The New England Steamship Company, which bought all the wharves from the Old Colony Company, in 1890 was using the south wharves for all kinds of repairs to the Fall River Line Boats, except those that needed a dry dock. In 1890 it seemed a good idea to buy all of the land south of the Hunter House and make a dry dock there but they found it was too expansive to build it, and so continued sending the boats to New York or drydocking as usual.

At this time there were six small houses on the land on Washington Street which the steamship company rented out, but never repaired. In 1920, one burned and after that the rest were gradually torn down. The land was used to store life boats no longer used on the steamers.

Miss Agnes Storer lived in the house north of the Elm Streetway, and she was tremendously interested in getting the children a playground. Also, before there was any organization in Newport for saving old houses, that was her other activity. The Hunter House was standing dilapidated and empty, and for sale. Miss Storer bought it about World War I, and repaired it. She gave it to St. Joseph's Church as a home for the nuns. They stayed there until it was found more convenient to move nearer the church. So once more the Hunter House stood empty. This time Miss Agnes persuaded Mr. George Henry Warren to buy the Hunter House from St. Joseph's Church , in the '30s, and from that beginning, the Preservation Society gradually developed.

In 1939 Miss Agnes Storer, Mrs. Hamilton Fish Webster, and Mrs Guthre Nicholson raised $5,000 and in December 1940 bought land fom the Steamship Company, which still owned it, though the Fall River Line had folded in 1937. This land ran from the Hunter House land on the north to the land opposite the south side of Bridge Street, .47 of an acre. The land now proposed for the park goes all the way south to the Goat Island causeway.

In December 1940 this land from the three ladies was accepted by the city and Alderman Gladding commended them for their time and effort finally obtaining at their own expense this proposed shorefront park. It was named Storer Park, as Miss Storer was the guiding sprit, and then turned over to the recreation Department for maintenance. The city gave a contract to Wattruss and Company to build a pier just south of Briggs Wharf, but World War II stopped that. Later in the war, a slip was built here where the ferry from the north end of Goat Island came in.

In 1941 the cith stopped work on the pier, and the tenth of July they authorized the sale of the land to the Federal Government for $6,500 -- $5,000 for the land and $1,500 for the work done on it. In December 1942 the Council authorized the return to the three ladies of the $5,000.

The Navy used all of Long Wharf and the land, and stored many supplies there, and made repairs until their own repair dock was built. In 1964 the Redevelppment Agency bought the whole of this property for $170,000.