Newport is a city, the center of the eponymous district of the state of Rhode Island. Located on the island of Rhode Island, about 48 km south of the state capital, Providence. It is now a popular summer holiday destination, and is also famous for its villas, known as Newport Mansions. Newport is home to Salv Regina Catholic University and a US Navy base that houses a training center, a naval academy, and a submarine base. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy used Newport as one of their summer residences. 14th largest city in the state.
By plane
T.F. Green Airport (PVD) in Warwick offers much cheaper
and scheduled flights to many cities in the United States. Boston's
Logan Airport (BOS) is much larger and is generally used for most
international flights
Newport State Airport, Phone: +1 401-846-9400.
Located in nearby Middletown, this airport is small and does not offer
commercial flights. It adapts to small private planes and helicopters.
On a boat
There are many marinas in Newport Harbor that offer
dock space for sailboats, speedboats, million dollar yachts, and even
cruise ships that anchor in the harbor. .
Jamestown and Newport
Ferry, from Bowen's Landing or Fort Adams State Park, tel: +1
401-423-9900. Stops at Ferry Wharf, Jamestown and Goat Island. $8
one-way, $14 return trip.
By car
To drive into Newport, or
anywhere on Aquidneck Island, you can take one of three bridges: The
Newport Bridge (Claiborne Pell Bridge), from Jamestown, the Sakonnet
River Bridge, from Tiverton, or Mount Hope Bridge, Bristol.
Newport is a great city for walking. Most restaurants and shops are
packed into the harbor area, perfect for walking but difficult to drive
and find parking space.
There is also the option of using Rhode
Island Public Transit Authority:
R.I.P.T.A., tel: +1
401-781-9400. RIPTA has authentic looking carts travel around Newport
and offers bus trips from all around the state of Rhode Island.
Taxis
Cozy Cabs, tel: +1 401-846-2500.
Yellow Cab, tel: +1 401
846-1500.
Moriarty's Taxi, tel: +1 401-841-0030.
Limousine
Newport Limousine Service, LLC., tel: +1 401-418-4301.
Paradise
Limousine Service, tel: +1 401-847-2704.
Newport was founded in 1639 by eight Portsmouthers (Nicholas Easton,
William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton,
Jeremy Clarke, Thomas Hatherd and Henry Bull), who left the city due to
disagreements with the preacher Anne Hutchinson and her followers. In
accordance with the agreement, Coddington and his supporters settled in
the southern part of the island. They were soon joined by Easton, who
had previously been expelled from Massachusetts for heresy. The
settlement quickly grew to become the largest of the four oldest cities
in Rhode Island. Many of Newport's early colonists converted to Baptism,
and in 1640 John Clark founded Rhode Island's second Baptist
congregation here.
Coddington was an authoritarian ruler, which
led to the formation of opposition in 1650, led by Nicholas Easton. From
that time on, the rivalry between the factions of Coddington and Easton
determined Newport's politics in the second half of the 17th century.
During this period, Newport grew rapidly and became the most important
port in colonial Rhode Island. In 1640, a public school was opened here.
In 1658, a group of Jews fleeing persecution from the Inquisition in
Spain and Portugal received permission to settle in Newport. The Newport
Jewish Community is the second oldest Jewish community in the United
States, and the Touro Synagogue in Newport is the first in the United
States. At the same time, Quakers settled in Newport in large numbers.
Built in 1699, their meetinghouse is the oldest in Rhode Island. In
1727, James Franklin, brother of Benjamin Franklin, opened a printing
press in Newport, and in 1732 began publishing the city's first
newspaper, the Gazette. In 1758, his son James began publishing the
weekly Mercury. Throughout the 18th century Newport produced the famous
Goddard & Townsend furniture.
In the late 17th and early 18th
centuries, Newport was the largest center of piracy, and was used as a
base by so many pirates that the London Chamber of Commerce was forced
to write a formal complaint to the English government. Newport's most
famous pirate was Thomas Tew, nicknamed the Rhode Island Pirate. Tew was
extremely popular with the people of the city. It is reported that one
day, when he returned from a raid, almost the entire city came out to
greet him.
In the 1720s, the colonial government, under pressure
from the British government, arrested many Newport pirates, some of them
were hanged and buried on Goat Island.
During the colonial
period, Newport was also the center of the New England slave trade, from
which many residents made a fortune. The venue for slave auctions was
the Old Brick Market.
During the Revolutionary War, Newport was the scene of a flurry of
activity from both independence supporters and loyalists. One of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, William Ellery, was a
resident of the city. He later served on the US Naval Committee.
In the winter of 1775/1776, the Rhode Island Legislature placed Militia
General William West in charge of rooting out Loyalists in Newport, and
several notables such as Joseph Wonton (former state governor) and
Thomas Vernon (Rhode Island's largest landowner) were exiled to northern
part of the state. In the autumn of 1776, the British, fearing that
Newport might be used as a naval base for the rebels in an attack on New
York (which they had recently occupied), captured the city. The
population of Newport was divided politically, and many of those who
supported the idea of independence left the city. For the next three
years, Newport remained under British control.
In the summer of
1778, the Americans began the campaign known as the Storming of Rhode
Island. This was the first joint operation between American and French
forces since the signing of the alliance treaty. The Americans based in
Tiverton (a small town northeast of Newport) planned to lay siege to the
city. The French, who insisted on an immediate assault, refused to take
part in the siege. This weakened the US position and British forces were
able to drive the Americans off the island. The following year, the
British, wanting to concentrate their forces in New York, left Newport.
On July 10, 1780, a French expedition sent by King Louis XVI under
the command of Jean Rochambeau arrived in Newport with 450 officers and
5,300 soldiers. Until the end of the war, Newport was the base of French
forces in the United States. In July 1781, Rochambeau was finally able
to leave Newport to launch a decisive campaign against Yorktown with
General George Washington. The first Catholic mass in Rhode Island was
held in Newport at a time when the city was occupied by the French. A
monument to Jean Rochambeau in Queen's Park on Wellington Avenue by the
harbour, commemorates his contributions to the Revolutionary War and to
Newport's history.
By the time the war ended (1783), Newport's
population had fallen from over 9,000 (according to the 1774 census) to
less than 4,000. Over 200 abandoned buildings were demolished in the
1780s. In addition, the war ruined the city's economic fortunes, as
years of military occupation closed Newport to foreign trade. Many
merchants left for Providence, Boston and New York.
In 1791, the
Rhode Island General Assembly, acting under pressure from the commercial
circles of Providence, voted to ratify the Constitution and Rhode Island
became the 13th state of the United States.
The city is the
burial place of Commodore Oliver Perry, the birthplace of Commodore
Matthew Parry and Reverend William Ellery Channing.
Beginning in the mid-19th century, wealthy southern planters, seeking
to escape the heat, began building summer mansions in Newport. A little
later, rich Yankees followed suit, most of whom made their fortune in
trade with China.
At the turn of the 20th century, many of the
nation's wealthiest families spent their summers in Newport, including
the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Wideners, who built huge, luxurious
mansions. Many of the houses were designed by New York architect Richard
Hunt, who himself had a house in Newport. Newport's life in those years
is vividly described in Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence.
Today, many mansions continue to be privately owned. Some of them are
open to tourists.
In the middle of the 19th century, the city
attracted a large number of Irish immigrants. The southern part of the
city has been an Irish area for many generations. And today, St.
Patrick's Day is an important holiday in Newport. In the 20th century,
immigrants from Portugal and the Caribbean began to settle in the city,
further increasing the cultural diversity of Newport.
After
experiencing a severe economic downturn in the second half of the 20th
century due to the closure of a significant number of US Navy facilities
that provided employment to local residents and tax revenues to the city
budget, Newport was able to recover by the end of the century, relying
on attracting tourists. Today tourism is the backbone of the city's
economy.
Geographic Information
Newport is the largest city on Akidnek
Island in Naranganset Bay. The total area of the city is 29.7 km², of
which 20.6 km² is land and 9.2 km² (30.86%) is water. Newport is
connected by the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, the longest suspension
bridge in New England, to neighboring Conanicut Island and beyond to the
mainland.
Newport's climate is temperate continental with maritime features, characterized by warm summers, cold winters and high humidity all year round. Due to the island location and the influence of the Atlantic, the climate in the city is milder than in areas of the state located in the interior of the continent.
As of 2010, the population was 24,672, of which:
White Americans -
84.1%;
African Americans - 7.8%;
Hispanics - 5.5%.
Average
annual per capita income $25,441. The average age of residents is 35
years. The crime rate is slightly above the US average and nearly twice
the Rhode Island average.
The artist Cotton, William Henry (1880-1958) was born here.
Newport has one of the highest concentrations of colonial buildings
in the US. The historic center of the city consists of wooden houses
from the 17th and 18th centuries, many of which were restored at the end
of the 20th century with private donations. As a result, Newport's
colonial heritage is well preserved and well documented. In addition to
colonial architecture, Newport is also famous for its late 19th-century
villas restored with funds from owners and non-profit organizations. In
addition to the city center, they are also located in the Bellevue
Avenue area, adjacent to the rocky ocean shore. Many villas are open for
sightseeing visits. From the ocean side, a public property trail leads
past the villas.
Bellevue Avenue is also home to the
International Tennis Hall of Fame, site of the first US Open in 1881.
The Campbell Hall of Fame men's tournament, which is part of the
calendar of the Association of Tennis Professionals, is held here
annually. Newport is surrounded by the ocean on three sides and is known
as the most important sailing center in the United States. The America's
Cup regatta is played here. In 1895 Newport hosted the first US amateur
and professional golf championships.
Newport also hosts an annual
international jazz festival that brings together the best jazz
performers in the world, including John Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis,
Herbie Hancock.