History of The Weekapaug Inn

A historic resort hotel built in the beach community of Weekapaug in 1939 has received federal recognition for its contributions to the history of recreation and entertainment. Frederick C. Williamson, Chairman of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, announced that the National Park Service has added Weekapaug Inn to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the Federal Government's official list of properties throughout the United States whose historical and architectural significance makes them worthy of preservation. The Weekapaug Inn is a significant example of the development of the Rhode Island seaside for recreation.

The Weekapaug Inn is located at 25 Spray Rock Road on a low peninsula between Quonochontaug Pond and Mud Cove, and the Weekapaug Boat Harbor. It is a two-and-a-half-story, gable-roof, shingle-and-clapboard covered structure built in seven sections. The wide eaves are broken by a series of large gable-roof dormers. The entrance is marked by a flat-roof porte-cochere, and a two-story ell (housing the dining rooms) is located on the east end of the inn. Service buildings are located on the north end of the property. Several of these date from 1939, including a garage, employee housing, and a caretaker's house. At the south end of the site on the Boat Harbor are the inn's cabanas, built between 1939 and 1954.

The village of Weekapaug is located on Block Island Sound on Westerly's south shore. Like several other beach villages along Rhode Island's south coast-Misquamicut, Quononchontaug, Browning Beach, Shady Harbor, and Green Hill-Weekapaug was characterized by modest summer houses and small boardinghouses and hotels. The first Weekapaug Inn was built in 1899 by Frederick C. Buffum and his wife Phebe Perry, both natives of southern Rhode Island. Accommodating about 120 guests by the early 1930s, the inn was patronized by visitors who enjoyed the beaches, sailing, and family atmosphere.

On September 21, 1938, a devastating hurricane swept through the state and destroyed the first Weekapaug Inn. A large section of the inn and all the outbuildings were washed out to sea, and the remainder of the inn was beyond repair. Even the shape of the beach on which the inn sat was altered as a breachway had opened between ocean and pond.

Following this destruction, the second generation to own the inn-Margaret C. and Frederick C. Buffum, Jr.-vowed to rebuild on a higher and drier site. They hired Boston architect Ralph Harrington Doane (1886-1941), a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Doane had served as a consulting architect for the government of the Philippine Islands before returning to the U.S. to design a number of apartment buildings, schools, and parking garages in the Boston area.

Doane's plan for the Weekapaug Inn arranged 67 rooms in a structure specifically designed to withstand hurricanes. He set the wood-framed building on a steel-framed ground story and carried on steel-reinforced concrete columns. His intention for the ground level allowed for the rising sea to break away the wood-frame partition walls and wash through the building rather than destroy it. The new inn's engineering was tested most intensely in 1954 when Hurricane Carol damaged many of the surrounding buildings, including the inn's 1939 boathouse, but left the inn substantially untouched. Doane's design also reused some rescued materials from the old, and some furnishings as well.

Since its opening in June 1939, the new Weekapaug Inn has functioned as a summer hotel. It is now operated by the fourth generation of the Buffum family who maintain an extensive archive of their activities in Weekapaug. Letters, reminiscences, diaries, guest registers, employee records, and inn menus and recipes together tell the story of this beloved inn.

The National Register nomination for Weekapaug Inn was prepared by Zachary P. Miller, President of Development for Goosewing Hotels and Resorts. According to Edward F. Sanderson, executive director of the RIHPHC, "Listing the Weekapaug Inn on the National Register recognizes this unique structure's role in welcoming generations of vacationing families to the Ocean State."

In addition to honoring a property for its contribution to local, state, or national history, listing on the National Register provides additional benefits. It results in special consideration during the planning of Federal or federally assisted projects and makes properties eligible for State Preservation Grants for historic rehabilitation projects. Owners of private property listed on the National Register are free to maintain, manage, or dispose of their property as they choose. As the state office for historic preservation, the Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission is responsible for reviewing and submitting Rhode Island nominations to the National Register.Contact: Sarah Zurier, 401/222-4142, szurier@preservation.ri.gov.