The Rocky Point Saga — Rocky Point Foundation

Rocky Point Park: A Cultural Heritage

Rocky Point’s history dates back to pre-European times, when the site was reportedly inhabited by members of the Narragansett tribe of Native Americans in the summer months. The property’s “modern” history begins, however, with the advent of leisure time for nineteenth-century working-class Rhode Islanders, who by the late 1840s were able to leave the industrial centers in the state and travel south along Narragansett Bay for pleasure.

1847 to 1995: Rocky Point Amusement Park

Since it was first used for nature outings in 1847, Rocky Point has been Rhode Island’s working-class shoreline resort. Its development as a summer resort was praised by the New York Times in 1872, when it was described as “one of the most delightful places upon our New-England coast,” a place “exceedingly popular with the masses as a delightful spot to spend a few days from the hurry and hustle of daily life.” In that era, before the midway rides that made Rocky Point famous for later generations of Rhode Islanders, the allure of Rocky Point was the land itself—over 120 acres of beach, meadows, wetlands, woods, and dramatic rocky elevations overlooking the entire upper Narragansett Bay.

By 1900 amusements had been added so that it had become “the Coney Island of Rhode Island” according to the New York Times, and John Jacob Astor organized a whimsical visit by his wealthy Newport friends to sample popular entertainments.

Over the decades, attractions at Rocky Point have come and gone—nature trails, a ferry pier, an observation tower, hotels, clambakes, restaurants, swimming pool, rides, games, and concerts—but the attraction of 120 acres of land for public use within 10 miles of downtown Providence has been a consistent draw since those first visits in the late 1840s.

As a nearby “day-trip” shoreline resort, Rocky Point was the place that Rhode Islanders wanted to be in the summer, and they came in droves. Factory workers from as far away as Taunton, Attleboro, and Fall River would enjoy their companies’ annual outings at the park, not to mention the workers from Rhode Island’s mill villages, from Woonsocket to Olneyville to West Warwick. When labor strife in the 1890s caused the Rhode Island central Labor Union to choose a destination for thousands of workers to hold a rally, they chose Rocky Point, calling all available ferries from Providence into service.

Later, when national and local politicians wanted a place to stage rallies for their campaigns, they also chose Rocky Point. Indeed, Rocky Point was the site of the first use of a telephone by a United States President, when in 1877 Alexander Graham Bell called from Providence to President Rutherford B. Hayes at Rocky Point. Baseball, too, became a draw for Rhode Islanders to visit Rocky Point. Those who were at Rocky Point for a 1914 game of the Providence Grays would have seen Babe Ruth hit a home run into Narragansett Bay.