In 1889 Centerville was a thriving community under the control of Enos Lapham. Mills, churches, schools, stores and housing were all connected to the Lapham family. Their wealth and power enabled them to rule the village with the prestige and glory that would have been envied by feudal barons. This was the “heyday” of the mill owners in every sense of the word. Enos passed this power and wealth to Robert Byron Treat, his grandson.

When Treat inherited the Centreville Mill Complex shortly after the death of his grandfather, he was well-trained for the position and the responsibility. He was the son of Franklin and Elizabeth (Lapham) Treat and was raised in an atmosphere of both business and politics. From the time Treat was 14 years of age, he entered his grandfather’s firm as an office boy and gradually worked in various departments in the mill to get practical knowledge of the textile manufacturing business. Lapham exercised strict control over Treat’s business career and made him his heir apparent.

Treat, like his grandfather, was a staunch Republican and was one of the presidential electors chosen to vote for William B. McKinley in 1900. Treat, under the guidance of Senator Nelson B. Aldrich and Charles R. Brayton, worked to get McKinley elected and was rewarded with political influence and favors.

In addition to his other activities, Treat served as chairman of the state Board of Public Roads, was state senator from Warwick (1902-03) and was a member of the Warwick School Committee. In addition to his active part in local, state and national politics, Treat was a leader in religious and educational endeavors. He was chairman of the Centreville Methodist Episcopal Church, and when in 1902 fire destroyed the old 1831 church, Treat was instrumental in getting the church rebuilt in 1903. His interest in education brought him to serve as president of the prestigious East Greenwich Academy and to serve as superintendent of the Sunday school for the Centreville M.E. Church and serve as a member of the board for the Centreville school district.

Treat built his lovely home at Ledgemont, on the crest of the hill on New London Avenue, in 1900. Ledgemont is a large stone and wood frame dwelling in the English-Tudor style. The architect for the house was Howard K. Hilton of Providence. Treat lived there with his wife, Mary Gaylord, and their two children, Robert and Hazel. In 1924 Ledgemont was sold to a prominent group of Warwick and Providence businessmen, who converted the large manor house into a clubhouse for the Ledgemont Country Club.

While Enos Lapham had been a key figure in the building of Warwick’s Town Hall in 1892-93, his grandson worked towards building the town’s other significant turn-of-the-century structure, the Warwick High School. Treat served on the Warwick High School Commission in 1904-05 and was instrumental in having the handsome neo-classical structure built between Providence St. and New London Ave. When Warwick was divided in 1913 and the new town of West Warwick was created, Warwick kept the Town Hall and West Warwick received the high school. With the division, the Centreville mills became part of West Warwick while Treat’s home, Ledgemont, and Lapham’s Sunnyside on Centreville Road remained part of Warwick.

In 1903 Treat sold his interests in the Centreville Mill to Robert Knight of the B.B. & R. Knight Company. When the Knights acquired the mill, they purchased over 75 houses for their employees and also had a farm, a company store and a number of other buildings on the property. The Knights made a large number of changes and enlarged the mill complex.