Robert Rodman's Village

Robert Rodman's Village. Lafayette. , For a place to be truly considered a village requires several vital components; buildings that serve the residents and contribute to the sense of community that the word "village" embodies. In Lafayette, virtually all those community-creating structures were provided by Robert Rodman through his business, Rodman Manufacturing. The company constructed and owned the company store and village post office, the village meeting hall, and almost all the employee housing, including a pair of company-staffed boarding houses. Rodman and his family were the primary financial backers behind the construction of the Advent Street church, and they paid for the relocation, upgrading, and expansion of the two village schoolhouses. They provided their employees with a fine public park and picnic ground on Liberty Hill, just behind Rodman's own mansion house, and even funded the construction of a winter crypt to house the remains of Lafayette's dearly departed through the cold winter months when graves could not be dug. Employees of Rodman Manufacturing maintained all these structures keep streets and lanes in good repair, planted trees and landscape materials, and made sure that Lafayette was something its residents and the Rodman family could always be proud of., [Captions:] , The Samuel Carr House, known during the period as the "Old Castle", was acquired in the middle of the 19th century when Robert Rodman purchased the Carr Farm property for mill expansion and worker housing construction. Rodman had it remodeled, adding the two ells, so it could accommodate four families. It is still adjacent to the mill site and is utilized as rental property., The Boarding House was built in 1878 to house unmarried, male mill hands who from outside of the village in the mill. The small home just to the east of the boarding house was relocated from the main mill site and was modified for single female mill workers who required housing. Both buildings serve the community today as rental property and are located on Ten Rod Road across from the mill., The Company Store and Post Office was constructed in 1882 and replaced the smaller store just west of the mill. It was run by Rodman's brother-in-law Ambrose Taylor who also served as Lafayette's postmaster and lived with his family on the upper floors. In the early 20th century it was sold and operated in the same fashion under the name "Davis and Slocum". It too, is located across from the mill and serves Lafayette as rental property., This late 19th century photograph taken from the roof of a home on Swamptown Road (now Lafayette Road) shows the grade crossing of the Newport and Wickford Railroad line in the foreground along with the crossing guard shack. The new brick mill and the original wooden mill are evident to the right and the company store is visible in the center. To left stand the Advent Street Church and Rodman Hall., Rodman Hall was constructed in 1890 and was paid for by Rodman Manufacturing for the use of its employees and their families. Located next to the Advent Church, it had a total seating capacity in the main hall and balcony area of 750. The building had a stage for dramatic performers, a full kitchen, and smaller meeting rooms in the basement. It was also supplied with modern heating and gas lighting system. Sadly it was burned by a disgruntled employee fifty years after it opened., The Lafayette Advent Christian Church was designed and constructed in 1883 by Maxson and Company of Westerly, R.I. It was largely paid for by the Rodman family. Its style is characterized as Victorian-Gothic. Designed to seat more than three hundred parishioners, it was utilized until 1970. Millworkers of the Baptist faith could attend services at the Six-Principle Baptist Church on Old Baptist Road and Episcopalians could attend at St. Gabriel's Chapel in Lafayette on Indian Street operated by St Paul's Episcopal Church in Wickford. The Advent Church is still extant on the street named for it and is now utilized as warehouse space for McKay's Furniture Company., East Lafayette Schoolhouse - A Smaller version of this schoolhouse was constructed in 1891 and was located at the end of what is now Dillon Avenue in East Lafayette. In 1901 it was moved to its present location and expanded. This building was utilized by the North Kingstown school system into the 1960s. It later housed the North Kingstown Planning Department and is now commercial space in the village.