Charlestown, RI

This southern Rhode Island community fronting the Atlantic Ocean has long been recognized as a naturalist's paradise. Much of the community is set aside as a nature reserve or management area, along it's barrier beaches or the shores of it's interior ponds and swamps. Housing south of Route 1 was primarily vacation properties, but is slowly being converted to a more twelve-month community. Commute to Providence is a 50-minute drive on Route 1 to I-95.

Charlestown, named for King Charles II, was taken from the Town of Westerly, and incorporated in 1738. In 1747, it was divided, and the portion north of the Pawcatuck River became the Town of Richmond.

Some time before white settlers came to Rhode Island, that section of the state south of Narragansett Pier, and Westerly, in Hope Valley, had been the prize fought for by the three local tribes of Indians: the Pequots, Niantics and Narragansetts. Each saw in the region a land of plenty whose ocean frontage and great tidewater inland ponds would furnish sea foods in abundance, and whose fertile meadows would yield a fertile harvest.

The Niantics first held possession of this fertile land, but finally their title was disputed by the powerful Pequots, who had extended their lands north and east from New York. The Niantics and the Narragansetts formed an alliance and finally repelled the invading Pequots. This coalition finally resulted in the absorption of the Niantics by the Narragansetts.

On a bluff over looking the salt waters of Charlestown pond is the site of Old Fort Ninigret, named for Niantic Sachems, but now believed to have been built by Dutch traders before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Bastions and other evidence of military engineering skill found in the Fort, whose original outlines are now preserved by an iron fence, seem to support this theory.

A mile north of the Post Road, in the midst of dense woods, is the Royal Indian Burial Ground, where Sachems of both the Narragansett and Niantic tribes were buried.

Charlestown, on the shores of the Atlantic, is an ideal spot for surf swimming, and offers admirable camping places for tourists. Quonochontaug Beach has a flourishing summer colony. Perhaps one of the best kept secrets in Rhode Island is the three-mile-long East Beach, located near Charlestown's Ninigret Conservation Area. This remote, unspoiled barrier beach has sugar-white sand, gentle surf and clear, turquoise waters, all adjacent to Ninigret Pond, a saltwater pond renowned as one of New England's best wind surfing areas. The pond also supports a great variety of wildlife, as does the adjacent Kimball Wildlife Refuge.

Nearby Ninigret Park, situated on 172 acres, features picnic grounds, ball fields, a 10-speed bike course and tennis and basketball courts. The park also includes a three-acre, spring-fed swimming pond and the Frosty Drew Memorial Nature Center with walking trails on the park grounds.

Town Hall: 4540 South County Tr. Charlestown, RI 02813
Phone: (401) 364-1200

Website: www.charlestownri.org

Other Links

Chariho Regional Schools
Charlestown Chamber of Commerce
South County Tourism Council