Napatree Point

Up until the Hurricane of 1938, Napatree was sickle-shaped and included a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) long northern extension called Sandy Point.

Napatree now extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) westward from the business district of Watch Hill, a village in Westerly, Rhode Island forming a protected harbor.

The same moraine that Fishers Island is made out of resurfaces in Watch Hill, the village which contains Napatree Point.

This region of the Northeastern United States made by glacial moraines from the Wisconsonian glaciation is known as the Outer Lands.

In 1898, the federal government purchased 60 acres (24 ha) at the elbow of Napatree Point for the construction of a coastal artillery installation, one of many such forts designed to protect the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound as part of a defense network for New York City.

However, war games in 1907 demonstrated a fatal design flaw, and by 1909 it was removed from the list of active posts.

A private syndicate of Watch Hill residents mobilized to prevent the construction of "cheap little houses" and protect the exclusive character of their town.

Dunes along Napatree Point at sunset
Beach on the south side of the peninsula, facing west.
Watch Hill and Watch Hill Cove from the eastern end of Napatree Point
Looking across the field on the north side of the peninsula, from the center, facing northwest
Photo taken from the south side of the Napatree Point peninsula facing southeast. In the far distance is the historic Watch Hill Lighthouse (sole white building located on right half of photograph).