Alfred E. Stone

Alfred Stone (July 29, 1834 – September 4, 1908) was an American architect. He was a founding partner of the Providence, Rhode Island, firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson. Mr. Stone was best known for designing many prominent Rhode Island buildings, including the Providence Public Library, Union Station, buildings at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, and many private homes.

Early years and family

Alfred Stone was born on July 29, 1834, in East Machias, Maine, to Rev. Thomas Treadwell Stone and Laura Poor Stone. He attended the Washington Academy in East Machias until the family moved to Salem, Massachusetts . While attending high school in Salem, he studied drawing and surveying. He graduated from high school in 1850. In 1852 he began his architectural training in the office of Towle & Foster. A few years later he moved to the office of Shepard S. Woodcock. While there, he designed the Hotel Pelham in Boston. While also there, he competed to design the 1858 City Hall in Portland, Maine, but did not even rank. In 1859 Stone moved to Providence and entered the office of Alpheus C. Morse, where he studied architecture until the outbreak of the Civil War. Stone married Ellen Maria Putnam in Salem in 1864.

Career and later life In 1864 Stone founded his own architectural firm in Providence, and then partnered with W. H. Emmerton in 1866. Emmerton was killed in a railroad accident in 1871. In 1873, Stone promoted longtime employee Charles E. Carpenter to partner, forming the firm of Stone & Carpenter. In 1882, the firm took on a recent Beaux-Arts graduate, Edmund R. Willson. Impressed with his work, Stone and Carpenter promoted him to junior partner in 1883. He was promoted to full partner a few years later, and the firm became Stone, Carpenter & Willson. Walter G. Sheldon became a partner in 1901. It was Stone who convinced his fellow cemetery directors to construct Blackstone Boulevard (built 1892–1894), as an easy means of getting to the cemetery.

Architectural work

All of Stone's work was built in Providence, Rhode Island, except where noted.

While in private practice, 1864–1873

Zachariah Allen House, 1 Magee St. (1864) – now Brown's Faculty Club. Ambrose E. Burnside House, 314 Benefit St. (1866) Thayer Street Grammar School, 110 Thayer St. (1867) – demolished Union Railroad Co. Depot, Market Sq. (1867) – demolished Gatehouse, Swan Point Cemetery (1868) – demolished Jesse Metcalf House, 229 Woodward Rd., Wanskuck, Rhode Island (1868) – demolished 1948-49. Gilbert Congdon & Co. Building, 155-161 Canal St. (1869) – Later the home of Congdon, Carpenter & Co. Demolished. Wheaton & Anthony Building, 75 Westminster St. (1872, 1881) – demolished

Stone & Carpenter, 1873–c.1885

David Duncan Ward, Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd. (1873) Pettaconsett Pumping Station, Pettaconsett Ave., Howard, Rhode Island (1873) – demolished English and Classical School, 46 Snow St. (1874) – a private school, also the first home of the Providence Public Library; demolished Hope M. E. Church, 51 Main St., Hope, Rhode Island (1874) – No longer a church. Altered. Jerothmul B. Barnaby House, 299 Broadway (1875) Parish House for First Congregational Church, 1 Benevolent St. (1877) What Cheer Cottage, Roger Williams Park, 1000 Elmwood Ave. (1877) – demolished 1896 Froebel School (Hillel House), 80 Brown St. (1878) – built as a school for the training of kindergarten teachers William Goddard House (Remodeling), 38 Brown St. (1881) – Built for W. G. Goddard in 1830. Now owned by Brown. Esther H. Baker House, 179 Hope St. (1882) St. Stephen's Row, 130-138 George St., Providence, RI (c.1882) – demolished William W. Dunnell House, 16 Angell St. (1884) Garden Street School, 27 Sterry St., Pawtucket, Rhode Island (1885) – Demolished.