Waite Potter House

 

The original farm on which the Waite Potter house was located included 200 acres on both sides of Dartmouth's Main Road and as far east as the Noquochoke River. The house built by Thomas Waite in 1677 was a one room, one and one-half story building, with a large stone fireplace incorporated into its interior side. Known as a ‘’Rhode Island Stone Ender,’’ there are only a few remaining in Rhode Island today.

In 1728, Thomas Waite’s son Benjamin sold a portion of parcel to Robert Kirby, who in 1760 added one room to the opposite side of the stone chimney. After the Kirbys stopped living in the house, it was used as a farm building and pig pen. By 1945, the building was in disrepair, and in 1954, Hurricane Carol ripped the roof off the structure, leaving it open to rot and ruin. By 1962, the chimney had started to topple as the main support, the large oak lintel that held up the throat of the chimney, had rotted away and by 2006, everything had collapsed in the front. Although the house no longer stands, its image is on Westport's town seal.

As the site of significant archeological investigations, the property yields important information about early eighteenth-century life. Read more here.

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Case Studies

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Waite Potter House: Anne W. Baker's Presentation, Anne W. Baker

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Waite Potter House: Artifacts from Archaeological Dig

Documentation

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Waite Potter House: Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Application for Archeology Dig, Anne W. Baker

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Waite Potter House: Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Application for Stabilization of stone-end chimney, Anne W. Baker

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Waite Potter House: Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Application for Waterproofing of restored brick and stone chimneys, Anne W. Baker

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Waite Potter House: Statement of Significance for Community Preservation Committee Application, Anne W. Baker

Drawings and Plans

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Waite Kirby Potter House: Plan Drawing - North Elevation, HABS, Historic American Buildings Survey

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Waite Potter House Plan Drawing - South, West, East elevations, HABS

Essays

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Waite Potter House: Silent No Longer, A Personal Narrative, Anne W. Baker

Images

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Waite Potter House 010: General View from the Southwest

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Waite Potter House 020: Beehive Oven

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Waite Potter House 030: Bake Oven Design

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Waite Potter House 040: 1930's photograph

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Waite Potter House 050: Barn and Crib, 1930's

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Waite Potter House 060: People in front of house, 1949

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Waite Potter House 070: Durant and G. Percy Brown in front of house

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Waite Potter House 080: Interior view of Fireplace

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Waite Potter House 090: After the 1954 Hurricane

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Waite Potter House 100: Just Before it Collapsed

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Waite Potter House 110: Firebox and Chimney, Kirby additions explained

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Waite Potter House 120: West End of Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 130: Chimney in 1956

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Waite Potter House 140: Chimney and Firebox in 1978

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Waite Potter House 150: Ivy on Chimney in 1978

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Waite Potter House 160: Ivy Covering Remains of Chimney and Firebox

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Waite Potter House 170: North View of Chimney

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Waite Potter House 180: After Tree Cut, Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 190: Beginning of Conservation of Chimney and Firebox

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Waite Potter House 200: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 210: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Stone Walls Pointed

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Waite Potter House 220: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, West End Pointed

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Waite Potter House 230: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, North Wall Pointed

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Waite Potter House 240: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Mortar color

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Waite Potter House 250: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Cellar Cleaned

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Waite Potter House 260: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Lintel Cut

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Waite Potter House 270: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Lintel Installation

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Waite Potter House 280: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, New Lintel Installed

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Waite Potter House 290: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Chimney Repair

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Waite Potter House 300: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 310: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 320: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 330: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Brick Firebox

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Waite Potter House 340: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 350: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 360: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite PotterHouse 370: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 380: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 390: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 400: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Beehive Opening

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Waite Potter House 410: Chimney and Firebox Restoration, Restored Chimney and Firebox

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Waite Potter House 420: Chimney and Firebox Restoration

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Waite Potter House 430: Chimney and Firebox Restoration Completed

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Waite Potter House 440: Chimney and Firebox Restoration Completed

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Waite Potter House 450: Chimney and Firebox Restoration Crew

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Waite Potter House 460: Archaeological Dig