Narragansett, RI

Life Along the Shore

On a cloudless morning, a dozen wetsuited surfers bob in the waves at Narragansett beach while a handful of people lunch on the seawall separating the beach from Route 1A. Toward the beach’s southern end, The Towers—stone remains of what was once the Pier Casino—look down over the ocean.

Close your eyes and you can imagine a light bobbing along the seawall’s walkway 100 years ago. A watchman, performing his nightly ritual, walks south toward the Point Judith Lighthouse from the Coast Guard Lifesaving Station adjacent to The Towers. A second watchman has set out from the lighthouse to meet him in the middle where they’ll exchange lanterns and return to their stations.

The ocean defines Narragansett, R.I.—literally. Fourteen miles long and a mile wide, the town (pop. 16,361) is virtually two peninsulas almost completely surrounded by ocean, river, and salt marshes. You could get tipsy on the atmosphere here, full as it is of saltwater smells, seabird cries, and sun-jeweled waves.

The sea has a presence even inland at Canonchet Farm and South County Museum, located on the former Robinson homestead. Driving through the entrance of this monument to rural Rhode Island, you may not be able to see the ocean, but you’re reminded it’s near as an osprey swoops over your car.

In the 1870s, a 68-room mansion sprawled over this site, swallowing up the original homestead. Built by Civil War hero and former Gov. William Sprague for his wife, the mansion was destroyed by fire in 1909. Another 75 years would pass before the museum found a home here.

In 1933, the fledgling South County Museum, then located in Wickford, asked Rhode Islanders to scour their attics and barns for memorabilia of rural life. The response was overwhelming. A collection of 60,000 pieces was amassed and, after outgrowing two prior locations and being forced by highway construction from a third, the museum settled at Canonchet.

Today, a building reminiscent of the original mansion houses half the collection, ranging from a 1695 trinket box to a collection of 20th-century women’s hats. Exhibits are organized by category: farm implements, a rural kitchen, a family-run department store, and music (including the instruments, sheet music, and uniforms of Civil War brass bands).

Outside is a blacksmith’s forge, a carpentry shop, a one-room schoolhouse, a printing shop, a carriage house, and—yes—an 1870s coastal farm. On weekends from May to October, the smithy’s forge glows, the presses roll, and corn-shelling machines separate kernel from cob as artisans carry visitors back in time.

“Farmers had a real connection to the sea,” says museum director L.J. McElroy. “The soil along the coast was fertile, and the growing season was longer.” Seaweed was the ideal fertilizer, and the ocean provided a bounty of fish to augment a family’s diet.

The first farms were actually large plantations. By the 19th century, however, plantations gave way to smaller family farms, but eventually agriculture retreated before a growing tourism industry.

“Narragansett was discovered by the wealthy at the end of the 1800s,” says town manager Maurice Loontjens. “They’d take a boat from New York to Narragansett and stay at the big hotels.”

A sketch in Loontjens’ office shows a string of grand hotels across from the seawall, circa 1898—all claimed by fire. Another picture shows the arch and towers of the Pier Casino, where tennis stars gathered for tournaments and patrons danced in a ballroom that overlooked the ocean.

The casino and nearby Rockingham Hotel were consumed by fire in 1900—only the towers remain. In 1968, the town took over The Towers, as the structure came to be known, refurbishing it and renting it for functions. A glimpse into Narragansett’s past is provided by old photos and newspaper clippings adorning the walls.

Whether it’s Narragansett’s past, consisting of turn-of-the-century hotels and coastal farms, or its present—characterized by ocean-loving vacationers—few who come here leave without appreciating this town’s history of life along the shore.

Gayle Goddard-Taylor writes from her home in Rehobeth, Mass.

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