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Narragansett, Rhode Island | |
Famed for its beaches and the Romanesque arch of a long-gone casino, Naragansett makes a great stop on a trip between Providence or Newport and South County RI. | ||
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Narragansett, Rhode Island, 31 miles (50 km) south of Providence and 7 miles (11 km) north of Port Galilee and the Block Island Ferry (map), was a shipbuilding center and a port for ferries to Newport before becoing a posh summer resort in the 19th century. Grand, sprawling summer hotels were built in the town. The grandest was the Narragansett Casino (1886) designed by McKim, Mead and White. But as with most of the grand 19th-century summer hotels—which were built of wood—the Casino was destroyed by fire in 1900. Only its grand towered archway entrance, built of stone, remains. The stone towers and arch have become a landmark and symbol for the town. Narragansett does still have several motels and inns for lodging, although most of the area's lodgings are in and around nearby Newport. More... North of the towers stretches Narragansett Town Beach, a broad swath of fine sand eagerly sought by both residents and visitors on hot summer days. The boundaries of the town of Narragansett extend southward to include Scarborough State Beach, Roger W Wheeler State Beach, Fishermen's Memorial State Park, Point Judith and Galilee, with its ferry to Block Island. —by Tom Brosnahan
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Above, Casino
arch, Narragansett
RI.
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