Has anyone been out to the bunker in watch hill, RI on napatree point?
Pretty cool place. Completly unmanaged. Napatree used to be a military installation back in the early days of the US. Most people forgot about it or assume its not there anymore. Several Urban explorer sites list it as nolonger existing but it is definetly still there.
Nealry a hundred years ago the point had a road that lead out to the end. The barracks were mostly converted into houses over time and then the hurricane of 1938 cleared off the whole point. The wooden buildings were all washed into the watch hill bay and now all that is left is a 2 mile beach and a half buried fort /bunker at the end. The fort/bunker isn't obvious when you reach the point. There are just some large rocks around, but if you wander into the overgrown area it soon becomes clear that there is a fort there. Ther are a couple of gun placements and you can venture down into a lower level in a few places. Winter is the best time to explore as in the summer the plants hide alot of the structure.
Evertime I visit I seem to find a new section uncovered by time.
I'm trying to get some diving gear together for my next adventure out there. After a little research at the Westerly Library I got the original layout of the place and it appears a large portion of the site is now under water around the point.
The only military reference I could find about it is a project schedule for future projects listing the site as potential missing ordinance. However the site is so old I doubt the governement will ever inspect it. About ten years ago a small group uncovered a buried antique artiliery piece and some other artifacs after a month of searching a small section of the point with high end metal detectors.
Its a long walk out to the point but a good day trip to the beach.
westerly library!!!........thats where i am now, what do ya know, i think we`re neighbors
You know, I've lived in Westerly my whole life and always wanted to go there. You just gave me a good idea for next weekend.
I finally took a trip out there for the first time tonight; it's only about fifteen minutes from my house.
After the long hike out I spotted the bunker, but was not prepared to go skulking through the bushes to get to it after running into a family of skunks which scared the s#!t out of me. Perhaps on another trip.
I did take some nice pictures of the surrounding area though:
http://photos.yahoo.com/travman342 (http://photos.yahoo.com/travman342) - just click the Napatree Point link.
Enjoy.
Hey,
Just came across this site, and I figured I'd post a link to more info on Napatree Point (Fort Mansfield).
Fort Mansfield (http://ca.ckwinfo.net/lis/mansfield/)
I visited there about 15 years ago and it was pretty overgrown then. I went back ther two years ago and did some walking thru the place.
Some advise.....walk the beach to get there its quicker, if you walk all the way around it will talk you along time.
As a kid my grandparents had a boat and we used to anchor off sandy point and my grandfather was the the one who told me about the fort. At the Haul of Fame in Canterbury CT they have one of the trucks that hauled the guns out there.
I finally have some free time today, so I'm going to head back out to Fort Mansfield, and I'm a little more prepared this time.
I'll post some pics later.
Is this place any where near the flying horse carousel??
Yeah, it's at the end of the stretch of beach that's right behind the carousel.
Skully, if you guys ever take a trip back there (I know your last attempt was unsuccessful lol), let me know - I can show you an easy way to it from the beach that I found without having to go through all the overgrowth which surrounds it. Exploring the tunnels by myself was awesome.
(http://img100.exs.cx/img100/4842/9196.jpg)
(http://img100.exs.cx/img100/1630/949b.jpg)
I posted the rest of the pics up, as usual, at http://photos.yahoo.com/travman342 (http://photos.yahoo.com/travman342) - just click on Fort Mansfield.
From your photos i see Kaos has been there as well.......................
K-OS!!!!!!!!!
Nice pics spacemonkey. Can you talk more about the tunnels? How many? Underground? Water in them?
The tunnels aren't really that extensive. They're more like underground chambers which snake around underneath the main battery, which is probably 300-350 ft long by 50-60 ft wide. Being at or slightly below sea level, they're flooded just a little (about 3-4 inches of water), but someone has strategically placed rocks all around for someone who wouldn't want to get their feet wet.
Despite being hung over like a banshee on Wednesday, I made a return trip just cuz it was such a nice day and found another small battery located in the bushes about 300 ft away. Pretty cool; gun placements and a few underground rooms.
Spacemonkey, How big around is that tunnel in photo number 14?
Thanks much :)
That tunnel's only about fifteen feet long and really really narrow (about 2-3ft wide).
Cool. Thanks for the info.
No problem on the info.
In honor of Halloween, here's me looking like a zombie emerging from one of the tunnels today. Ha!
(http://img83.exs.cx/img83/6783/d672.jpg)
Happy Costume Day!
Nice!
More Fort Mansfield Pics! (http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/lydia_jennings/fortmansfield.html)
For spacemonkey684:
Where is the tunnel in photo 14? I've been there lots of times and I've never seen it before...
Your photos are beautiful, by the way.
(I had to clarify on whose pics because I posted a link to mine just above this post)
That tunnel is kind of hard to find. It's located in the base of a wall in one of the rooms. I almost went crawling into it, but I was by myself and figured that if I'd gotten stuck, I'd have been screwed. B)
Interesting little site you've got there btw.
I also see you talk of being interested in old graffiti on your site there. Take a look at this:
(http://img44.exs.cx/img44/3769/OLD.jpg)
Yup, that says 1848.
I took a trip this past February to San Antonio to visit my family, and fit in a little exploring in my time there. I found that carved into the side of an abandoned Mexican mission about ten miles outside of the city. There were other initials carved all over, mostly dating back to the mid-to-late 1800's. Pretty cool, eh?
Very cool!
I'm not sure why I find old graffiti intriquing, all I know is that dates fascinate me. :)
You've got a fantastic find! I'm jealous lol.
In the Metropolitan Musuem of Art you can find graffiti from the early 1800's on the small Egyptian temple they have inside the building--I thought it was kind of cool, but to find something like that what you found, left in its original context is definitely better than seeing it on a cut up rock in a re-built temple.
Thanks for the compliment!
i might go up there tommorow afternoon and snap some pics for everyone. also of the watch hill mansion.
How ironic, I was just talking to my boss about this place today. Now he wants to go lol.
went last night, WHAT A WALK! im still feeling it almost 12 hours later, didnt think we were going to find it, although it was a nice night out. Got all the way to the end, ended up being a bunch of rocks, we saw a steep path up the rocks, we went up and boom there it is! pretty cool. lotta graffiti, but pretty nice. Probably go up again in the daytime to get a better look. although we could see clearly last night.
Hahaha. In the summer once I didn't feel like paying $20 for parking so we parked like two miles away from the beach. I didn't mind the walk, but my friends did...
$20.00 for parking holy schnikes you should have told them you only wanted 1 parking spot not the whole dam lot lol going today will upload the pics tonight
i went out to napatree point ft mansfield today i took my 6 year old daughter with me and we had a blast it was a great sunny day and we spent 3 solid hours out there i got some nice photos they are in my member gallery we couldn't go down below because it was all flooded i wasn't about to take my daughter down there but we still had a great time and she was amazed to be standing in her 1st old fort" we are exploring daddy lets go" is what she said to me when we climbed down from the top of the fort to the level below it i will definitely be going back here again to go in the tunnels weather they are flooded of not and ill try to map them when i do for those of you how would be interested check out my pics in my gallery -_-
That's awesome...I'll probably be heading there in a couple weeks or next weekend with my new boyfriend. He's never been there and it's always so awesome bringing people who've never gone before :) Glad your daughter liked it! (I first went there when I was about 10 with my grandparents.)
im paying for the pics today(damn my legs hurt) but its worth it i got to spend the day with my daughter and get some nice pics and been to someplace ive never been to before
Cool date! Behave in those bunkers now. Especially with all those damn mosquitos.
Quote from: Megster on May 21, 2006, 11:22:35 PM
That's awesome...I'll probably be heading there in a couple weeks or next weekend with my new boyfriend. He's never been there and it's always so awesome bringing people who've never gone before :) Glad your daughter liked it! (I first went there when I was about 10 with my grandparents.)
Im still picking ticks out of my car from three weeks ago. doesnt look good when you go to a carshow to show your car and you have ticks crawling all over your dashboard.
ewwww, never had a problem with ticks there, which is odd since they have those signs everywhere lol
yeah they suck lol. dunno if i mentioned this earlier or not but there used to be houses and a road all the way out to the fort that the 38 hurricane whiped out. I found the foundations to alot of the houses and have a rough idea of where the road is, thinking of bringing a shovel and digging down a few feet to see what i find. those damn dune activists will be after me in a second though. ill just bean them over the head with the shovel and swim back to stonington lol. OH you do get a good view of the fort thru binoculars from stonington point.
i asked my daughter what she wanted to do today and she said lets go back to the fort in westerly its summer we can explore all day thats awesome!! to bad its raining i wait its the weekend what else should i expect :rolleyes:
hey im down with going again if you would like to let me tag along! lol i found a series of holes almost like manholes covered in what looked like sides of a lobster trap with a bunch of ropes and a tire in the bottom, if we could repel in, i wonder where it would lead?!
I'm definitely down for that lets set it up
damn, i went yesterday evening and WOW the overgrowth is nuts compared to the winter months. almost couldnt do it. but neways, snapped a few good pics, youll be able to see them in my albums. so we explored the first bunker you come to, couldnt get downstairs too much water and whatnot for lindsey and my buddy steve o so we putzed around up top, then there was too much overgrowth to check out the second bunker, so we decided to call it a night, by this time it was 10 pm. we walk back to where the heavy rocks are at the tip of the beach and see this red light coming at us. we take off running having no idea what in the hell it is, and not wanting to find out being so far away from town. we ran the whole length of the beach and made it back in 10 minutes. then were like now that were at the car lets see who or what it was. so after waiting half an hour it was a fisherman. lol he had a head mounted red light, and the whole gear and a pretty expensive looking pole. we went over to him and told him we were scared shitless of him, and he told us he saw my flash of my camera going off in the fog and thought it was lightning the whole time lol. then saw our flashlight take off running and then just shut off lol. we both scared each other just as much. funny little story, just thought id share. photos are in my album, should have them loaded shortly. enjoy, and dont forget to check out my other two albums on ladd center and nsh.
lol fishermen: they're as scared of us as we are of them. Too bad about the overgrowth, but otherwise pretty ill. When the fall rolls around I need to check the joint out.
lol fisherman as scared of us as we are of him now thats funny!! make sure you dont corner them or they attack lol carboncavi all i got to say about identifing thing in the dark night vision only way to fly flip of a switch BANG its daylight we gotta hit this place next week @night water or not i got all next week off gimme a buzz, drop me an email and well see what we can come up with
deffinitly, neone want to make this into a IB mini tour?
Quote from: CarbonCavi on June 29, 2006, 09:43:15 PM
deffinitly, neone want to make this into a IB mini tour?
it'd be awesome. When do you guys have in mind?
im thinking night time cuz there will be less peeps and im on vaca next week so im game any night you guys let me know when and well do it
im good for any night as long as were done by 10pm, or if you want to make this into a late nighter im good tuesday night, wednesday night, and thursday nights.
There are also two abandoned boats out at the end of the point worth seeing :D. Well one is a little bit around the back past that little pond inlet thing but they are awesome.
Great PLace. The old highschool party spot. Cops would never wander that far, but once we lit most of the lower level on fire throwing bushes into openings on the top and the coast guard landed and raided the fort. Got rather exiting... Nothing like a beer in one hand, a doob in the other and wondering what the light is on the water thats getting slowly closer. What a surprise we were all in for. 3 nights in Jail...
Anyways... If you can find it there is a small iron door that is welded and bolted shut in lower level of the fort. Real thick. I've checked it everytime I've gone there and it is always the same... sealed. last there in summer of 08 and its still shut. I am yet to find anyone who has got past it and its too far out to the fort to haul heavy tools. A challenge for anyone whos up to it. If anyone is into diving the bckside of the point is littered with relics from the hurricane of 38. Before that hurricane there was actually a road and buildings most of the way out to the point that were washed away.
it looks like its worth the walk! :ph34r:
this is an old subject but what the hell.... I just came back from there its definatly cool. Alot of history for just a long strip of sand. And when you guys said it was a hell of a walk you weren't kidding.//
last time i went there a seal beached itself ( naturally, doesnt mean its going to die - had to read up on this after an argument with my girlfriend ) and they get some sun for a bit then head back out, and there was all sorts of people around, it wasnt aggressive at all, then waddled back to the water and took off. we took some pics
That place is crazy its just like a really long stretch of beach that go way far out into the ocean. its only like 1000 feet wide or something
k wilks did you know there used to be something like 40 large beach houses there that were completely wiped off the face of the earth in the 1938 hurricane. Or...pushed into the little bay behind the stretch of beach between Watch Hill/Stonington Borough. Aerial maps from 1934 show a much different Napatree Point than the one we know today. The fort is the only thing that survived that hurricane, which killed about 20 people in the Watch Hill area alone, and some people survived the hurricane by waiting in the fort.
if you walk on the cove side of it and look closely you can see reminents of the foundations of some of the houses :-)
Me and omni thinking of going there tonight, whats you guys' thoughts about a night trip there? It would be cool if this was replied to sometime today, but ik the chances of that are slim lol
id just take a day trip there, your allowed to go there so whynot go when you can see and enjoy it? lol
It would so not be worth it at night.
thanks guys, we didnt go last night but were planning on going tonight, might just wait till tomorow then if thats the case.
youll be happy you did. i saw a seal playing in the sand last time i went down there, i have a pic of him. was a cute little guy
thats awesome, still havnt made the trip lol, next weekend fosho, ill probly take some pics.
Thank you alcohol for preventing some UE haha
just went there this past weekend. The first fort was pretty cool. It definetely seemed much simpler than getty and wetherill. It the battery fartherest west there was a tunnel (looked like a former stairwell) filled with trash. did anyone else find this? and does anyone remember it when it wasnt full of trash?
Quote from: mrk on December 22, 2008, 02:42:38 AM
Anyways... If you can find it there is a small iron door that is welded and bolted shut in lower level of the fort. Real thick. I've checked it everytime I've gone there and it is always the same... sealed. last there in summer of 08 and its still shut. I am yet to find anyone who has got past it and its too far out to the fort to haul heavy tools. A challenge for anyone whos up to it. If anyone is into diving the bckside of the point is littered with relics from the hurricane of 38. Before that hurricane there was actually a road and buildings most of the way out to the point that were washed away.
Didnt find it. Maybe next time when it isnt 30 or so degrees out.
I just checked all my old photos of this place and I didn't see it in them...I'm not sure where it's supposed to be but I don't have pics of every room there either (most of the largest battery though) The next battery has two pieces (one more difficult to find than the other). I try to go out there at least once a year. I don't remember that door either, but it's been a while. I have yet to go in the winter though.
Don't remember that hole without the trash. My ex went partially down in one of the holes in the smaller battery and stuck a camera in a space that he couldn't fit in, and it appears to be a tunnel to ??? but also filled with trash and dirt. Not much to look at, not even in pics. The only place I can think of with welded shut doors is Wetherill.
me and omni never made it out there lol, and hes at boot camp now for the reserves so we will have to put it off untill may lol
lol. what branch of the reserves did he join?
The Army Reserves
Most of the awesome grafitti that's down there was don by a close friend of mine. We have gone to other bunkers in the area and I've sat on cold winter afternoons watching him create. He's great at it. The Severence Day, the birds and the XXX are all his. Great pics by the way.
Quote from: Megan on November 27, 2004, 09:34:47 PM
More Fort Mansfield Pics! (http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/lydia_jennings/fortmansfield.html)
Thanks for the compliment on the pics! Those particular ones were done in the summer of 2003 but I've taken more photos since. That whole set is absolutely amazing, esp. the birds in the big room. Did your friend do some at Wetherill too? It doesn't really appear to be his style but then again I don't know what he's doing differently today vs. 7 years ago.
In unrelated news, I just scored a postcard yesterday of Fort Mansfield from the 60s or so. Graffiti is there, yes, but not spraypainted. Interesting, should scan it.
Quote from: Megster on February 15, 2010, 07:52:27 PM
Thanks for the compliment on the pics! Those particular ones were done in the summer of 2003 but I've taken more photos since. That whole set is absolutely amazing, esp. the birds in the big room. Did your friend do some at Wetherill too? It doesn't really appear to be his style but then again I don't know what he's doing differently today vs. 7 years ago.
I have some pictures from last summer when I was there with friends. I'll update once located.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs321.ash1/28196_389726304759_514189759_4176916_1036547_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs311.snc3/28196_389726289759_514189759_4176913_3040153_n.jpg)
(http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs291.snc3/28196_389726319759_514189759_4176918_5504362_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs321.ash1/28196_389726329759_514189759_4176920_8328184_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs291.snc3/28196_389726369759_514189759_4176928_980196_n.jpg)
(http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs311.snc3/28196_389726354759_514189759_4176925_7704640_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs311.snc3/28196_389726409759_514189759_4176934_1357576_n.jpg)
I have nothing to do tomorrow so maybe I'll visit.
does anyone know of the condition of the fort at this point im planning to go down on friday or sunday depending on the weather
This fort's not going anywhere :wacko:
I was out there a week ago. Somebody did some clearing so it easy to get into /around the batteries.
I've never been able to find any locked / welded doors out there either. As far as tunnels - in the smaller battery, Crawford ,there is a small access tunnel to the bottom of the gun pit for maintenance (square hole in photos above). Also they had a sewer line out there as well - I 've seen manhole covers for that.
yes but that tunnel is quite small. In '06 we stuck my camera down there with a timer and it just looks like it's full of trash.
its not going anywhere, will be there for quite some time, good exercise to get out there too!
Went there the other night with my friend and it was pretty fun just finding it. Loads and LOADS of ticks!! time to deet up. Interesting none the less.
yea theyre always bad down there.
Went down to Watch Hill last Monday, nice low tide day. Was able to see the outline of the sunken battery in the surf. They put up wooden railings around the larger battery, and steel plates over the ladders, so getting into the battery was a pain. Its very overgrown with no real path down to the bottom level. The outer battery was still easily accessible, but also quite overgrown. It would be nice if the town tried to clean it up a bit, seems like they dont want to waste the money.....
I went in today and man it was a bitch to get out there with the "high wind warning" I should have deff picked a better day.
But yeah they have put up a bunch of fencing around the main battery and there is only one stairwell to get down into it.
I got this good shot and hope to post more later this week when I have more time.
I am beat going to bed : )
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7068/6783912854_44d13452fb_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6783912854/in/photostream
Cool pic, look forward to the rest!
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/vert306/Forts/DSC_0108.jpg)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/vert306/Forts/DSC_0109.jpg)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/vert306/Forts/IMG_3025.jpg)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/vert306/Forts/IMG_3023.jpg)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/vert306/Forts/IMG_3021.jpg)
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f307/vert306/Forts/IMG_3026.jpg)
^ Do you have any interiors ?
More From my trip.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/6797752088_9f6efa78d1_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6797752088/
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6797741238_3d6cd36b8b_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6797741238/in/photostream/
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6792207142_1b55218ba8_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6792207142/in/photostream
Major dislike for the barriers up at this place. :angry:
Usually don't like spot coloring but like how it was done on that first pic in the last post.
im wondering why the town would waste the money and efforts for those cheap wooden posts that people will light on fire and break down etc.... someone must have fallen im guessing
I asked about this over on the Yahoo CoastDefense list - it was the Watch Hill Association that did it (they claim ownership to the fort). I think they also plan a bird-watching stand on-top the battery or something like that. This could be some "prep" work to make it safe for people to watch birds? We were out there 3-Apr-11 and there was no fence - my friend went 2 weeks later and it was there. Not a big fan....
Battery Crawford
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6800301706_fea9aebb2c_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6800301706/
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7204/6946396455_5d1df1d856_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6946396455/
Battery Wooster
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6792173316_fa62c29065_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6792173316/
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6784278456_6bfa1de951_z.jpg)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gmack24/6784278456/
Anyone know if Fort Mansfield was affected by Hurricane Sandy? Watch Hill sand dunes were pushed back a bit as seen on aerial photos. Going to hike out there tomorrow (or today if time permits).
Was wondering this myself. I drove by, but couldnt get in as there was a national guard humvee out front denying access
Yep, ran into the same issue there. I spoke to a guy who took aerial photos because we were going to book a flight but decided not to, he said "they weren't affected much" so who knows what he means by that.
I mean theyre concrete, I dont see much happening, other than them being filled with sand and debris. They survived the 38 so I dont imagine much was done here. Never know though till ya get out there!
Not all of them survived :P Battery Connell took a hit back in '38
My buddy went there today. bottoms of bunker are about ankle deep in water ( somewhat normal ) and the rest is as they were pre sandy
That's good to hear - I was wondering how Fort Mansfield made out. I haven't had time to make the hike - it gets dark to dang early this time of year.
agreed! I like this time of year though sometimes if you can get to it mid day. Temps are still decent and vegetation has died out
We tried hiking out but there was a lot of heavy cleanup machinery in the parking lot near the yacht club and also on the beach as well, and we didn't feel like getting yelled at, so we drove through Westerly instead. So long as it's still there, there's always another day :D
was that you at Dixie Donuts yesterday morning?
No, I don't really know where that is haha
its a donut/breakfast sandwich shop in norwich/yantic right near sound one and illianos. I swear it was you with a guy and two kids.
Definitely not me, no kids (haha). I recently heard I have a clone, and I heard it from my own mother.
If I see her, bitch is goin' down. hahahahahaha
Last time I was out there someone had carved a creepy pumpkin and left it out there
I'm planning on heading out to Napatree on July 4. This from the Wrongipedia entry is troubling:
"In 2011, the Watch Hill Fire Department placed railings along the top edges of the main building to prevent people from enjoying and exploring the fort. They also placed steel covers blocking the steps to prevent tourists from accessing the lower level of the site."
but we shall see.
They are there - I made two trips this year one at the end of winter, and one during the spring. Between the two trips, somebody had repaired broken sections and replaced metal covers over the ladders. They also added more railing on the lower level of Battery Wooster.
I don't see what the deal is with them doing this. Hell you can go all over Wetherill. Ill have to make my way out there. Tick season now, might wait till fall.
Why to "prevent" you from getting in....not.
Funny you should mention Wetherill; parking at Napatree was impossible so I ended up at Wetherill later in the day. Probably heading back there tomorrow, too, since it's bound to be a full ten degrees cooler than Providence...
yeah unless you get there EARLY in the day. Goodluck lol.
Some pics from my trip out in December 2012. Finally got around to putting them up.
http://cdsg.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=574
when you say where battery used to be.... what is meant by that? did they get rid of one of the fort areas? sorry for my stupidity and im a local too lol.
I think 1938 put battery Connell in the surf . I remember in the 70's there were two sets of rusty rebar spikes sticking up through the surf where the gun blocks used to be. At extra low tide, you could see chunks of concrete in the sand prior to Sandy.
^^^^^^^ this is correct. 1938 Hurricane.
Just checked the place out on Google earth. Can't find any traces of Connell in the surf. Might be heading out there sin to check the place out while the snow has the vegetation suppressed. Might bring my metal detector in the spring!
I think all traces are gone for the moment. Sandy put a hurting on the dunes, and spread the sand out resulting in a wider, flatter beach
I havnt been out here in a while. Should head out there this spring when it warms up a bit. and all this damn snow melts