Watch Hill is an affluent coastal village in the southwestern section of the town of Westerly, the southwestern-most town in Washington County and the entire U.S. state of Rhode Island. The village is listed as a census-designated place. Watch Hill Historic District is a 629-acre (255 ha) historic district in the village that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.As a state-charted Fire District (1901), the Watch Hill area is authorized to tax residents to fund their volunteer fire department, but the bulk of property taxes go to the town to fund municipal services and schools. The town was listed in Lisa Birnbach's 2010 book True Prep as an acceptable summer destination for the preppy set.