Author Topic: Quonset Point Naval Air Base  (Read 13045 times)

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Offline bob58

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Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« on: June 15, 2005, 10:44:14 AM »
Hello. I have been reading thru the forums and thought I would post something about the former Quonset Point Base in North Kingstown, RI. I used to work there in the late 80's to early 90's. I was a roving patrolman for a sub-contracted security company that the State of RI hired. My job was to drive around and keep an eye on the grounds and buildings. The base closed in early 70's and buildings secured around 1974. By the time I got on the scene, some buildings were gone but there was still plenty to explore and this job was the perfect opportunity to explore an abandoned military base first hand!!!!
It  took a few weeks till I felt I was ready to actually poke around. I worked 2nd shift so there was usually no one around anyway. The first place I wanted to check out was the Officers Circle. That was a good sized neighborhood of huge houses, all abandoned and creepy. Naval officers lived here.  Since I was a security guard and drove a marked security vehicle, no one would question why I was in any certain area. As long as I did'nt do anything totally stupid, I was able to go pretty much anywhere on base I wanted to explore, except the currently occupied Air Guard sections. There were still CBC security patrols that monitored only the still-used Navy sections. But they never bothered me and I actually made friends with one.
I think the main reason I took the job was to make extra money on weekends and to get to explore alot of those old buildings!  So through my few years working there I managed to infiltrate just about everywhere I wanted to go. The old commissary, barracks, utility buildings, hangars, houses, you name it. The only thing I couldnt find were TUNNELS! And I was told there were tunnels. I used to talk to the water dept. guys from the port authority and they did say there were tunnels through out the base but never specified. I looked high and low but just couldnt find them. The Nike site at the north end of base was all but sealed by 1988. There wasnt much left to see over there. There were a few abandoned neighborhoods where officers and enlisted people lived. Those were the easiest to get in and explore. Unfortunatly over the years, vandalism was a BIG problem there. Most of the abandoned houses were trashed. Broken doors, windows, holes in walls and floors....One of the creepiest places I got to see was the old Main Dining Facility. I noticed on my rounds, sometimes I would cruise through the parking lot there. I noticed a stairwell that was next to building that went down to a door. There was always about 18" of water at the bottom steps so I never could seem to get down there to look. I had a strange feeling that the door at bottom of stairwell was OPEN!  So one afternoon in the winter, I decided to check it out. That water would be frozen and allow me access. I was right. The door was also unlocked! So I went in and what a horror show......dripping cielings....scary echoing sounds....creaks.....everything I was hoping for! So I walked around the lower level till I found the stairway to the first floor. Up on the first floor was a few banquet rooms. I noticed the carpets were at one time high quality carpets. Now they were moisture damaged and filthy. I wanted to check out the main kitchen. It was fantastic....all the old stoves and walk-in freezers were still there! I found an old box of tortellini macaroni in one old freezers. It was pretty gross....who knows how long that was sitting in there. So I explored just abouit all I could. Next door was the old commissary.....that consisted mainly of open space. It was a supermarket type store at one time. There were HUGE walk in freezers in there. The smell of mildew hung in the air.  I also discovered a place called "Dogpatch".
It was a small shore side housing area right on the beach. Most of the houses were vandalized to some extent. But I did manage to go thru about 3 or 4 of them. I also found a 1 story building that looked like some kind of club house. It was well hidden in the bushes and trees. It turned out to be the inebriate house! Hahahaha what a surprise!  I believe people with drinking problems would congregate here for a time out.  I combed the fields and found old poles with antennas still on them. I found all kinds of stuff......coax cables as big as your wrist......weird antennas that were used for some type of communications.  One of the most coolest discoveries I made was when I found the old war room! I was checking the basement in the building that housed our security office. It was a big brick building that had other tenants too. I noticed the first door on my right, as soon as I got to bottom of stairs to basement, was OPEN! It was wide open and DARK in there. I slowly walked in, and felt around the wall for a light switch.......just then the friggin' door shut and I was in total darkness! I grabbed the door and tried to open it, but the knob kept spinning and door wouldnt open. I started to freak.....then I found a switch and turned on lights. I was in the old war room. There were huge wall maps with ships positions still marked on them from years past!!! There was all kinds of cool shit in there....the only problem was I was stuck in there. I managed to find a tool box with a big black crow bar, and jimmied my way out the door. At the end of the basement hallway was a BIG wide door marked "NO TRESSPASSING" in big black and red letters. That door was always locked securly.  Locked until someone forgot to shut it all the way!!! One night I noticed it was ajar! Cool! Now I could finally check it out! It was a room with a few connecting rooms with tons of file cabinets and drawers. They were all FILLED with all kinds of maps and photographs of everything on the base....pictures of the construction progress of all the buildings....all documented. I could have spent hours in there just looking. So I went back every hour or so between maiking my rounds. There were topographic maps of all different areas of the state and Connecticut. There were tons of aerial photos of the base.......alot of stuff.
It was creepy to see photos of men working on the very same buildings that I had earlier explored, now in a sad state of decay. So I had quite an enjoyable time when I worked there. My last assignment was at a former chemical storage site near the runways. It was blocked from view in all directions by big berms. I asked what it originally was and I was told it was an explosives test site! The earth/concrete berms were to contain the explosive shocks. You can just barely make this place out when you are driving down Davisville road heading west. Its still there. My job at the time, I believe it was around 1992-93, was working for Wells Fargo security. They had a trailer, and we just had to walk around the perimeter once an hour. Thats it! The rest of the time could be spent reading, watching tv, SLEEPING......There was a big concrete building that was locked up pretty tight. I had often wondered if it was possible to get in there but the doors were thick heavy metal ones.  There were 300 barrels of seeping deadly chemicals. It stunk like acid.....there were storage sheds with barrels of spent photographic chemicals.......barrels of stearic acid and one had a dead bird in it. Eventually the EPA got involved. I think this site was one of those super fund cleanup deals. Soon there was a new trailer with all kinds of protective gear and showers. The clean up crews were getting ready to de contaminate the place!  A few weeks later, I noticed a side door to that big concrete building was OPEN! The workers must have forgot to close it. Naturally, this was a good opportunity to 'check it out'. The building was too weird for words. It looked like the last people who used it used it for some kind of maitenance shop. There were all kinds of tools, rubber hoses, pipes.....too much to list crammed everywhere. It was also very dark with no lights so I had to use a flashlight. There were no windows. I did find a stair leading to second floor which wasnt to interesting. So this place was open for a couple weeks  before someone locked it back up again.  Another cool place was a double story single room guard shack. It was a small building with two floors and an outdoor stair to access the top floor. It was about 8' X 8' and really decayed. There was a rotating red beacon light on top with various small antennae.
This whole complex area, not too big was surrounded with chain linked barbed wire fencing. The only way we could get in and out was to slide this BIG chain linked gate on rollers. It was about 14' high and heavy. Plus lots of bees nests all around. Once gate was shut and padlocked, no one could get in to bother you! When the guy for next shift showed up, he would honk his car horn to alert me to open gate for him. So it was a cool place to work till the contract expired and EPA had finished cleaning up shortly. So that ended my 2.5 year gig with the port authority in RI Quonset Point! Many of the old buildings I used to roam thru are all gone. All the old houses are gone.....There is not much left and pretty much nothing worth exploring. The property has been turned into an industrial park and many of the former land parcels are full of new buildings. I seldom go there anymore. One place that has remained pretty constant is the pier area. One thing I really regret is not taking photos of the buildings when i worked there. I did have a 35mm camera then and did take a series of b/w photos but they are lost. Well I hope this post stirs the imaginations of those who read it.  :lol:  

Offline 3rd shifterzz

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Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2005, 09:07:12 PM »
Good Post

Thanks for sharing, But I would of freaked out if I got locked in there.  :o       Good thing you got out.

Offline bob58

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Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2005, 09:33:16 PM »
Yah, I was scared at first cause I didnt think I was going to get outta there without destroying the door.  Then I would have had to explain what I was doing in that room to the boss. But I was lucky. The thing that was really weird was the door knob. From the inside, the knob just twisted and spun around and even if you tried to pull open the door, it wouldnt budge!  I guess that not many people went in and out of that room. I was walking around looking at things and noticed tools and sections of drywall and telephone stuff. It looked as though they were planning to build an office or something in there. Well I will never know. I havent been in that building for many years. It still has tenants and is still in use. I did take a ride around Quonset not too long ago and noticed that it had changed alot since the late 80's. Some roads are even gone and new ones are scattered about. There are new main roads and bridges. Mostly all of the decrepit, old buildings are gone except for that row of brick barracks opposite Toray. I don't know why the State of RI keeps them. It appeared that they were goiong to remodel tham into office space. There is another row of the same type of barracks 1 block to the east. They also are shitty and in disrepair. One section of the barracks near Toray is a day care. Well thats it for now!

Forensic17

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Re: Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2009, 11:30:58 PM »
Naval Air Station Quonset Point was a United States Naval Base in Quonset Point, Rhode Island. President Richard M. Nixon went through basic officer training at Quonset Point in 1942.



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Offline CarbonCavi

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Re: Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2009, 10:40:11 PM »
wow great post! alot of good info there! I second the vote on wishing you had a camera!
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Offline JiggyJamesG

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Re: Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2009, 08:13:48 PM »
Im gonna have to third that, pictures would have been sick. Sounds like a great job tho.
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Offline mwm5000

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Re: Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2013, 01:55:30 PM »
Heading to Rhode Island in a little over a week. Haven't been there about 30 years. Was wondering if the hospital was still standing in Quonset Point Naval Base, as I was born there shortly before the base was closed. Thought it would be interesting to explore

Offline CarbonCavi

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Re: Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2013, 01:11:59 PM »
my suggestion is check google maps and see if you can identify the hospital building from there. sorry i can not be of more help
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Offline mwm5000

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Re: Quonset Point Naval Air Base
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2013, 09:01:19 AM »
Thanks for the information