Old mill machinery sits at the entrance to the Hamilton Harbour Condominiums.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

It’s not as well known as Wickford, its quaint neighbor to the north, but the Hamilton Mill Village Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

This occurred around the same time that developers Carl L. and Ralph M. Dworman were converting the North Kingstown village’s two large mill buildings near Bissell Cove into the condominium complex known today as Hamilton Harbour.

The two former mill buildings are at the end of Web Avenue, leading from Boston Neck Road (Route 1A) to the cove.

The private, 14-acre site had been the home of the former Hamilton Web Co. Mill. In addition to the two main former mill buildings, one painted white, one made of brick, Hamilton Harbour has a clubhouse, an outdoor pool area, tennis courts and a rack near the water for kayaks and canoes.

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Hamilton, in North Kingstown

Hamilton’s actual historic district is east of Boston Neck Road, and it includes Martha Road and Salisbury and Web avenues, but the neighborhood known as Hamilton also includes areas south of Wickford and north of Saunderstown.

The historic district is small but it includes a number of duplexes typical of housing built for mill workers in the 19th century.

Hamilton was first known as Bissells Mills, according to a history of the village on North Kingstown’s Web site.

The earliest recorded industrial activity was a grist mill opened by Richard Wharton in 1686. Later, owners operated a wheat mill, a fulling mill, a blacksmith shop and a wharf in Hamilton. The village was first named for one of these early property owners, Samuel Bissell.

In 1847, Bissells Mills was sold to Joseph and Albert Sanford. The Sanfords changed operations to textile manufacturing, then sold the property to Syria Vaughan in 1849.

Vaughan changed the name of the village to Hamilton, to honor his wife’s family. He also expanded the mill and turned operations exclusively to the weaving of narrow fabrics.

The next owners, the Greene family, also expanded mill operations, and continued weaving narrow fabrics in Hamilton until the mill closed in 1978.

Although it was never as large as Wickford, the village of Hamilton once included its own schoolhouse, a community hall, stores and shops.

Today the historic district includes a public school, Hamilton Elementary School, a flower shop called Flowers by Bert & Peg, and the E&J Restaurant, which serves breakfast and lunch.

An 1850 farmhouse, Crosswinds Little Farm, is also within the district, at 800 Boston Neck Rd. It has been operated as a bed-and-breakfast since 2000 by owner Hope Ryan.

Ryan also grows organic vegetables on her property, which is just under 2 acres, and periodically offers classes on organic gardening.

Ryan said she believes her property was once a 22-acre gentleman’s farm, and that former owners who were cousins of one of the mill owners sold part of the property to them. The farmhouse was once used as the mill manager’s house, she said.

A larger hotel, the Hamilton Village Inn, is farther north on Boston Neck Road.

Just two single-family houses were listed for sale last week in Hamilton, both just north of the historic district. A two-bedroom, two-bath Cape at 20 Circle Drive, built in 1940, is being offered as a short sale for $269,900. An 1887 Colonial at 28 Sanford Ave., “featuring all new mechanicals,” has four bedrooms, two full baths, and one half bath, and is priced at $499,900.

There are three condominiums listed for sale in Hamilton Harbour. The lowest-priced unit is $165,000, for a one-bedroom, one-bath, one-level courtyard unit in the brick building.

Another condo for sale is a two-bedroom unit in the wood building offered as a “bank-approved short sale” for $195,000.

There is also a two-bedroom, two-bath courtyard unit in the brick building, with a balcony overlooking the atrium, on the market for $235,000.

POPULATION:

(North Kingstown, 2000) 26,326

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE:

(North Kingstown, 2008) $344,000

INTERESTING FACT: Hamilton was once a stop on the Sea View Trolley line, which brought visitors to Narragansett on electric trains, and it was home to the line’s powerhouse and car repair shop.

cdunn@projo.com