Things to Do in Westerly, RI: Watch Hill & Napatree

Watch Hill Lighthouse: An Honest Timeline, Not a Single Date

The Rhode Island colonial government built a watchtower and beacon at this site in 1745, during the French and Indian War -- a genuinely early date among American coastal lights. That original structure was destroyed in 1781. President Thomas Jefferson authorized a proper lighthouse in 1806, completed in 1807, and the lighthouse standing today dates to 1856, built after erosion damaged the earlier tower. In other words: 1745 marks the site's first beacon, not the age of the current 45-foot structure. The light was automated in 1986 and is now maintained by the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association, which operates an on-site museum.

One keeper is especially well documented: Sally Ann Crandall became the lighthouse's first woman keeper in 1879, following her husband Captain Jared Starr Crandall's rescue efforts during the 1872 wreck of the steamship Metis. Museum hours and tour availability change with the season, so confirm current details directly with the Keepers Association before planning a visit.

The Flying Horse Carousel: A Precise, Not Sweeping, Superlative

Built around 1876 by the Charles W. F. Dare Company of New York, the Flying Horse Carousel was originally part of a traveling carnival and was left behind in Watch Hill in 1879 when the carnival moved on. Its twenty wooden horses, carved in two sizes from single blocks of wood, hang suspended by chains from sweeps radiating out from a central pole -- the "flying" design that lets the horses swing outward as the carousel turns, distinct from a fixed-pole ride. It is documented as the oldest operating carousel in the United States with horses suspended from chains specifically -- a precise claim, not simply "the oldest carousel in America," and it should not be confused with the similarly named Flying Horses Carousel on Martha's Vineyard, a separate historic carousel with its own, differently worded claim.

The carousel survived the 1938 hurricane with damage; its horses were recovered and restored, though three chariots were permanently lost. Today it is maintained by the Watch Hill Improvement Society, runs seasonally from June through Labor Day, and is limited to children age 12 and under.

Napatree Point Conservation Area

Napatree Point is a 1.5-mile undeveloped sandy spit extending west from Watch Hill toward the Connecticut border, with no roads or houses -- today it is open to the public for walking, birdwatching, and surfcasting. The Watch Hill Fire District bought most of Napatree in 1945 specifically to keep it as conservation land, and in 2013 the district granted a conservation easement to the newly organized Watch Hill Conservancy; the two have jointly managed stewardship and public programming there since. It is a genuinely popular, sometimes crowded destination in summer.

Current visitor rules -- dog policy, seasonal closures for nesting shorebirds, parking -- change from year to year, so confirm specifics directly with the Watch Hill Conservancy's own site before a visit rather than assuming last year's rules still apply. Separately, Fort Road, the pathway crossing a Fire District parking lot that leads to Napatree, has been the subject of an unresolved lawsuit since 2023 between the Watch Hill Fire District and Conservancy on one side and the Town of Westerly and State of Rhode Island on the other, over whether a 2008 town resolution legitimately designated the road a permanent public right-of-way. As of the most recent reporting, settlement talks were underway but no resolution had been reached -- this page will not take a side or state that the dispute is settled.

Ocean House: Demolished, Then Faithfully Rebuilt

The Ocean House opened in 1868 as a rambling Victorian waterfront hotel with distinctive yellow siding, expanded through many additions over the decades. The original, 138-year-old structure closed in 2003, was barred from reopening in 2004 over code and safety deficiencies, and was demolished in December 2005 after preservation efforts failed. Rather than replace it with residential homes, a new owner rebuilt it: Centerbrook Architects designed a faithful replica of the original's form and appearance, which opened in 2010 with modern amenities added in. Today the Ocean House is Rhode Island's only Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond hotel -- a real distinction worth stating plainly, alongside the honest fact that today's building is a 2010 replica rather than an unbroken 1868 original.

Watch Hill Historic District

The Watch Hill Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, covering 629 acres with 176 contributing buildings and two contributing objects -- a genuinely large, walkable concentration of late-19th and early-20th-century architecture, much of it built during Watch Hill's rise as a Gilded Age summer resort. It is worth a slow walk rather than a drive-through, though most of the district's homes remain private residences, not sites open for public tours.

Misquamicut: A Different Kind of Beach, Covered Elsewhere

Misquamicut is a real, separate village within Westerly along the town's southern Atlantic-facing shore, home to Misquamicut State Beach and a livelier, more traditional beach-strip identity -- arcades, mini-golf, motels -- a genuinely different character from Watch Hill's quieter, old-money summer-colony feel. This page mentions it here rather than exploring it in depth, since Misquamicut's own history, named businesses, and beach specifics are reserved for this site's dedicated Misquamicut page -- read that page directly for the fuller story.