architrave and the cornice
cornice:
the topmost projecting part of an entablature
   
   

 

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