As late as 1978 a report of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission asserted that Allendale was the best preserved of North Providence mill villages. Though dilapidated by the 1980s, its mill was also picturesque—until its conversion to condominiums resulted in gross changes of sash, entrance doors, and hardware which are completely out of keeping—plus, of course, the necessary evisceration of the interior. Similar insensitive alteration and outright demolition of much of Allendale's mill housing occurred at the same time. So dispiriting are these changes that one is tempted to hurry by without looking; but the mill calls for more than dismissal. Allendale is a significant mill village which was dominated by one of the most important early Rhode Island industrialists, Zachariah Allen. So what remains deserves attention.
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