Name/Title
Frederick Orville Lanphear, c. 1890Entry/Object ID
2025.201.25Description
Portrait photograph of Frederick Orville Lanphear (1870-1965), the son of Henry Lanphear and Catherine Edwards. He married Martha Elizabeth Clark (1869-1945) in 1894. They had three children: Mildred Louise (1896-1985), Harold Clinton (1899-1981), and Harriet Elizabeth (1902-1951).
Prominent at the northern gateway to Bay Street, Lanphear Livery was built and enlarged in several stages beginning in the late 1800s to serve the Watch Hill summer hotels and cottages. Henry C. Lanphear built the first livery on the site in 1887. The “Livery Stable” sign painted on the roof still exists, buried within the present building.Livery stables were valuable assets in resort communities in past years, just as car rental and repair shops are today. In the 19th century, resort guests arrived in Watch Hill primarily by steamship from the nearest train depot in Stonington, Connecticut. Horses, wagons, and later, automobiles were hired at the livery for local transportation. When the road from Westerly was made passable, guests could bring their own carriages and automobiles. The livery stable was then used to board horses, and store equipment, and later, autos while guests stayed at hotels or nearby cottages.By 1910, the Lanphear Livery had been substantially enlarged with construction of the rear barn wings and their shed-roofed perimeter stables. The south section of the expanded building was a separate structure, perhaps moved to the site in the early 1900s. Within a few years the middle section was added, which contains the large open space, which is now an atrium. The expansion was undertaken by H.C. Lanphear’s son, Frederick O. Lanphear. Included was an apartment for the owner on the second floor in the south wing and boarding house rooms for groomsmen and chauffeurs on the third floor. These spaces still exist and have been restored with their painted wooden floors, paneled doors, and painted plaster and bead board walls and ceilings. The third floor dormitory is now a large single apartment.
Livery information taken from:https://www.lanphearlivery.org/the-livery-then/Collection
PERRYMade/Created
Date made
1887 - 1892Time Period
19th Century