Collier Point Park

Rhode Island is a small state, yet it has close to 300 public parks and playgrounds operated mostly by the cities. The nine state parks obviously have large footprints, but the city parks are all over the place. They vary in size and function but they serve the public by providing space they can use, and green grounds for all to enjoy, some even have beaches. Last year, we were driving from Providence with Jim on Allens Avenue and he pointed to a street and started going in that direction. Just around the corner was a small park on the water with parking spaces, boat landings, a two-story observation deck, and nicely kept grounds. I later found its name, Collier Point Park and it had regular operating hours, large gates, indicating that it may be closed after hours.

The Origins of the Collier Point Park

Originally a coal loading dock for the nearby power plants, the park is owned by Narragansett Electric. The strange mechanical contraptions are the remnants from those days but serve merely as visual interest now. Although privately owned property, the park is open to the public. And, while trying to find out more about the park, I also learned that a collier is a cargo ship that carries coal, ergo, the name!

One nice January day, I took Jan to Collier Point Park to look around and photograph what we saw there, and from there. The I-Way bridge on Rt I-195 was visually straddled by the power plant on one side and the open water leading the eye far away. The two-story observation deck and several overlook points were all well maintained and provided different viewpoints for our eyes and cameras. Below are the photographs from our short afternoon outing.