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History of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA

Journey back in time to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA

Visit Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA. Discover its history. Learn about the people who lived there through stories, old newspaper articles, pictures, postcards and genealogy.

     

Where is Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA?

• 1638 - Portsmouth was settled in 1638 by a group of religious dissenters from Boston Colony, including Dr. John Clarke, William Coddington, and Anne Hutchinson. It is named after Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.
  
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• 1673 - Mysterious death of Rebecca Cornell in Portsmouth
  In 1673 Rebecca Cornell, widow of Thomas Cornell (settler), died in a house fire. Her son Thomas(Jr.) was accused, tried, convicted and hung for the...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• In the war for American Independence, 10 July 1777, Lieutenant Colonel William Barton of Rhode Island captured the British Commander at Rhode Island, General Richard Prescott in Portsmouth.
  
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• 1819 - Portsmouth
  Portsmouth is a post township, situated upon the northern section of Rhode-Island; bounded on the north by Mount Hope bay, on the east by the...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1854 - Portsmouth
  Portsmouth, a post-township in Newport co., Rhode Island, 6 miles N. N. E. from Newport. Population, 1833.
  A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.
  
  
•  1864 - Tons of Coal
  There is a bed of coal near Portsmouth, Rhode Island, which is estimated to contain about forty millions of tons, and the opening of the new railroad ...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1868 - Clergyman Switches Partners
  In Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a clergyman has created great excitement among the citizens by turning his wife out of doors and taking up with his...Read MORE...
  
  
  
•  1873 - Small Pox Vaccine and Tobacco
  A Portsmouth, Rhode Island, man who was a noted tobacco-chewer, has loathed the weed ever since he was vaccinated. But it is given as fact that the...Read MORE...
  
  
  
• 1895 - Portsmouth
  Portsmouth, a post-township of Newport co., R.I., on Narragansett Bay, about 20 miles S. by E. of Providence. It comprises the northern part of the...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Dance Hall, Island Park, Portsmouth, R.I.
  
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  Oakland Farm, Alfred G. Vanderbilt's Residence, 1905
  
• 1906
  Portsmouth, a post-township (town) of Newport co., R.I., on Narragansett Bay, about 20 miles S. by E. of Providence, on the New York, New Haven and...Read MORE...
  
  
  
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  Ye Olde Windmill (Still in Operation)
  
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  Train Station
  
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  Husking on the Glen Farm, 1910
  
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  Park Avenue, Island Park
  
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  Old Mill, Lawton Valley
  
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  St. Mary's Church
  
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  Sandy Pint Farm, the Residence of Mr. Reginald C. Vanderbilt, showing Residence, Office and Stables, Portsmouth, near Newport, R. I.
  
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  Quaker Church, Portsmouth, R.I. (1910)
  
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  North Side, Island Park, 1913
  
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  U.S. Post Office, Island Park, R.I., 1914
  
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  Wreckage on the Main Road at Island Park, Portsmouth, R.I.
  The Great New England Hurricane of 1938