Wickford Historic District - North Kingstown, RI - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In the North Kingstown village of Wickford is the Wickford National Historic District.

The village of Wickford is a quaint coastal village on the edge of Narraganset Bay, about 20 miles south of Providence. The village center (where the WM is located) is where West Main Street (RI Route 1A), Main Street and Brown Street (Route 1A) come together. Parking is best at the town lot, but parking is limited here.

Wickford had its origins in 1709 when Lodowick Updike started planning out and subdividing the village. Development started slowly, but there are some buildings dating back to the 18th century that still exist. Later the Phillips and Fowler families bought the remaining land and finished the development. During the Revolutionary War, the village was a haven for merchants escaping British occupation home ports. In the early 1800s, it was a fishing and shipbuilding center, then became a trade center, at one time second only to Newport in Rhode Island. However, after the railroad built passed by Wickford, the village's heydays were gone. By 1870, a steamship line was built and brought prosperity back to the village. The Waterside Mill was built at the south end of Brown Street, which lasted for three decades. In 1938, the hurricane of 1938 pushed the sea into the bay and the village was flooded several feet. A marker shows the high water mark of that event.

Buildings included in the district include buildings that are on Main Street, West Main Street, Brown Street, Boston Neck Road, Tower Hill Road, Phillips Street, and several more. They include houses, churches, industrial and marine buildings, and commercial stores. There are over 100 buildings covered. A small sample includes the Old Narragansett Church, which was moved to this spot from present day Kingston; St. Paul Episcopal Church, which has beautiful stained glass windows; the Baptist Church, which is a white church with a short tower; the Standard-Times building, which was originally built for the Narragansett Bank, and the Waterside Mill, a modest industrial building that once made bobbins, then worsted fabric before being a kayak retail location, today.

Street address: Brown and Main Street North Kingstown, RI United States of America 02852 County / Borough / Parish: Washington Year listed: 1974 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1825-1849, 1800-1824, 1750-1799, 1700-1749 Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Health Care, Transportation Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Government, Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/14/2021 petendot visited it 07/05/2016 Roscoe45 visited it

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