Roughly bounded by Verry, Highland, Winter and Summer Streets, Woonsocket's North End is an affluent residential community built in the early twentieth century.

The area now known as the North End was originally owned by the Gaskill family and was used as a farm until the 1850's. The property was then bought by Edward Harris who erected a large house and garden on the property. Harris' estate was the most elegant in Woonsocket. Around 1850, Harris also laid out Harris Avenue along western border of his property. Like South Main Street, Harris Avenue became home to many of Woonsocket's wealthy manufacturers, bankers , lawyers in the 1850's, '60's and '70's.

Edward Harris died in the 1870's and, after his wife's death in the 1890's, the Harris heirs subdivided the family estate and began selling house lots. Most of the development in the North End dates from 1905 to 1935. Many houses in the area are large 2-story, center entrance homes with single story wings. An eclectic mix of styles is represented including Tutor, Mediterranean and Colonial. The area remains a fine, well-preserved, suburban-style enclave within the city.

This page utilizes information from:

• Statewide Historic Preservation Report for Woonsocket, Rhode Island published by the Rhode Island Historic Preservation Commission in September, 1976.
• Woonsocket, Rhode Island - A Centennial History 1888 - 1988 published by the Woonsocket Centennial Committee in 1988.