Newport, Rhode Island, USA
1895 - Newport

Newport, a port of entry, fashionable watering-place, semi-capital of Rhode Island, and capital of Newport co., is situated on the beautiful Narragansett Bay, and on the W. shore of the island of Rhode Island, about 5 miles from the ocean, 26 miles S. by E. of Providence, and 68 miles by railroad S. of Boston. Lat. 41° 29' N.; Lon. 71°19' 12" W. It has a good harbor, which is capacious, safe, easy of access, and deep enough for the largest ships. The harbor is defended by Fort Adams, a granite fortress of great size and strength, which mounts 468 guns and is located on Brenton's Point, about 2 miles S.W. of the city. The climate of Newport is commended for mildness and equability, and is probably modified by the Gulf Stream. Its balmy atmosphere, varied scenery, and fine facilities for bathing and boating have rendered it one of the most fashionable watering places in the United States. Many Wealthy citizens of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia have erected cottages and palatial villas here, and there are also a number of large hotels. The magnificent steamboats which ply between New York and Fall River touch at New Port every day. Other steamboats run several times a day to Providence. This city is the S. terminus of the Old Colony Railroad. It contains a brick state-house, a custom house, a city hall, an academy of music, 16 churches, a synagogue 2 public libraries, 5 national banks, 3 savings-banks, and printing-offices which issue 1 daily and 2 weekly newspapers. Here is Trinity church, in which the eminent philosopher Berkeley preached about 1730. Among the remarkable institutions is the Redwood Library, which has about 20,000 volumes and many paintings, in a handsome Doric edifice. Newport has a public park, named Touro Park, on which stands an ancient building called the Round Tower, or Old Stone Mill. This place was settled in 1638, and was one of the chief commercial cities of New England before the Revolution. The population in 1774 was about 12,000. The war of independence ruined commerce, and nearly depopulated this town, which has never recovered its commercial importance. William Ellery Channing was born here in 1780. Newport has manufactures of cotton goods, brass, copper, fish oil, flour, &c. Pop. in 1870, 12,521; in 1880, 15,633; in 1890, 19,457.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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