We did not think about Rocky Point Park, but Hurricane Lee accidentally led us to the park. Read on.
Table of Contents
Hurricane Lee
A major storm, hurricane Lee traveled north for more than a week. It was still a strong storm but gradually lost some of its strength. When it came close to Rhode Island, Lee was still a strong storm but farther away from the shores of southern New England.
That Friday, about ten days ago, we did not have much wind or rain around the house. Jan and I got in the car to find big waves and drove to Oakland Beach. The water showed no waves, not even small ones. We did not even leave the car and headed towards Conimicut Point Park.
Although we have visited Conimicut Point Park before, this time, we were approaching from a different direction and took a turn a little too soon. That was a good mistake as we found ourselves close to Rocky Point Park. After looking around, we entered the park and eventually came to a road with a label that said “For Handicapped Access Only.” Since I had a placard, we continued down and found ourselves by the water. We parked the car and stepped out to a pleasant scene.
Rocky Point Park Was an Amusement Park
The park has been an attractive location since the mid-1800s. Around the 1950s, it had become an amusement park offering many rides, rollercoasters, and the Shore Dinner Hall with a capacity for about 4,000 seats. Despite its attractions, Rocky Point eventually closed its doors in 1994 and stayed empty and abandoned. Here are some views from the early days of Rocky Point.
Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.




The postcard images above are published with permission, Louis McGowan Rhode Island Postcard Collection, MSS-0032, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Our city, Warwick, purchased about 40 acres of the park in 2008 using city and state funds. Later, in 2010, the state purchased the remaining 83 acres, and the combined land became the Rocky Point State Park. After cleaning up and making paved walkways, the state opened the park in 2014. It is now 124 acres open to the public during daytime hours with many walks, hikes, and boat landings, but with no drinking water or public restrooms. Beware!
Just to give an idea about its size to my friends and readers in Turkey, Rocky Point State Park is slightly larger than Emirgan Park. To learn more about the parks, I sent an e-mail to the City of Warwick Tourism Division inquiring about the public places in the city. The reply was quite informative and quick; thank you all. I learned that there are forty city-owned parks in Warwick, including beaches, totaling over 1,000 acres. There are also state parks within the city, like Goddard and Rocky Point parks. They also provided a link to two chapters relevant to my inquiry in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. We are glad to live in a city and state where public places get priority treatment despite their size. Warwick has a population of about 83,000 and Rhode Island does not yet hit one million residents!
Rocky Point State Park
We were very pleasantly surprised with the park and how well-kept it looked. It was our first visit there after many decades. I vaguely remember taking Elif there with Jan when she was a kid, and Jan may have been there a few more times in that era. Of course, she visited Rocky Point many times when she was a kid herself.
We walked up to a concrete wall to get closer to the water. It was as calm here as it was at Oakland Beach. The storm signs were mainly in the dark skies, with a heavy presence in the dark shades of clouds. We took photographs of our surroundings and were glad to see that Lee would not hit us in any significant way, so we returned home.
We will surely revisit Rocky Point State Park.
Jan’s Photographs








Cemal’s Photographs in Infrared






Haluk Atamal
As per usual, I liked your IR shots best. But we, greenhouse professionals over here, prefer a European unit called “hectare” rather than acres or Emirgan Park units :)
Thanks for sharing the lovely collection Cemal and geçmiş olsun for your luck with the storm.
Take care and best regards,
Haluk
A. Cemal Ekin
Hectares it is, Haluk. It would make 404 hectares of public places in our small city of Warwick. Not bad, eh? Infrared pictures grab attention with their somewhat unexpected looks. Glad you enjoyed the post, and I think you will enjoy these parks.
Take care,
Cemal
Paul White
Enjoyed your post about Rocky Point
It has been a long time since I visited. My wife used to look for sea glass there. It has changed for the better
I do love the IR images. Thanks for the update
A. Cemal Ekin
Good morning, Paul. If you visit Rocky Point you will not be disappointed. A very pleasant place indeed.
Take care,
Cemal
James Turner
Nice summary. Very much enjoyed the images and the link to Warwick 20 year plan for protecting their properties was interesting. The dinner hall being on the water was new to me. Not my memory as a child and teen at Rocky Point. The dinner hall was up on the hill.
A. Cemal Ekin
Jim, I am glad you enjoyed reading about Rocky Point. The dinner hall may be on the water from one side but up the hill from the other. I have no memories of it at all of course! Nice place to have a picnic lunch one day.
Cemal