What is the history of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA?

People, Pictures, Old Postcards and Stories From the Past

• 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