The stone port-cochere that spans Ocean Road in the Pier area of Narragansett has become known simply as “The Towers.” The Towers is what remains of the Narragansett Pier Casino, which was designed by the New York firm of McKim, Mead and White, with landscaping designed by Fredrick Olmstead. The Casino was one of America’s most prestigious resorts in its heyday – the 1890’s. During a time when 19 resorts graced Narragansett, the Casino was considered to be the center of social life. The Narragansett Pier Casino, constructed between 1883 and 1886, was an example of Victorian style shingle architecture. Guests of the resort enjoyed beach-going, billiards, tennis, cards, bowling, shooting, boating, and beautiful reading rooms, shops, restaurants and a theater within in the Casino. A fire that began at the nearby Rockingham Hotel on September 12, 1900 destroyed the Casino, with only the granite portion of the Towers remaining. The reconstruction of the Towers was completed in 1910.
The Towers was damaged by the Hurricane of 1938, and again by firer in 1965. The state of Rhode Island acquired the building and gave it to the town of Narragansett. Since then, the Towers has been restored.
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he Towers has become one of the state’s most prominent landmarks, and has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1969. Today the Towers serve as a beautiful, historic event venue, as well as a key landmark for Narragansett.