Rhode Island Tercentenary Issue First Day Cover
300th Anniversary of the Settlement of Rhode Island
Issued on May 4, 1936 in Providence, RI - Scott #777

Unofficial Town Cancel - Westerly, RI
John Kilton Cachet - Planty #777-61h

The Westerly Post Office, (Westerly Township, Washington County) was officially established on January 1, 1794 under Postmaster Rouse Babcock. This Post Office is currently in operation under Postmaster Glenn T. Handley appointed on March 17, 2007. There is a post office listed as being located at Westerly in 1765 in a table of British Post Offices and there is also a journal entry for November 11, 1773 by Hugh Finlay stating that Mr. Joshua Babcock was Postmaster in Westerly. This Post office was disestablished some time prior to 1789.

Westerly was one of the nicer looking towns, (clean and well kept) that I remember visiting when growing up and is where I took my drivers test and received my first license in 1962.

Westerly was founded in 1669 by John Babcock at the confluence of Little Narragansett Bay and the Pawcatuck River. The River separates the state of Rhode Island from Connecticut. Westerly is located on the east bank or Rhode Island side of the river, while the town of Pawcatuck, Connecticut resides on the west bank. The town is named after the village of Westerleigh, England; the home of one of the founders.

Textiles are Westerly's main industry today, but in the past the area was also known for its large granite quarries located in Bradford and Potter Hill.

SEE ALSO:
Postcard - Wilcox Park - Westerly, Rhode Island 1908
Stampless Letter - 1851 - Babcock & Tillman (Westerly) to Roland Hazard with bios

Sources:
Check List of Rhode Island Post Offices 1790-1994 - Del Beaudreau
Rhode Island Postal History: The Post Offices - Merolla, Jackson & Crowther