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

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382 Isp- 10-31-114
United States Department of the Interior
- National Park Service - For PU’S us. only
NationaB Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination Form
Continuation sheet s 6
ironically, it was the
a class of- individuals
burgeoning industrial economy itselF that created
with the financial resources and leis ure time to
get away from the perceived detrimental aspects of the new s 0 c :i.o - e con 0111 .. c
order. - - -
Development of the sunnmer colon’ at Watch
coniininon to nnnany Ainnerican resorts. Larly vis.i tor
on the area’s picturesque setting and bJleasarlt climate, were
tent with hoarding- house and hotel accommodations and social
centered on outdoor recreation and hotel functions, in time,
desired more privacy and comfort than the hotels offered huil
vacation houses. Seasonal dwellings were aiso built hy real
vestors who -rented to families that wanted the advantages of
residence hut did not want to or could not a fford to incur th
maintaining their own cottage. As the conñmunity became nnore
additional facilities and institutions were created, many of
cated features of life hack home which the - sojourners were os
trying to leave behind them.
Light Keeper
ment of the specta
acquire property.
Narragansett Bay to
George Poster.
Item number S
received
date entered
Page 3
Jonathan Nash apparently saw the potential for develop
cular seaside landscape at Watch Hill , for Tie began to
- By 1920 his holdings extended across the neck fronni hi ttte
the ocean, bordered on the north and south by Lands of
The tourist industry had its inception in the 1830s when Jonathan
Nash began
keeper and
by the cons
in 18S5-56,
in 1868, and
i-bill followech general trends
s , focinss inig their att cnn t ion
at first con -
act i v :i ties
whose who
t thei r own
estate ina
pr ‘a te
e expense of
e 5 tab ii shied
which repli -
tens i b l
to take boarders in his -house. About 1835 he reti red as light
built the first hotel, the Watch Hill House. This was followed
truction of the Narragansett House in 1844, the Atlantic House
the Plympton House in 1865, the Ocean House and Larkini I-house
the Bay-View House about 1870.
Tourists were attracted to Watch h-Till primarily from the west and
north. Most
from Washing
Mass a c h u e t t
able resorts
Tine visitors
complete tJne
mile trip wh
at WesterL
came from Philadelphia,- Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati, and others
ton, D.C. , Baltimore, -Hartford, Connecticut, and Springfield,
5 . Pew canne from Providence or Bos ton - - the latter with fashion -
in closer prox imity on the North Shore of Massachusetts Bay.
traveled by rail, detraining at Stonington , Connecticut, to
journey by -steanner across Little Narragansett Bay, a three
ich was easier than the six-mile ride overland from the stat ion
cell t e r.
The early evolution of the community is documented in the 1870 Beers
Atlas of Rhode island.
V i 1 lag e to Watch Hill
From the old winding road leading from Westerly
Point present-day Watch Hill and Westerly Roads
See :0,1 t i nnnati on Sheet 1157