Watch Hill is an affluent coastal village in the southwestern section of the town of Westerly, Rhode Island. Westerly is located in Washington County. The village's physical location between New York City and Boston make it ideal for day trips. The town has a Historic District is a that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is 629 acres in size. The town is considered a more staid and family-oriented community when compared to glittering Newport. The town was listed in Lisa Birnbach's 2010 book True Prep as an acceptable summer destination for the preppy set. Bay Street in Watch Hill is lined with shops, restaurants, and businesses. East Beach and Nappatree point are the main beaches in Watch Hill.

The village is located on a peninsula jutting into Block Island Sound. It includes the westernmost point in the state known as Napatree Point. Together they have formed Little Narragansett Bay which has made Watch Hill a popular harbor around which a business district has grown. The community is a secluded and seasonal resort community with public and private beaches, a golf and beach club, yacht club, and shopping. The community is named after the fact that European colonists used the area as an important lookout point during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. The village is probably most noted for its expensive mansions. However, other landmarks in town include the Watch Hill Lighthouse the first of which was built in 1745, and The Flying Horse Carousel, the oldest continuously-operated carousel in the United States and a National Historic Landmark.

Another point of interest in Watch Hill is Napatree Point, a 1.5-mile long sandy spit that extends from the Watch Hill business district. At the end of Napatree Point are the ruins of Fort Mansfield, an old costal artillery post which was one of a series of such forts constructed to guard the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound. It was in operation between 1901 and 1909. The land was sold in 1926 and all the government buildings were demolished leaving the three concrete gun emplacements behind.

The Hurricane of 1938 took a terrible toll. On Fort Road, which connected Watch Hill to the old Fort Mansfield, all the 39 houses, the Yacht and Beach Clubs, as well as the bathing pavilion were destroyed. Fifteen people were killed there alone and others survived by clinging to wreckage as they were swept across the bay to Connecticut. Several breachways were created in Napatree Point and to this day the former northern extension of Napatree remains an island, known as Sandy Point. The shortened Napatree Point is now barrier beach about 1.5 miles long without any roads or houses. It is a public beach and offers great bird watching and surf casting. Some of the fortified gun emplacements of old Fort Mansfield have survived and while overgrown, offers adventurers tunnels and underground rooms to explore. As the sea and sand shift, old weapons and sometimes artifacts from the hurricane are revealed.

The waterfront was once lined with huge Victorian hotels. Fire and hurricanes destroyed almost all during the 20th century. The two remaining hotels The Ocean House and the Watch Hill Inn went through huge changes during the 2000s. The Ocean House reopened in 2010. The Watch Hill Inn & Annex now contains modern residential condos.

The lighthouse was established in 1808 and rebuilt in 1856 using granite with a brick lining. It is 45 feet high. It was automated in 1986. Currently it is maintained by the Watch Hill Lighthouse Keepers Association. The lighthouse itself is closed to the public. However, the grounds are open during the day, and a museum in the oil house is open in summer. There is no parking near the lighthouse