PHOTO: Courtesy of the Block Island Historical Society
An 1886 advertisement for the hotel touted: "The health-giving isle, Block Island, is steadily gaining in popularity as a resort that restores health to the sick…Vitality and energy to the brain worker and those confined within doors…It is a refuge for those suffering from malaria or wishing to escape from infected districts."
PHOTO: Courtesy of the Block Island Historical Society
In 1881, The Pequot House was under the management of the Ocean View Hotel, owned by Nicholas Ball.
PHOTO: Courtesy of the Block Island Historical Society
By the early 1900s, the name was changed to The Hotel-Royal, home to the storied Orchid Lounge, a favorite watering hole for locals and tourists alike.
Later renamed The Harborside Inn, it remained in every iteration a sentinel of our downtown, standing watch over the ebb and flow of visitors boarding and disembarking from the ferries at Old Harbor.
PHOTO: Courtesy of the Block Island Historical Society
We mourn the fact that this beloved building has suffered the fate of other historic hotels on Block Island: The First National, The Hygeia, The Oceanview, and The Crown, to name a few.
PHOTO: Courtesy of the Block Island Historical Society
The Block Island community will feel the loss of one of New Shoreham's most visible historic structures, a welcoming site to visitors and locals alike for nearly two centuries.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Tom D'Albora
The Block Island Historical Society would like to thank our outstanding volunteer fire department and the mutual aid companies who contained the fire. We are grateful for your hard work and dedication to protecting this extraordinary island and its historic structures.
