Let \({{\{ V(t) | \ t \in [0 , \infty) \}}}\) be a one-parameter strongly continuous semigroup of contractions on a separable Hilbert space and let V(−t) : = V*(t) for \({t \in [0, \infty)}\). It is shown that if V(t) is a partial isometry for all \({t \in [-t_0 , t_0], t_0 > 0}\), then the pointwise two-sided derivative of V(t) exists on a dense domain of vectors. This derivative B is necessarily a densely defined symmetric operator. This result can be viewed as a generalization of Stone’s theorem for one-parameter strongly continuous unitary groups, and is used to establish sufficient conditions for a self-adjoint operator on a Hilbert space \({\mathcal{K}}\) to have a symmetric restriction to a dense linear manifold of a closed subspace \({\mathcal H \subset \mathcal K}\). A large class of examples of such semigroups consisting of the compression of the unitary group generated by the operator of multiplication by the independent variable in \({\mathcal {K} := \oplus _{i=1} ^n L^2 (\mathbb {R})}\) to certain model subspaces of the Hardy space of n−compenent vector valued functions which are analytic in the upper half plane is presented.