Windswept
Ruins of the carriage house at Windswept in February 2023. Photo by Ophelia W. Ravenia.
Long before the Sackler family peddled highly addictive, yet effective, pain medication, we had good old Victorian patent medicine. Patent medicine, in this case "Perry Davis' Vegetable Pain Killer", offered relief with the possibility of addiction-- this medicine was a blend of alcohol, opium, myrrh, and camphor.
Advertisement for Perry Davis’ Vegetable Pain Killer. C. 1854. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
What does opium have to do with these stone ruins on a beach? Well... these ruins are of Windswept-- a seaside mansion built by the Perry family in 1895, with the fortune they made in the patent medicine business.
Historic image of Windswept. Image courtesy of the Narragansett Historical Society.
40 years later, the mansion was sold and transformed into Cobb's by the Sea-- an upscale restaurant. The property was sold again in 1952, and remained vacant. After several arsons, the property was razed and the land was bought by the Department of Environmental Management in 1974.
The site has been a popular outdoor recreation spot for decades, and includes a trail system and a popular saltwater fishing spot; not to mention swimming and sunbathing at Scarborough Beach.
Today the ruins are crumbling and overgrown, as they slowly return to nature. The old carriage house is the most prominent ruin at Black Point. However, walking along the nearby trails reveals ruins of old walls, former paved pathways, and defiant ornamental perennials that have lasted long after Windswept’s gardens have returned to nature.
Today these ruins remain just north of Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island.
Parking is available at Scarborough State Beach-- though the parking requires a fee during the summer season. Some additional free parking is available just north of the beach, at Black Point.
Further information on the history of Windswept can be found here:
https://www.rimonthly.com/windswept-scarborough-ruins/
https://www.independentri.com/uploaded_photos/image_4e5f8783-3734-5263-9ecf-d878d2af3ea7.html
Further information in Perry Davis and his patent medicine can be found here:
