Westerly (town), Rhode Island
Encyclopedia
Westerly is a town
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...

 on the southwestern shoreline of Washington County
Washington County, Rhode Island
Washington County, commonly known colloquially as South County, is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Washington County borders Kent County to the north, New London County in Connecticut to the west, Suffolk County in New York to the southwest, the Atlantic...

, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Founded in 1669 by John Babcock, it is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state. The population was 22,787 at the 2010 census
United States Census, 2010
The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...

. The town is part of the Norwich-New London
Southeastern Connecticut
The Southeastern Connecticut region comprises, as the name suggests, the southeastern corner of the state of Connecticut. It is sometimes referred to as Greater New London or by the tourist slogan Mystic and More....

 New England City and Town Area
New England City and Town Area
A New England City and Town Area or NECTA is a geographic and statistical entity defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, for use in describing aspects of the New England region of the United States...

.

On the western border of Westerly flows the Pawcatuck River
Pawcatuck River
The Pawcatuck River is a river in the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut flowing approximately . There are eight dams along the river's length. The former USS Pawcatuck was named after the river.-History:...

, once renowned for its own species of Westerly salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

, three of which are on the town's crest. The Pawcatuck River flows from some fifteen miles (24 km) inland, emptying into Little Narragansett Bay. The Pawcatuck River also serves as the boundary between Westerly and Pawcatuck
Pawcatuck, Connecticut
Pawcatuck is a census-designated place in the town of Stonington which is located in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,474 at the 2000 census. It is located across the Pawcatuck River from Downtown Westerly in Rhode Island. It includes the Mechanic Street...

, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. Along the coast of Westerly lie salt ponds, which serve as shallow reeflike pools, whose outer walls form the long, white beaches for which the town became renowned. From west to east, these ponds are called Maschaug Pond, Winnapaug Pond
Winnapaug Pond
Winnapaug Pond is a breached saltwater pond in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States, connected to Block Island Sound by the Weekapaug Breachway, which was constructed during the mid-1950s. The lake is separated from the Atlantic by a large sandbar. In 2008, its overall water quality was assessed...

, and Quonochontaug Pond
Quonochontaug Pond
Quonochontaug is a coastal lagoon in the towns of Charlestown and Westerly, both in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It is the most saline of nine such lagoons in southern Rhode Island....

. The town also has a fresh water lake, Chapman's Pond, which is undergoing revitalization. A type of granite, known as Westerly granite, has long been quarried here. Westerly granite, ideal for statuary, has been used in numerous government buildings of several states along the eastern seaboard. The Westerly area was known for its granite and stone-cutting industry.

Westerly becomes a large tourist attraction during the summer months - some argue that the population nearly doubles. From east to west, well-known beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

es include Weekapaug
Weekapaug, Rhode Island
Weekapaug is a small fire district in southern Washington County, Rhode Island. It is part of the town of Westerly, Rhode Island, and is a small beachfront community that is also a census-designated place. Weekapaug lies in the Eastern Time Zone and observes daylight saving time...

 Beach, Westerly Town Beach, Misquamicut State Beach
Misquamicut State Beach
Misquamicut State Beach is a state park in Westerly Rhode Island. It is a part of Misquamicut Beach which is a seven mile length of beach that stretches from Weekapaug in the east, westward to Watch Hill, which was called Noyes Beach after Reverend James Noyes from the 18th century to the late...

, East Beach and Watch Hill Beach.

History

Westerly's primary industries today are textiles and tourism, but historically Westerly was also famous for its granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

, quarried in at least two locations in Westerly also in Bradford
Bradford, Rhode Island
Bradford is a census-designated place and historic district in the town of Westerly in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 1,497 at the 2000 census...

 and Potter Hill.

Westerly was named for the settlement's location, respective to Rhode Island's geography, being the westernmost town in the state.
There is also a possibility that Westerly got its name from the English village of Westerleigh
Westerleigh
Westerleigh is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England near the edge of the Cotswold hills. The village is located between Yate and Bristol, nearby villages include Nibley, Wapley, Iron Acton, Coalpit Heath and Codrington.-Background:...

, in the county of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

. The English village was the home of one of Westerly, Rhode Island's founding fathers, Elder John Crandall
John Crandall
John Crandall, one of the founding settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island, was born in 1618 in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England to James Crandall, a yeoman of Kendleshire in that parish, and his first wife Eleanor...

 (ca
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

. 1612-1676). Elder John settled in Westerly in 1661 and the early history of Westerly contains many references to him and his sons.

Westerly sits atop a glacial moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...

, a series of small hills of debris left behind by receding glaciers in the last Ice Age. A pristine sample of the moraine encompasses a 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) preserve owned in perpetuity by the Westerly Land Trust. Within the trust land are the rare "kettle" formations that extend out under the sea to Block Island
Block Island
Block Island is part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately south of the coast of Rhode Island, east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and is separated from the Rhode Island mainland by Block Island Sound. The United States Census Bureau defines Block...

.

The Groton and Stonington Street Railway
Groton and Stonington Street Railway
The Groton and Stonington Street Railway was a trolley line that extended from Groton, Connecticut to Westerly, Rhode Island. The trolley line began service in 1904 and ended service in 1928.-History:...

 was a trolley line that was created in 1904 to serve the southeastern Connecticut area. The trolley line was extended to Westerly in 1905. The trolley was dismantled and replaced by buses in 1928.

Physician, American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 general, and Rhode Island Supreme Court justice, Dr. Joshua Babcock
Joshua Babcock
Joshua Babcock was a physician, American Revolution general, Rhode Island Supreme Court justice, and postmaster from Westerly, Rhode Island.-Biography:...

 and Royal Governor and Chief Justice of Rhode Island Samuel Ward were born in Westerly.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 74.8 square miles (193.8 km²), of which, 30.1 square miles (77.9 km²) of it is land and 44.7 square miles (115.8 km²) of it (59.78%) is water.

Villages

Westerly consists of a number of small villages. Downtown Westerly , on the Pawcatuck River, is the municipal seat of the area, with the old town post office, library, YMCA, railroad station police headquarters, granite buildings and Wilcox Park.

Other villages include Avondale (with antique colonial and Queen Anne-style homes), Bradford
Bradford, Rhode Island
Bradford is a census-designated place and historic district in the town of Westerly in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 1,497 at the 2000 census...

(with its own post office and postal code), Dunn's Corners, Mastuxet, Misquamicut (a beachfront community with small amounts of nightlife and several hotels), Potter Hill (where the Town Forest is located), Shelter Harbor, Watch Hill (with its beaches and summer cottages), Weekapaug
Weekapaug, Rhode Island
Weekapaug is a small fire district in southern Washington County, Rhode Island. It is part of the town of Westerly, Rhode Island, and is a small beachfront community that is also a census-designated place. Weekapaug lies in the Eastern Time Zone and observes daylight saving time...

, White Rock, and Winnapaug (with its public golf courses). Apart from Bradford, Shelter Harbor, Watch Hill, and Weekapaug, West'lyans normally identify themselves with the town, as opposed to the village in which they reside.

The town holds a number of annual events such as the Pawcatuck River Duck Race in April, Virtu Art Fetsival in May, Shakespeare in the Park and The Summer Pops (hosted by the Chorus of Westerly
Chorus of Westerly
Founded in 1959 by George Kent, the Chorus of Westerly is a 190 voice chorus based in Westerly, Rhode Island. It is one of the few choruses in the nation which has children singing alongside adults for every performance of its season...

) in June, and Riverglow in July. In recent years, the Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber of Commerce's Big Screen Movies on the Beach through July and August, Westerly's Columbus Day Parade in October, and several beachfront events have attracted many visitors.

The former granite mining and the stone-cutting industry is historically important. Its quarries produced blue granite, in addition to pinks and reds. The Smith Granite Co, which employed many granite cutting craftsmen, was one of the town's major employers until the quarries stopped operating in the 1950s. Hundreds of examples of their work can be seen in the battlefields of Gettysburg and in city squares, municipal buildings, cemeteries throughout the United States, and even the Georgia State House.

The Guild Guitar Company, founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge in New York City, moved production to Westerly in 1967 and continued to make its well respected archtop, acoustic and solid body guitars there until 1996, when they were bought by Fender Musical Instruments and production was moved to Corona, California.

A number of figures from the history of sports were residents of Westerly. Eddie Sawyer, former major league baseball manager (Philadelphia), is from Westerly, as is former Washington Senators pitcher Dave Stenhouse. Frankie Frisch, player-manager of the St. Louis Cardinals' famous "Gashouse Gang," retired to and lived the remainder of his life in Westerly, and Elisson "Tarzan" Brown, one of the finest marathon runners in the world, is from the Westerly area.

Demographics

For demographic information on the urbanized area of Westerly, see Westerly (CDP), Rhode Island
Westerly (CDP), Rhode Island
Westerly is a census-designated place in the town of Westerly in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,682 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

.

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 22,966 people, 9,402 households, and 6,130 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 763.3 people per square mile (294.7/km²). There were 11,292 housing units at an average density of 375.3 per square mile (144.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.17% White, 0.71% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.57% Native American, 1.99% Asian, 0.34% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population.

There were 9,402 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $44,613, and the median income for a family was $53,165. Males had a median income of $37,887 versus $26,800 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $24,092. About 4.3% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

The most frequent ancestries among the town's population are Italian (34.2%), Irish (17.9%) and English (14.2 %). Many Italians moved to Westerly from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 at the turn of the century (particularly from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

), and Italian dialects are still spoken at the homes of many older residents.

Points of interest

  • Wilcox Park
    Wilcox Park
    Wilcox Park is a park and arboretum located at 71 ½ High Street, Westerly, Rhode Island. It is open to the public at all times, without fee, and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 as Wilcox Park Historic District...

  • Westerly High School
  • Westerly Town Beach
  • Misquamicut State Beach
    Misquamicut State Beach
    Misquamicut State Beach is a state park in Westerly Rhode Island. It is a part of Misquamicut Beach which is a seven mile length of beach that stretches from Weekapaug in the east, westward to Watch Hill, which was called Noyes Beach after Reverend James Noyes from the 18th century to the late...

  • Watch Hill
  • Westerly (Amtrak station)
    Westerly (Amtrak station)
    Westerly is a train station in Westerly, Rhode Island. It is served by Amtrak's Northeast Regional train, and was originally built in 1912 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad....

  • Westerly State Airport
    Westerly State Airport
    Westerly State Airport is a public use airport in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It serves the city of Westerly and is located two nautical miles southeast of its central business district....


National Historic Register sites

  • Babcock-Smith House
    Babcock-Smith House
    The Dr. Joshua Babcock-Smith House is an historic house at 124 Granite Street in Westerly, Rhode Island.The house was built around 1734. Dr. Joshua Babcock, a correspondent with Benjamin Franklin, lived in the house and hosted both Franklin and General George Washington at the home...

  • Bradford Village Historic District, in Hopkinton and Westerly
  • Earlscourt Historic District
    Earlscourt Historic District
    Earlscourt Historic District is a historic district in Narragansett, Rhode Island, United States, bounded by Westmoreland, Noble, Woodward Streets, and Gibson Avenue....

  • Former Immaculate Conception Church
    Former Immaculate Conception Church
    The George Kent Performance Hall is an historic building at 119 High Street in Westerly, Rhode Island....

  • Lewis-Card-Perry House
    Lewis-Card-Perry House
    The Lewis-Card-Perry House is a historic site at 12 Margin Street in Westerly, Rhode Island.The house was built in 1929 by Norman Isham and added to the National Historic Register in 2005....

  • Main Street Historic District
    Main Street Historic District (Westerly, Rhode Island)
    Main Street Historic District is a historic district in Westerly, Rhode Island at 113-132 Main Street, 8, 7-13 School Street, 3-14 Maple Street....

  • North End Historic District
    North End Historic District (Westerly, Rhode Island)
    North End Historic District is a historic district on Canal, Dayton, Friendship, High, Pearl, Pierce, Pleasant, Pond, West, Industrial, Lilac, Geranium, Marriott and Turano Streets in Westerly, Rhode Island....

  • Nursery Site, RI-273
    Nursery Site, RI-273
    Nursery Site, RI-273 is an historic site in Westerly, Rhode Island that was added to the National Historic Register in 1984....

  • Watch Hill Historic District
  • Westerly Armory
    Westerly Armory
    Westerly Armory is an historic national guard armory building located on Railroad Avenue, west of downtown Westerly, Rhode Island.-History:The armory was built in 1901 to replace another destroyed armory. the armory was designed by William R. Walker,& Son, a firm that designed several other...

  • Westerly Downtown Historic District
    Westerly Downtown Historic District
    The Westerly Downtown Historic District is a historic district bounded by Railroad Avenue, High, Canal, Broad , Union, and Main Streets in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States....

  • Wilcox Park Historic District

External links

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