The Advance Base Proving Ground, located north of the far end of Davisville Road, provided facilities for research, development and testing of hundreds of pieces of Navy equipment. Few naval buildings existed in this 178-acre area, and the scattered Quonset huts and Butler buildings are representative of the various training and testing facilities originally located here.
For years, vegetation has been reclaiming the area, covering access roads and cleared lots left by military activity. Barrels of unmarked waste materials can be found in some of the more overgrown areas. Across the harbor along Sanford Road lies the former Navy landfill and dump, one of the most environmentally tainted areas in Davisville.
