Old Harbor Historic District - New Shoreham, RI - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In New Shoreham, in eastern part of the island, is the Old Harbor Historic District.

The village of Old Harbor is where the main cluster of commerce and residences are located. The ferries from Rhode Island and Massachusetts come to this port. The nomination form states that the historic district is defined as any historic building within a 2,000 ft radius of the intersection of Water Street, High Street, and Spring Street, which is where the waymark is placed.

The town of New Shoreham was established in 1672. The settlement was in the center of the island at first. Later, a harbor with breakwater jetties was built between 1870 and 1876 at the present location of Old Harbor. Old Harbor began to develop into a resort area with the building of several of the hotels, most of which exist today.

The district covers many cottages, homes, hotels, stores, a roller skating rink, a church and a site of another, and the site of the Oceanview Hotel - 42 in all listed in the nomination form. The following are some of them:

No. 25 - Adrian Hotel - Now the Harbor Church, was the site of the first public house for staying.

No. 42 - Site of Oceanview Hotel, was where the largest hotel was built. It could accommodate 500 people with a staff of 250. The building burned down in 1966 and the property including the foundations are now part of public land held by a partnership of the the Block Island Trust and The Nature Conservancy.

No. 31 - The Spring House Inn, is the best preserved of the large hotels on the island and is still used as a hotel.

No. 1 - The Site of the First Baptist Church, is where the Baptist Church was built in 1885. In 1943, it burned to the ground. The congregation then moved to its present location.

Street address: Water, High, Spring, Dodge and other Streets New Shoreham, RI United States of America 02807 County / Borough / Parish: Washington Year listed: 1974 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture, Commerce, Entertainment/Recreation Periods of significance: 1875-1899, 1850-1874 Historic function: Domestic, Health Care Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Recreation And Culture Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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