The Pettaquamscutt House was built in 1885 by Captain George N. Kenyon. Captain Kenyon had managed and owned the Ocean House prior to building the Pettaqumscutt House. He purchased a portion of the Sprague estate and named it the “Little Neck” farm. He built the large, three-story hotel on the high portion of the land facing the river, overlooking the beach to the east and countryside to the west.
In his advertisement announcing the opening of the hotel, he stated that “from our own farm containing 150 acres known as Little Neck will be supplied milk, vegetables, chickens, and eggs served in the finest style.” To ensure that none of the guests missed out on his famous breakfast, the patriotic Captain sounded a cannon every morning at 7:00, immediately preceding the raising of the flag. He believed this to be part of the hotel’s unique service.
About 20 years after he built the hotel, he sold the property to Mr. Peleg Brown, who was then keeper of the largest livery stable in Narragansett Pier. (Captain Kenyon then purchased the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace as a private residence). Mr. Brown’s daughter, Elizabeth Brown Wood and her husband, George E. Wood, operated the hotel until it was purchased by Mrs. Avis Borda. (At that point, around 1920, Mr. and Mrs. Brown purchased the former Metatoxet Hotel and renamed it the Beachwood).
The Pettaqumscutt House closed in 1920 and was subsequently torn down. Today it is the site of Starr Drive, West (just north of Narragansett Beach).