Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Watch Hill is an affluent coastal Neighbourhood and census-designated place in the town of Westerly, Rhode Island.
The population was 154 at the 2010 census. It sits at the most-southwestern point in all of Rhode Island.
It came to prominence in the late 19th and early 20th century as an exclusive summer resort, with wealthy families building sprawling Victorian-style cottages along the peninsula. Watch Hill is characterized by The New York Times as a community with a strong sense of privacy and of discreetly used wealth, in contrast with the overpowering castles of the very rich in nearby Newport.
The area was occupied by Niantic Indians in the 17th century, led by Harman Garrett. Colonists used the hill as an important lookout point during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, hence the community's name.
Some landmarks in the village include the Watch Hill Lighthouse, the first of which was built in 1745; 1880s The Flying Horse Carousel, the oldest operating suspended-horse carousel in the United States and a National Historic Landmark; the Ocean House hotel; and the 1916 Olympia Tea Room. One point of interest in Watch Hill is the ruins of Fort Mansfield, an old coastal artillery post situated at the end of Napatree Point. It was one of a series of such forts constructed to guard the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound as part of the coastal defense network
The population was 154 at the 2010 census. It sits at the most-southwestern point in all of Rhode Island.
It came to prominence in the late 19th and early 20th century as an exclusive summer resort, with wealthy families building sprawling Victorian-style cottages along the peninsula. Watch Hill is characterized by The New York Times as a community with a strong sense of privacy and of discreetly used wealth, in contrast with the overpowering castles of the very rich in nearby Newport.
The area was occupied by Niantic Indians in the 17th century, led by Harman Garrett. Colonists used the hill as an important lookout point during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, hence the community's name.
Some landmarks in the village include the Watch Hill Lighthouse, the first of which was built in 1745; 1880s The Flying Horse Carousel, the oldest operating suspended-horse carousel in the United States and a National Historic Landmark; the Ocean House hotel; and the 1916 Olympia Tea Room. One point of interest in Watch Hill is the ruins of Fort Mansfield, an old coastal artillery post situated at the end of Napatree Point. It was one of a series of such forts constructed to guard the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound as part of the coastal defense network
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