Westport River Watershed

10 Locations | Curated by students in the 2017 Brown University course, "Power & Water: Material Culture and Environmental Impact." The students Julia Bianchi, Lauren Black, Alexander Fredman, Sasha Lieblein, Luke Perrotta, Charlotte Senders, and Liza Yeager. The instructor was Ron M. Potvin. Other entries were contributed by the Little Compton Historical Society and the Westport Historical Society.

The Westport River is an estuary, where fresh water merges with salty tidal waters from the ocean. These environmental conditions created rich biodiversity in fish and wildlife that has long been exploited by Native peoples and Europeans. When Richard Sisson settled at the Head of Westport in 1671, the area was occupied by groups of native people who endowed the Acoaxet and Noquochoke Rivers with spiritual meaning, drew food from their waters, and used them for transportation. European settlers cleared land for farms, introduced livestock, and transformed the native peoples’ familiar ecology.


In the 18th and 19th centuries, parts of Westport grew into a bustling port and industrial center that utilized the renamed East and West Branches of the Westport River for water power and for ports of call for whaling, fishing, and merchant vessels. At the Head of Westport, ship builders used trees from nearby forests to fill a growing demand for vessels of all kinds.


Cod fishing dominated in the 18th century, but gave way to whaling by the early 19th century. With the growth of whaling, the town’s economic activity consolidated at the wharves at Westport Point, where sailors could buy supplies and visit taverns before departing for arduous voyages that lasted up to four years. Trade ships brought goods to Westport and Little Compton, supporting the thriving whaling industry and providing opportunities for entrepreneurs like Paul Cuffe. The Westport River and its tributaries also provided power for a variety of small industries, like George Gifford’s grain mill and later shingle and spoke factory.


The Westport River is a watershed, capturing rainwater from the surrounding land, and waste products from all of these endeavors flowed downriver to the Atlantic Ocean. Today, much of this runoff contains farming fertilizers, pet and livestock waste, sewage from malfunctioning septic systems, and pollutants from roadways including oil, antifreeze, and litter. In recent years, ecologists have experimented on Cockeast Pond with oysters, which filter water and remove excess nitrogen produced by manure.


As Westport moves into the future, the river continues to serve many purposes. It waters provide nurseries for fish, food for humans and wildlife, and places to paddle, sail, and swim. There is now a greater recognition of the fragility of this resource and the responsibility of people to maintain it. The Westport River is a physical link to the past, and along its banks stand reminders of the town’s rich history.

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…
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“Them folks at the Head is gittin’ mighty high toned buildin’ a school with a ‘bellcony’ on it,” remarked a mid-nineteenth century Westport resident.
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The Handy House is not the home of a famous person—Washington did not sleep here! Yet the story of the people who lived here provides an extraordinary window into a world of ordinary lives that is otherwise lost to history. As you walk through this house you will travel through 300 years of history…
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The Plymouth Court established Adamsville as part of "Sakonnet" in the seventeenth century. The settlement adopted the name "Little Compton" in 1683 (check). Although Adamsville village had no official name at that time, many people referred to it as "Taber's…
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This pond and its link to the West Branch of the Westport River are the primary reasons for Adamsville's existence. These natural resources created an ideal spot for both a gristmill and a sawmill. Early settlers were quick to realize the area’s potential and dammed the pond to maximize its…
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At Adamsville Landing, the water is calm and the river is shallow. Salt marshes and forested areas line the river’s banks. Wild deer, turkeys, coyotes, and foxes make homes in the woods, and blue herons, terns, ospreys, and gulls swoop through the sky.
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The border between Adamsville and Westport was changed in 1747 from the west bank of the Westport River (which is just to the East of Brayton's Garage) to this location in the middle of the mill pond. The new border cut though established lots creating private properties that were half in RI…
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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…
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Around Elizabeth’s home at Westport Harbor, just down the shore from the lifesaving station, the winds were high and people were preparing for a storm, but most were not too worried. However, by late afternoon the storm surge was reaching dangerous levels. Elizabeth saw the wind and water sweep the…
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