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Newport, Rhode Island
A Romantic Voyage Back in Time
Norman2004-08-11 15:01:01
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Newport Rhode Island is a town of Colonial charm, Victorian architecture, Gilded Age mansions, inns, jazz festivals, tennis, a picturesque harbor, marvelous restaurants, narrow old streets, and "la bonne vie" - the good life. However, not widely known is that it is blessed with an unusual past, as evidenced by the many firsts this town can boast.
The White House Tavern located on Marlborough Street, is the oldest tavern building in continuous use in the USA.
On Touro Street you will find the first synagogue in the USA, the Touro Synagogue, built in 1759.
Did you know that the first gas illuminated streetlights (1803), and the first photograph taken by an electric light all took place in Newport?
The oldest newspaper in continuous operation in the USA, The Newport Mercury, started its publishing days here in 1758 by the Franklyn Family.
A leisurely stroll along the elegant Bellevue Avenue will lead you to the oldest lending library in the USA, Redwood Library, founded 1747.
The Quakers can claim that their first settlement in North America was Newport.
In 1895 Newport had been host to the first open golf tournament. And the list goes on and on, far too numerous to mention them all.
It is also where Jacqueline Bouvier grew up and married Jack Kennedy on the 12th of September 1953 at St Mary's Church, the oldest Roman Catholic Parish in Rhode Island, located at 70 Church Street.
Brief History
English settlers first began arriving in Rhode Island in 1636, when an English clergyman, Roger Williams, and his small army of followers were practically drummed out of Massachusetts for their liberal religious views challenging the foundations of Puritanism.
Providence was the first settlement to be established in 1636, to be followed by Newport, in 1639. Among Williams' followers were Ann Hutchinson along with her
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See photographs from:
United States Gallery
