Watch Hill, Rhode Island
Watch Hill | |
|---|---|
Coastal Neighborhood | |
Panorama of Watch Hill | |
| Coordinates: 41°18′49″N 71°50′59″W / 41.31361°N 71.84972°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Rhode Island |
| Town | Westerly |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.82 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
| • Water | 0.014 sq mi (0.04 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 212 |
Watch Hill is an affluent coastal neighborhood and census-designated place in the town of Westerly, Rhode Island. The population was 154 at the 2010 census. It sits at the most-southwestern point in Rhode Island. It came to prominence in the late 19th and early 20th century as an exclusive summer resort, with wealthy families building sprawling Victorian-style "cottages" along the peninsula. Watch Hill is characterized by The New York Times as a community "with a strong sense of privacy and of discreetly used wealth," in contrast with "the overpowering castles of the very rich" in nearby Newport.