West Island (Rhode Island)

Sakonnet Light, built in 1884, is a sparkplug lighthouse near Sakonnet Point, Little Compton, Rhode Island, on the eastern side of the state.The light was deactivated in 1954 after Hurricane Carol and was going to be destroyed, but local citizens protested, and eventually Carl and Carolyn Haffenreffer bought the lighthouse in 1961. Explaining his decision to purchase the lighthouse, Carl Haffenreffer said, "I was afraid someone was going to paint it pink or haul it away for scrap." The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Friends of Sakonnet Lighthouse acquired the lighthouse in 1985, and it was reactivated by the United States Coast Guard in 1997. A $1.45 million restoration of the lighthouse it was completed in 2012. The Friends of the Sakonnet Light were awarded the 2012 Rhody Award by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission for their work.

The Stone House Inn, also known as the David Sisson House, located at 122 Sakonnet Point Road in Little Compton, Rhode Island, is a large four-story fieldstone residence – built in 1854 for David Sisson, a Providence-based industrialist – and its associated c.1886 barn. The structures sit on 2 acres (0.81 ha) of land overlooking Round Pond to the south, with a view of the Sakonnet River and Sakonnet Harbor to the west. When the house was completed, it was the largest single-family dwelling in that region and the only one built of stone.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Rhode Island Sound is a marine sound off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. It forms the eastern extension of Block Island Sound and opens out the Atlantic Ocean between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard.

Fort Church was a World War II United States Army coastal defense fort in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Together with Fort Greene near Point Judith, it superseded all previous heavy gun defenses in the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay.

The Sakonnet River is a tidal strait in the state of Rhode Island which flows approximately 14 miles (23 km) between Mount Hope Bay and Rhode Island Sound. It separates Aquidneck Island from the eastern portion of Newport County.

The Wilbor House is a historic house museum at 548 West Main Road in Little Compton, Rhode Island, and currently serves as the headquarters of the Little Compton Historical Society. The property includes eight buildings of historical significance, six of which were part of the Wilbor farmstead, a complex that was used for farming between 1690, when the east end of the house was built, and 1955, when the property was acquired by the historical society. The house is a 2½-story wood-frame structure, whose oldest portion was a stone ender built by Samuel Wilbor (1664–1740), and whose western half was added c.1740, giving it a Georgian appearance. Two ells were added c.1860, and additional expansions were made in 1967. The five farm outbuildings include an 18th-century outhouse, a c.1800 barn, and corn crib and carriage house, both of which were built c.1850. Two additional non-contributing structures are on the property, the frame of a c.1750 barn covered in modern materials, and a modern replica of an 18th-century schoolhouse.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

Occupying a peninsula between the Sakonnet River and Rhode Island Sound, the 242-acre (0.98 km2) Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge is a very popular site for the over 65,000 annual visitors each year. It is located in the southeasternmost part of the Town of Middletown. The refuge sports a newly renovated visitor center, over 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of nature trails, viewing platforms, and a number of Refuge volunteers present to help visitors and to help in management of the refuge. Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge is renowned for its fantastic saltwater fishing, and the presence of the largest winter population of harlequin ducks on the East Coast. Once a horse racing area, then a Naval communications site, and now a National Wildlife Refuge, the area is steeped in history. From salt marsh and beach strand habitats to upland shrub dominated lands, the refuge supports over 200 bird species, with such notable occasional visitors such as the peregrine falcon, northern harrier, and the snowy owl. Sachuest Point, along with the four other National Wildlife Refuges in the State, is administered by the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, headquartered in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge was closed following Hurricane Sandy due to damage from the storm. The refuge reopened on May 1, 2013. As of September 2013, the visitor center continues to operate with reduced hours due to the 2013 federal budget sequestration.

Little Compton is a coastal town in Newport County, Rhode Island, bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Sakonnet River, on the north by the town of Tiverton, and on the east by the town of Westport, Massachusetts. The population was 3,589 as of 2022 Town Records. Little Compton was originally inhabited by the Sakonnet Indians and their settlement was called Sakonnet or Saughonet. The name has been interpreted in a variety of ways including "where the water pours forth". The first European settlers were from Duxbury, Massachusetts in the Plymouth Colony, which granted them their charter. The ruler of the Native Americans was a female sachem named Awashonks who was friendly to the newcomers and remained so during and after King Phillip's War. With her acquiescence, the new settlers divided the land into standard-sized lots for farms. Among the 29 original proprietors was Colonel Benjamin Church, who would become well known for his role in the late 17th-century conflicts with surrounding Indian tribes, initially the Wampanoags and later, the Narragansetts. In 1675, Church built a house in Little Compton, just prior to King Philip's War. Today, a plaque marks the location on West Main Road. In 1682, Sakonnet was incorporated by the Plymouth Colony and was renamed Little Compton, presumably in reference to Little Compton in Warwickshire, England. After the "Old Colony" was merged into the Massachusetts Bay Colony to the north, a local colonial representative to the General Court in Boston boasted that all the stone walls in Little Compton would stretch to the State House and back, if laid end to end. A Royal commission changed the state border in 1747, and Little Compton along with Tiverton and Bristol became part of Rhode Island, setting them off from the area of Old Dartmouth. All probate and land records prior to 1746 are kept in Taunton and New Bedford, Massachusetts. Beginning in the late Victorian era, the town became a destination for summer visitors drawn to its beaches and farms seemingly untouched by modernity, and for its relatively cool, maritime climate.

The Little Compton Commons Historic District, or Little Compton Commons, is a historic district in Little Compton, Rhode Island. It is a triangular area roughly bounded by School House Lane to the north, South Commons Road to the east, and Meeting House Lane to the south. Properties continue to the west on West Road.

The Stonybrook Estate Historic District is a historic district at 501-521 Indian Ave. and 75 Vaucluse Avenue in Middletown, Rhode Island. It encompasses what was the largest and most elaborate summer estate built in Middletown, an outgrowth of the expansion of Newport's summer resort community into neighboring towns. The late Gothic Revival main house, built in 1928, was designed by Horace Trumbauer (who also worked on The Elms) for Edward C. Knight, Jr., for whom he had also designed a house on Newport's Bellevue Avenue. The district includes the estate's landscaped grounds, along with a carriage house, several guest cottages, a gate house, and a gardener's cottage (now 75 Vaucluse Avenue).The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

St. Columba's Chapel in Middletown, Rhode Island, is a parish church of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island of the Episcopal Church. The church is located at 55 Vaucluse Avenue, Middletown, Rhode Island. The chapel is named for the Irish-born missionary St. Columba, renowned for his teaching, healing, and miracles in sixth-century Scotland.

Norman Bird Sanctuary is a 325-acre (1.32 km2) bird sanctuary, nature preserve, environmental education center, and museum at 583 Third Beach Road in Middletown, Rhode Island overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. In 1949, the Norman Bird Sanctuary was founded through a bequest in the will of Mabel Norman Cerio. The Sanctuary comprises the largest area of preserved open space in Newport County. There are 325 acres and 7 miles of hiking trails. The refuge contains hay fields, woodlands and ridges overlooking the ocean and ponds. Hanging Rock, a prominent local landmark, is located within the sanctuary overlooking the ocean. There is also a Visitor's Center and gift shop, and a 19th-century barn museum featuring displays about the wildlife for children and adults.