Napatree Point extends westward from Watch Hill more than a mile, but it used to be much longer. It originally included Sandy Point which is now a sandy island drifting farther north in Little Narragansett Bay. The remains of Fort Mansfield are still found near the tip of Napatree, but all the houses that lined the point prior to 1938 are gone.
The 1938 Hurricane hit Napatree Point hard. Powerful waves riding on top of a huge storm surge destroyed all the homes, killed many people, and reshaped the local landscape. My introduction was reading Sudden Sea, by R.A. Scottie, a number of years ago. Sort of a New England version of Eric Larsen's Isaac's Storm. For you hurricane junkies out there.
Napatree is now publicly accessible and a wildlife preserve. It is managed by the Watch Hill Conservancy. I would have loved to explore, but I arrived very late in the day and only had time to run out to the base and take a few pictures before the sun set. And before my fingers froze to my phone.
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