Photo: Swampyank at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Wickford is a village in North Kingstown on a small harbor off Narragansett Bay. Its streets, especially Main Street and Brown Street, have one of the largest collections of 18th-century houses in New England.
The village has kept most of its old buildings and has very little chain retail.
The shops
Brown Street and the blocks around it are lined with small independent shops selling clothing, books, gifts, home goods and art. Many are owner-run and depend on visitors from out of town, especially in summer and during the holidays.
Restaurants and coffee shops line the harbor, and marinas hold boats from small sailboats to larger cruisers.
The art festival
The Wickford Art Festival, first held in 1962, takes place each July and draws artists and crowds from across the Northeast. The village also holds a holiday event in December with lights and late shopping.
Parking and summer crowds are a common topic, but most business owners welcome the traffic. North Kingstown’s other business center, at Post Road and around Quonset, serves a different market of workers and commuters.
Add South County Independent as a preferred source on Google (opens in a new tab)
