Since the middle of the eighteenth century the Babcock-Smith House has stood amid an ever-changing area atop Granite Street in Westerly. One of Rhode Island's important architectural and historical landmarks, the house as it now stands clearly reflects the modes of life of the several generations who continuously occupied the house until 1972.The land originally extended from what is now Tower Street to Wells Street, then Eastward into a wedge-shaped mass for about 1 3/4 miles. Now the property is about 200 feet square. It's location was on the main road from Mastuxet (Mastuxet Brook on Watch Hill Road at the intersection of Winnapug Road) to Hopkinton.
Dr. Babcock, through appointment by the Rhode Island Assembly, and possibly through his friendship with Benjamin Franklin, became Westerly's first Postmaster in 1775 and established a post office at his home. He also maintained an extensive general store at this same location. As a politician Dr. Babcock represented Westerly in the Rhode Island General Assembly for nine years and presided as Chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island for sixteen years. When the Colony repealed the act of allegiance to the King of Great Britain on May 4, 1776 - two months before the issuing of the Declaration of Independence - Dr. Babcock was one of the members of that Assembly. Rhode Island declared its independence from the Crown before any of the other colonies. Besides being appointed Major General of the Rhode Island Militia, he was also a member of the Colony's War Council, procured equipment for Westerly's troops, and served as paymaster. Dr. Babcock continued being active in community affairs until his death in 1783, and his family occupied the house until 1817. When his second wife, Anna Maxson Babcock, died in 1812, the property was passed to Dudley Babcock. Dudley, having lost some ships in the war of 1812 and unable to pay some debts, sold the house to his distant cousin, Oliver Wells, in 1817. Mr. Wells used it as a prosperous tenant farm, however the house was allowed to fall into disrepair.
Orlando and Emeline (Gallup) Smith moved into the house in 1848. The first floor of the north wing, including the underpinning, was in poor condition and was rebuilt by Orlando's father-in-law, Isaac Gallup, also a contractor from Ledyard. When Emeline and Orlando moved into the house, Dr. Noyes and his wife were residents, and part of the deal was that Dr. Noyes was to have life tenancy, have milk and wood delivered to his back door and have unlimited use to the "dung" pile just as the Smiths had. His saddle bag now sits next to the fireplace in the keeping room. The house was divided so that both families had their privacy. It is believed that the Smiths had the north wing plus the present dining room and access to upstairs bedroom (now called Julia's room) and perhaps the common room on the second floor, while the Noyes had the keeping room, living room, and upstairs guest room. After Dr. Noyes' death the Smiths had use of the whole house. Raising four children they needed all the room, and they had various stonecutters and other granite workmen living there also.
A trust was established under the will of Orlando R. Smith, Jr., who died in 1932, with the purpose of maintaining the property in perpetuity as an historic landmark. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the house is administered by trustees with the help of the Babcock-Smith House Docents, Inc. The docents not only act as guides for visitors, but also actively raise funds for the continued restoration of the house and its furnishings. Dr. Babcock's stately home is an important link with our colonial past and an example of the best in 18th-century American architecture.
The Babcock-Smith House is a two-and-a-half story, wooden-framed house of 18th-century Georgian design. The prominent gambrel roof slopes in the rear to cover a one-story addition; the six fireplaces feed into the large central chimney which dominates the roof line. The ell to the north is of later date and now serves as caretaker's quarters.
The dining room off the opposite end of the hall is, through a later renovation, the longest room in the house extending nearly its full depth. The room has the same fine woodwork as the parlor; a 1920's wallpaper of 18th-century design covers the walls.
Nowhere is the reflection of changing tastes more evident than in the wide variety of furnishings, mostly from the Smith family, that are to be found in the house. Fine examples of both primitive and sophisticated 18th-century furniture,
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Born in 1707, Dr. Joshua Babcock was the son of Captain James Babcock, son of one of the first permanent settlers of Westerly, and was the first Rhode Islander to be graduated from Yale College in 1724 at the age of 17. Returning to Westerly in 1734 after studying medicine in Boston and London, he bought the Babcock-Smith House property and married Hannah Stanton. He practiced medicine locally as a physician and surgeon for twenty-five years. 
In 1846 Orlando Smith, a stonemason from Ledyard CT, found excellent granite on the premises and took an option to buy the farm for a price of $8,000. His elderly mother, Sally Raymond Smith, rode horseback from Ledyard to give to Orlando the $2,000 deposit to bind the deal . Three generations of Smiths developed the quarries into one of the largest and finest granite quarries in the United States and helped make Westerly one of the most important granite centers in the world.
Julia E. Smith, daughter of Emeline & Orlando, lived in this house all her life and was probably born in it. She never married and when she died in 1924, she left it to her nephew, Orlando R. Smith, Jr. In 1928 he engaged Norman Isham, noted restoration architect, to restore the house to its original Colonial beauty. Under the supervision of Norman Isham, the Babcock-Smith House was restored in the late 1920's. Most of what was done then still remains today, although the interior wall treatments and color schemes have been recently redone to more accurately reflect 18th-century taste. 
The main facade is distinguished by tall, narrow windows capped with heavy moldings, and an impressive front entrance with fluted Doric pilasters and a broken-scroll pediment. Originally flush with the front of the house, the entrance was later extended to allow more room in the interior hall. Here the emphasis is on the stair balustrade with its spirally-turned balusters in three alternating designs and the corkscrew turnings of the extraordinary newel post. The outline of the panelling in the stairwell repeats the graceful curves of the molded handrail. 
To the right of the hall is the parlor with its fine woodwork and corner cupboard, one of the chief glories of the house. The tapered, fluted pilasters are capped with a series of three Doric capitals that lead into the scalloped outline of the shell top. The design of these pilasters is repeated an a larger scale on the panelled fireplace wall. The interior window shutters fold into the recesses of the surrounding frames above the window seats. The dark blue of the woodwork duplicates the original paint color found under many layers of later paint. 
The old kitchen at the rear was extended sometime in the late 18th century, allowing for the addition of a "borning room" and another small bedroom. The eight-foot open fireplace with Dutch oven and fieldstone hearth is the focal point, and is fitted with an assortment of early cooking utensils. 
In the two upstairs bedrooms, Delft tiles illustrating Biblical stories surround the fireplaces; although the woodwork in these rooms is plainer than that downstairs, it is nonetheless of consistent quality. In the south bedroom next to the chimney is a small closet where Dr. Babcock supposedly kept a skeleton for anatomical reference. 
including a Queen Anne daybed, a Connecticut highboy, a Federal sideboard, and several tall-case clocks, share space with 19th-century pieces. Furnishing on loan from local collections in addition to items generously donated add further interest to many of the rooms. Part of a large collection of textiles is also on display from time to time.