What to See in Block Island - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum in New Shoreham, Rhode Island. The Block Island Historical Society is a historical society which runs a museum at 18 Old Town Road and Ocean Avenue on Block Island in Rhode Island.

The Block Island Historical Society Museum was founded in 1942. The museum is located within Woonsocket House, a large house built in 1871. It was purchased in 1945, and numerous artifacts related to Block Island's history from "early maritime and farming displays to colonial memorabilia and scenes from Victorian summer past times. Two floors of exhibit rooms include fine furniture, textiles, quilts, boat models, tools, fishing gear, Native American artifacts, oral history tapes and other interesting displays." The museum is open daily during the summer and by appointment during the remainder of the year.^[3]

Cliff in Rhode Island. The Mohegan Bluffs are large clay cliffs about 150 feet high, located on the southern shore of Block Island. They got their name because the battle of the Niantic and the Mohegan took place here in the mid 16th century. The battle was over supremacy of the island, and the intruding Mohegans were forced over the cliffs to their death by the native Niantic.

These cliffs are a beautiful site, and can be observed from the top, where visitors can look out for miles on the Atlantic Ocean or visitors can climb down the steep staircase of over 100 steps and view them from the beach.

The visiting times are from a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. Visitors usually spend the day here tanning on the beach, swimming in the ocean, walking their dogs, or simply admiring the cliffs.

Through the years, the Mohegan Bluffs have eroded about 250 feet, and because of this, the Block Island Southeast Lighthouse had to be moved back about 360 feet to keep it from tumbling into the ocean.^[4]

Vacation property in New Shoreham, Rhode Island. Hygeia House is a historic vacation home on Beach Avenue on Block Island.

It is a 2-3 story wood-frame structure, four bays wide, with a mansard roof. The building presents 2+1⁄2 stories to the front, with a row of four dormers in the roof, and a porch extending the full width of the front, and wrapping around to the right to join a projecting section of the main block.

The hotel was built in 1885, and operated as the Seaside House at a location about 150 yards (140 m) south of its present location. It was moved here in 1907, to what were then the grounds of the Hygeia Hotel, a much larger hotel which burned down in 1916.

The Hygeia's previous owner, Dr. John Champlin, had his medical office in this building, and continued to rent rooms to summer visitors. It was used as employee housing for other tourist facilities for many years.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.^[5]

Building in New Shoreham, Rhode Island. The U.S. Weather Bureau Station is an historic former weather station on Beach Avenue on Block Island, Rhode Island. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, three bays wide, with a flat roof surrounded by a low balustrade. There is a full-width porch across the front, supported by grouped columns. The Classical Revival building was designed by Harding & Upman, and constructed in 1903, replacing a station destroyed by fire the previous year. It originally had meteorological instruments mounted on the roof and the grounds, and was used as a weather station until 1950. It was then converted for use as a summer tourist residence.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.^[6]