History of Westerly, Rhode Island

Founding

• Located on the southwest tip of Rhode Island, Westerly was incorporated on May 13, 1669 into the King's Colony. The town's founding father, John Babcock, lived on the land for decades with his sons. The town was briefly renamed Haversham in 1686, but reverted to the original again three years later. The towns of Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton were originally part of Westerly.

Geography

• The town of Westerly is made up of seven villages: Westerly, Watch Hill, Shelter Harbor, Weekapaug, Misquamicut, Bradford and Dunn's Corner. The town covers 33 square miles, with a population of about 23,000--which doubles between Memorial Day and Labor Day with tourists and vacationers.

Granite

• Granite was the primary industry in Westerly until the quarries ceased operation in the 1950s, but before then, Westerly Granite, mainly blue with some red and pink, could be found across the nation in colonial cities--even as far as the Georgia State House building. Many early-American town cemeteries used Westerly Granite in their headstones.

Features

• The town was built on top of a glacial moraine after the last ice age. The receding glaciers helped form the coastline and some rock formations that continue off the coast of mainland Rhode Island up to the coast of Block Island. Some of the glacial debris is still scattered across the town, including the boulder around which famed golf architect Donald Ross built Winnapaug Golf and Country Club.

Watch Hill

• This scenic peninsula had strategic advantages for the Americans in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Watch Hill juts into the Block Island Sound, and was used as a lookout point for invading ships through the Revolutionary War. Today, it stands as the town's tourist center, with famed sunset views, shopping and the Flying Horses Carousel--the oldest operating carousel in United States.