Napatree Point

Napatree Point in Rhode Island, often referred to simply as Napatree, is a long sandy spit created by a geologic process called longshore drift. Up until the Hurricane of 1938, Napatree was sickle-shaped and included a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) long northern extension called Sandy Point. Napatree now extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) westward from the business district of Watch Hill, a village in Westerly, Rhode Island forming a protected harbor. It is the southernmost and westernmost point of mainland Rhode Island.

Reportedly, the name "Napatree" derives from Nap or Nape (Neck) of Trees. Napatree Point was once heavily wooded. However, when the Great September Gale of 1815 struck the area, the trees were destroyed.

Napatree Point is a slender, 1.5 mile long peninsula in Block Island Sound. To the north of the peninsula is Little Narragansett Bay, a small estuary into which the Pawcatuck River empties. The small bay is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean.

The peninsula is partially made from longshore drift. It is also made from glacial moraine, and is similar in makeup to nearby Fishers Island. The same moraine that Fishers Island is made out of resurfaces in Watch Hill, the village which contains Napatree Point. This region of the Northeastern United States made by glacial moraines from the Wisconsonian glaciation is known as the Outer Lands.

In 1898, the federal government purchased 60 acres (24 ha) at the elbow of Napatree Point for the construction of a coastal artillery installation, one of many such forts designed to protect the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound as part of a defense network for New York City. Fort Mansfield began operations in 1901. However, war games in 1907 demonstrated a fatal design flaw, and by 1909 it was removed from the list of active posts.

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