National Register Listing

Bristol Waterfront Historic District

Bristol Harbor to E side of Wood St. as far N as Washington St. and S to Walker Cove, Bristol, RI

(1810), 86 State Street, designed for himself; the George Davol House (1811), 132 High Street, the Captain Gifford House (1811), 82 State Street, and the Bosworth House (1815), 92 State Street. Four great Greek Revival homes designed by Warren once lined the west side of Hope Street. Still standing are the Dimond-Gardner House (1838), 617 Hope Street, and the Capt. Josiah Talbot House (1838), 647 Hope Street. Later examples include the Wyatt House (1848), 89 State Street, a handsome stone Early Victorian mansion with Italianate detailing, and Guiteras House (built as James DeWolf's barn in 1824) remodeled into an Early Victorian - Gothic style structure by Warren Warren added the 3rd floor to the Norris House (1810), 474 Hope Street, which was purchased by Col. Samuel Norris in 1849 and moved back from the street line. Outside of downtown Bristol, Warren is noted for "Longfield" (1848-1850), 1200 Hope Street, built for the family of artist Charles Dana Gibson and buildings in Providence, Warren, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, R. 1., Nantucket, Mass. and Charleston, S. C. Collaboration with Major James C. Bucklin led to design and construction of several famous Providence buildings including the Arcade (1828), which introduced the Greek Revival style in Rhode Island.

The building of the early 20th century in Bristol was dominated by Wallis E. Howe (1868-1960). A Bristol native, Howe was the son of Mark Anthony DeWolf Howe, Bishop of Pennsylvania. His work within the Bristol Waterfront Historic District executed in the Late-Victorian Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, and Academic styles include both public, private and commercial structures. Extant are the YMCA Block (1898), 444-452 Hope Street, the Bristol Art Museum (1905) designed as a ballroom for Linden Place; the Franklin House (1917-19), 192 Wood Street, the Colt Apartments (before 1921), 262 Hope Street, the Charles B. Rockwell House (c. 1922), 2 High Street, the Barnes House (c. 1900, 221 Hope Street, which Howe later occupied as his own residence, the John Post Reynolds School (c.1919) on High Street, the Dixon-Leahy House (c. 1931), 20 High Street, and the Industrial National Bank (c.1952), 601 Hope Street. When fire destroyed the second floor of the Rogers Free Library, 525 Hope Street, designed by Stephen C. Earle in 1877; Howe was chosen to re-design the structure. Work outside central Bristol includes the Benjamin Church House (1908-1909), 1020 Hope Street, designed by Clark, Howe & Homer with Samuel Church, associated architect, the Mervin Clay House (1953), now the Blount residence on Poppasquash Point, and several major public buildings in Providence including the addition to the Providence Public Library (1954), and an addition to the Lying-in-Hospital (1956) designed by the firm of Howe, Prout & Ekman.

Other architects of national and state importance whose work can be seen in Bristol include Ammi B. Young, Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury, architect for the old U.S. Post Office and Customs House (1857), 440 Hope Street; James Renwick, architect of Grace Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and of the first Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D. C. who designed "Seven Oaks" (1873) for Governor Augustus 0. Bourn on the corner of Walley and Hope Streets and the Renwick House (1865) on Ferry Road south of downtown Bristol; Stephen C. Earle of Earle & Fuller of Boston and Worcester, who designed three brownstone structures including the St. Michael's Parish House (1869), the Rogers Free Library (1877), and the Burnside Memorial Building (1883) all on Hope Street. Murphy, Hindle & Wright of Providence designed two Bristol churches: St. Mary's Church (1911) on Wood Street and St. Elizabeth's Church (1913), 575 Wood Street; Ambrose J. Murphy was the architect for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church
(1917-18) on State Street. Other 20th-century designers include George Maxwell Cady, architect for the Andrews Memorial School (1938), and Philemon F. Sturges, 111, whose work includes the Post Office Building (1961-62) on Hope Street and the old Stone Bank (1964) on the corner of Hope and State Streets, and William M. O'Rourke whose residential work includes the D'Angelo residence (1939) at 99 State Street and the Sullivan House (1941) at 30 Union Street.

To social historians, the eminence of the DeWolf family, who remained for many years leaders of the Bristol community, is of major significance. In 1774, Capt. Simeon Potter brought a young man named Mark Anthony D'Wolf to Bristol from the French Island of Guadaloupe. Mark Anthony's marriage to Captain Potter's sister resulted in fifteen children; three sons Charles, James, and William went to sea and accumulated a large fortune in trade, slaving and privateering. James DeWolf became a leading banker, merchant, and politician, serving as United States Senator from R. 1. from 1821-25. Partly out of anti-British sentiment (as he had been imprisoned during the Revolution), James DeWolf and kin fitted out eight of the nine privateers that operated from Bristol during the War of 1812, James owned a 3/4 share of the famous "Yankee" and used part to commission and present a 400-ton cruiser, "Chippewa'', built in nearby Warren, to the U. S. Navy. A practical opportunist, James DeWolf was shrewd "enough to diversify his interests when Congress made slaving illegal in 1808. His nephew, George DeWolf, continued slaving and privateering although both were illegal by the close of the War of 1812. George DeWolf's financial collapse in June 1825, and escape to Cuba left the affairs of Bristol families who had invested in his ventures in chaos. James and John, however, preserved most of their capital intact. It took nearly a decade for the Bristol community to recover economically and establish new leadership.

In 1801, Sarah Brown, daughter of the great Providence merchant, John Brown, married Karl Friederich Herreshoff, Prussian courtier and her father's secretary; at Point Pleasant on Poppasquash Point six children were born from this marriage which started the Herreshoff clan. By 1863, John Brown Herreshoff, grandson of Sarah and Karl Friederich, opened the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. on Burnside Street, just east of his family's home at 125 Hope Street. The company designed and built many famous vessels including the first United States Navy torpedo boat, Lightning, and the "U.S.S. Cushing", 1890. From 1893-1934, America's Cup defenders, Vigilant, 1893; Defender, 1895; Columbia, 1899; Reliance, 1903; Resolute, 1914; Enterprise, 1930; and Rainbow, 1934; were designed by Nathanael G. Herreshoff, blind "Wizard of Bristol". A memorial plaque states''Herreshoff inventive design of hulls, sails, engines and devices was an enduring contribution to yachting." Today shipbuilding continues on a small scale in the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. complex with reproduction in fiber-glass of the famous Herreshoff 15' catboat; and Halsey Herreshoff, Captain Nat's grandson, continues the family tradition of naval architecture.

Bristol is no longer dominated by Yankee entrepreneurial leadership and family associations. By 1910, foreign-born whites represented more than 1/3 of the population of Bristol County. In Bristol (total population 8,565) native whites with foreign or mixed parentage and foreign-born whites outnumbered native whites 2 to 1. At this time Irish constituted 23.7% of the population of Rhode Island, 19.6% from Canada-French, 11.5% from Italy, and only 2.8% from Portugal and the Western Islands. The construction of three major Catholic churches within the Bristol Waterfront Historic District reflects the impact of this immigration upon the social growth of Bristol: St. Mary's Church (1911), a monumental brick Gothic Revival edifice designed by Murphy, Hindle & Wright, on the corner of Wood and State Streets replaced the modest Victorian Gothic mission church (1855) built to serve the Irish community; St. Elizabeth's Church (1913), 575 Wood Street, also designed by Murphy, Hindle & Wright, was built to serve the needs of 3,000 Portuguese who needed a priest who could speak the language and understand their habits and customs. Our Lady of Mount Carmel (1917-18), 141 State Street, designed by Ambrose J. Murphy and enlarged by Oresto Di Saia in 1971, is the newest Catholic Churches in Bristol built for the spiritual needs of the Italian community. The growth of the Portuguese community who today constitute over half of Bristol's population is reflected by the erection of a large school building for St. Elizabeth's Church in 1954, the introduction of Portuguese classes in the public schools, and the initiation of the Rhode Island School of Design in 1974 of the Portuguese program designed to assimilate Portuguese families into Rhode Island's cultural life with special emphasis on local history.

The Bristol parade which began in the 1790s has made Bristol nationally famous. No other town of its size has had such an almost unbroken series of Fourth of July celebrations. Traditionally the day has opened with the firing of cannons by the Bristol Train of Artillery, organized in 1776. Today, the Parade attracts thousands of visitors who watch the marching bands, drum and bugles corps, floats, and military units from all parts of New England and is an outstanding tourist attraction. The Bristol Parade dramatically illustrates the vitality, heterogeneity, pride, beauty, and spirit of this old 'Yankee" seaport justly famous for its architectural, social and economic heritage.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.