Historic Walking Tours of Narragansett Pier
Historical and Architectural Resources of Narragansett, 1991 SCM photo-jrt 2010
George Brown House
16 Mathewson Street
Architectural Description
21/2-story, gable-roofed dwelling with a gabled elI on the south side, a center chimney, a Shingle Style porch, and a
Federal doorway with side lights, surmounted by an entablature with consoles.
Year Built
1822
Comments
This house has a unique history, according to the 1991 historical survey:
Shortly after 1780, John Robinson built a pier near the present site of the Towers to provide local farmers with a
more convenient means of exporting and importing goods. It is to this wharf that Narragansett Pier owes its name.
By 1801, when Robinson’s son, Benjamin, inherited the property, a house and a store had also been built here.
The pier was destroyed in the Great Gale of 1815 and was rebuilt by Rowland Hazard, who had purchased it from
Robinson five years earlier. The property changed hands two or three times, finally coming into the possession of
George Brown in 1822. At that time, Brown built a house on the site later occupied by the old Casino. This is
probably the house which now stands at 18 Mathewson Street, moved to its present location.
Once known as the Wagon Wheel, the house originally was located opposite the North Pier and later moved to the
site of Pier Pharmacy at14 Mathewson Street. In about 1890 it was again moved, this time one lot south to its
present site, and turned 90 degrees. In 1895, it was Cottage 3 of the Narragansett Casino