National Register of Historic Places - Rhode Island Historical ...

7. Description -.______________________
Condition Check one Check one
- - excellent deteriorated - unaltered 01 iqiflal site -
N good ruins - X altered moved late
fair unexposed
Describe the present and original if known physical appearance
Watch Hill, one of Rhode Island’s most attractive and best preserv-:’d
coastal communities, developed as a seaside summer resort of hotels and
substantial dwellings in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centur-..
The village occupies a scenic shoreside expanse of hilly ground. The area
is largely suburban in character, with an irregular pattern of streets con
taining detached houses set on landscaped lots interspersed with woodland
and lnarshland. The houses are executed in the various styles common in
the decades immediately preceding and following the turn of the twenticl,h
century. Nearly ninety percent of the 247 buildings in the district are
residential structures, the’ majority built between 1840 and 1930. The
relatively uni form scale and the predominant use of shingled wood- frame
construction give Watch Hill a considerable degree of visual harmony.
Watch Hill is situated at the extreme southwestern corner of Rhode
island in the town of Westerly, on a roughly triangular neck of land huinded
southerly by Block Island Sound the Atlantic Ocean and northwesterly by
Little Narragansett Bay and the Pawcatuck River, the last two of which f:orm
the boundary between Westerly and Stonington, Connecticut. At the end of
the neck are two points: crescent-shaped Napatree Point, running off to
tiic: west, and Watch Hill Point, running off to the south the latter the
site of a lighthouse since 1808. - For ‘the most part the ocean sliorellic
encompasses unbroken, gently curving stretches of sandy beach. ‘l’lie bay
shore is more convoluted, with three small coves separating subsidiary
pen i n Sn I as . The terrain at Watch Hi II is’ uneven * WI th a liutfihe r o f kIlo I I S
depressions, and tiny ponds. The trees and shrubbery planted on house lots,
the woods and vines on undeveloped parcels, and the tall reeds fill ing the
marshes combine to create a strong countrified ambience. The changes in
elevation and relatively dense vegetation separate the district visually
into distinct subsections. The pattern of settlement, characterized by
curving streets winding over and around the hillsides, is well suited to
the picturesque landscape.
- The primary route through the district -follows Watch Hill Road,
Westerly Road, and Wauwinnet Avenue to Bay Street, the village’s main street
Commercial activity is concentrated on Bay Street, a thoroughfare runnIng
tangent to the shore of Little Narragansett Bay with a small waterfront
park on one side. At its southwesterly end, Bay Street terminates at the
i rig Horse Carousel, a local landmark listed in the National Register of
Historic Places. The earliest resort development occurred in the area
adjoining Bay Street, Plympton Road, and L-shaped Bluff Avenue including
Larkin Road, see district map , where the first hotels- -two of which sur
vive- -and summer houses were built. Today this village center contains a
mix of residential, commercxai ,-and institutional - structures, including
the Watch Hill Chapel and the Post Office - The portions of the distiic t
to the northeast are almost entirely residential. Though they were built
up after 1885, these areas contain scattered remnants from eaTler periods,
See Continuation Sheet #1