Off Conanicut Island's eastern shore lies Gould Island, the third of the major islands that comprise the town of Jamestown. It was named for Thomas Gould, who purchased the island in 1657 to use as farmland. In 1858, the Maitland family bought the entire island. After 12 years, they sold it to the Homan family, also from New York, who had the esteemed architecture firm of McKim, Mead and White design them a "cottage."

During the summer of 1911, coming off their national championship, Harvard’s football team could be seen practicing on Gould Island. Harvard’s football coach, Percy D. Haughton and his wife Gwendolyn now owned the island and a Boston paper reported that the team routinely exercised there. Following the trends of the summer social scene at Newport, entertaining was part of the Jamestown lifestyle.

The Haughtons were the last private citizens to own Gould Island. With the threat of war looming, Congress authorized the seizure of land along the eastern seaboard. Torpedoes were being developed on nearby Goat Island and a more remote place was needed for storage and testing. In September 1918, the government notified Mrs. Haughton that Gould Island was being requisitioned--they had 30 days to vacate.

In 1919, construction of hangars for seaplanes and concrete piers began. The Haughton's home became barracks for marines.

Throughout the 1940s, torpedo guidance systems were tested at Gould Island. Torpedoes launched from the firing piers were followed by aircraft tasked with tracking them for retrieval. No system is perfect though, and Jamestown residents distinctively remember hearing torpedoes come up on the rocks. Camp Seaside's pier had a large warning light, which lit up when a torpedo was fired, giving swimmers time to get out of the water.

Although four of Gould Island's building were declared "historic" and worthy of preservation in 1975, the Navy demolished everything but the firing pier in 1999. Currently, the island is managed by The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) as a conservation habitat. It is scheduled for an environmental study to asses the viability of future development.

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According to local legend, in 1776 militia from the Head of Westport broke ranks with the remainder of their contingent to eat bread and cheese and to drink from the brook. The brook could also have been named after simple meals eaten on its banks by picnickers, farm and mill workers, and lovers of nature. As its importance to the residents of Westport evolved, Bread and Cheese Brook’s ambiguous name continued to reflect its practical and recreational uses. In the 18th century, the land that forms the Brookside Conservation Area held farms and homes of prominent Westport families including the Babcocks and the Giffords. Bread and Cheese Brook was central to this early agricultural economy, its water important to livestock and its banks a popular spot to dine on produce from fields and pastures In addition to his farm, George Gifford built a grain mill powered by the flow of the brook’s waters. In keeping with Westport’s colorful place names, locals referred to Gifford’s enterprise as Mouse Mill, since it supposedly processed only enough grain to feed a mouse. As Westport’s economy expanded and technology improved, the Giffords converted the Mouse Mill into a shingle and wagon spoke factory. A bit further downstream, where the brook joins the Noquochoke River, more powerful currents powered larger mills in the 19th century. Perhaps mill workers joined farmhands eating a quick lunch beside the brook. In the 20th century, lunch at the brook moved indoors to the Brookside restaurant where diners enjoyed the view through windows. By 2009, the restaurant stood abandoned and Westport voters approved expenditure from the Community Preservation Fund to protect the socially and environmentally important area and to provide public access. Today, the Brookside Conservation Area is managed by the Westport Land Conservation Trust for the benefit of residents and visitors. Although people today might be more likely to bring peanut butter and jelly to the brook rather than bread and cheese, lunching on its banks is still an important part of the brook’s identity along with fishing, hiking, and enjoying the picturesque remains of the century-old Granite Bridge. Although Westport’s economy no longer depends on Bread and Cheese Brook, the health of the Westport River Watershed and the town’s aquifer still rely on this small portion of the river system. The Westport River Watershed Alliance works with the town of Westport to monitor the conditions of Bread and Cheese Brook to ensure its future enjoyment by picnickers, hikers, and nature lovers.

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An ongoing four-year project of the Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) is an initiative to reverse the nitrification of Cockeast Pond by planting half a million oysters in a fraction of the pond’s area. Residents of Westport have long been familiar with oysters as source of food–and employment–but oysters might also be capable of solving a crippling environmental problem. It’s an exciting and new solution to a well-known problem. Pollution from human activity emits nitrogen via surface runoff, human and animal waste discharge, and emissions from combustion. Surface runoff, the flow of excess waters over Earth’s surface, is a particularly significant problem. Many farmers and homeowners treat their soil with nitrate-rich fertilizers, pesticides, and more, and when rainwater soaks through this soil it carries nitrates with it wherever it’s going. High levels of nitrogen in bodies of water cultivate the growth of algal blooms. Algae feed on nitrates and phosphates. When an excess of these nutrients appears, algae growth explodes. When algae die, their decomposition consumes oxygen. If there are enough algae, this process can deplete a body of water of oxygen. Since marine animals require oxygen to survive, algal blooms kill off fish and shellfish, as well as more complex species of plants that process nitrogen differently than algae. In addition, harmful bacteria can thrive as a result of algal blooms and sicken humans and animals that enter the infected body of water. Beaches have often closed off as a result of algae blooms. How do oysters fit into this? For decades, scientists have known that oysters are able to filter water and use its elements to build tissue and store waste ingredients in surrounding sediment. Microbes break down this sediment and release nitrogen into the water, where it emerges into the atmosphere as harmless gas in a process known as denitrification. So what would happen if someone put 500,000 oysters in a pond plagued by algal blooms? This was the question asked by researchers from the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), which has partnered with WRWA to test a theory that oysters could bring the nitrogen levels of Cockeast Pond under control. After 30,000 oysters passed a baseline survivability test in the spring of 2016, the EPA awarded the SMAST researchers over half a million dollars to take the next, much larger step. If this method of denitrification is successful, it will mean much more than the survival of Cockeast Pond. “Addressing the nitrogen problem along the South Coast, Cape Cod and the South Shore will cost billions of dollars if we only consider traditional strategies such as bigger wastewater treatment plants and more sewer lines,” reported Dr. Brian Howes from UMass Dartmouth. “We just don’t have the time or money for that course. It is, therefore, imperative that we find soft solutions that leverage nature, in this case the oyster, to make progress.” Success in the case of Cockeast Pond could lead to billions of dollars saved down the road if this method were applied all over the country and even the world.  Nothing is certain, but as of fall 2017, things are looking up.

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