Washington Square is the geographical and historical heart of Newport Rhode Island. More trapezoid than square, it exists at the intersection of several major streets and what was the colonial long wharf, projecting into the harbor off Aquidneck Island and into Narragansett Bay. Although as a civic space it is colonial in origin, dating back to the first settlement of 1639, much of its present shape, form and name dates from the 19th century while a number of its most prominent buildings are of early 20th century design. Like many civic spaces, it developed over time rather than being imposed by design.
The first group of Anglo settlers – among them William Coddington, John Clarke, Henry Bull, and the Easton family each clustered their house lots of about ten acres close to a fresh water spring and a short distance uphill from the shoreline. The spring still flows (although its course is now subterranean) but all the original houses are gone, the last, Henry Bull's, being destroyed by fire in 1912.
What remains from the areas 17th-century origins are adjacent street names (Coddington, Bull, Clarke, Dyer) and the street layout itself. Vectors lead along the residential hill and harbor (Thames Street, Spring Street), up island (Broadway) and northwest, out of town, toward the Common Burying Ground established by the 1660s (the aptly named cortege route of Farewell Street). These don't quite converge at the square but instead enter at various points onto an open space flanked by both residential and institutional buildings. By the nineteenth century, this spot came to be known as "The Parade" and became a more defined, park-like area with boundary fencing, trees, fountain and a bronze sculpture of one of Newport's military heroes, Oliver Hazard Perry.
Two of colonial America's most significant buildings are at either end of the square, Newport's Colony House, built by Richard Munday (1739) and the Brick Market designed by Peter Harrison (1772); as a public space, this "square" contained two important civic symbols: the impressively ornate seat of the colonial government and a fashionable Georgian symbol of Newport's economic success.
From 1995 to the present, Washington Square has been revitalized by The Washington Square Advisory Commission. Building on an original design by artist, inventor and restorer Howard Newman, the commission completely rebuilt the square to more closely serve its original function as a gathering place for Newport's citizenry, and dedicating itself to the square's continued historic, architectural, cultural, and commercial significance. To accomplish the goals, the traffic pattern was re-designed, and a 19th-century horse trough fountain was commissioned, recreated and installed as its focal point by Newmans Ltd., which recreated the trough in bronze, based on archival photographs from the library of the Newport Historical Society. [1]
There are plans and proposals to continue to renovate and reinvigorate the square today but while other areas of Newport have become better known because of tourist marketing, Washington Square has long been the hometown "hearth" of the city. One testament to that status were the old Homecoming events, welcoming all native near and far back to Newport during which a triumphal arch was set up in the square and scores of former residents gathered to celebrate their hometown in that time honored place. [2]
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. The city has a population of about 25,000 residents.
Aquidneck Island, officially known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is 37.8 sq mi (98 km2), which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as 60,109. The state of Rhode Island is named after the island; the United States Board on Geographic Names recognizes Rhode Island as the name for the island, although it is widely referred to as Aquidneck Island in the state and by the island's residents.
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until 1707, and then a colony of Great Britain until the American Revolution in 1776, when it became the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
William Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served as the judge of Portsmouth and Newport in that colony, governor of Portsmouth and Newport, deputy governor of the four-town colony, and then governor of the entire colony. Coddington was born and raised in Lincolnshire, England. He accompanied the Winthrop Fleet on its voyage to New England in 1630, becoming an early leader in Boston. There he built the first brick house and became heavily involved in the local government as an assistant magistrate, treasurer, and deputy.
Federal Hill is a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. It lies immediately west of the city's Downtown, across Interstate 95. Since the late 19th century, Federal Hill has been an enclave of Providence's Italian American community; today the neighborhood is known as Providence's Little Italy and is noted for its abundance of Italian restaurants, markets, and cultural establishments.
Goat Island is a small island in Narragansett Bay and is part of the city of Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. The island is connected to the Easton's Point neighborhood via a causeway bridge. It is home to the Newport Harbor Light (1842), residences, a restaurant, event space, and hotel. It was also home to several military forts and to the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, and was the site of the attacks on HMS St John and HMS Liberty.
Touro Synagogue Cemetery, dedicated in 1677, is located in the colonial historic district of Newport, Rhode Island, not far from the Touro Synagogue. Other Jewish graves are found nearby as part of the Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery on Farewell Street.
The Newport Historical Society is a historical society in Newport, Rhode Island that was chartered in 1854 to collect and preserve books, manuscripts, and objects pertaining to Newport's history.
The Old Colony House, also known as Old State House or Newport Colony House, is located at the east end of Washington Square in the city of Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It is a brick Georgian-style building completed in 1741, and was the meeting place for the colonial legislature. From independence in 1776 to the early 20th century, the state legislature alternated its sessions between here and the Rhode Island State House in Providence.
The Newport Historic District is a historic district that covers 250 acres in the center of Newport in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1968 due to its extensive and well-preserved assortment of intact colonial buildings dating from the early and mid-18th century. Six of those buildings are themselves NHLs in their own right, including the city's oldest house and the former meeting place of the colonial and state legislatures. Newer and modern buildings coexist with the historic structures.
The Old State House on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, also known as Providence Sixth District Court House,Providence Colony House, Providence County House, and Rhode Island State House is located on 150 Benefit Street, with the front facade facing North Main Street. It is a brick Georgian-style building largely completed in 1762. It was used as the meeting place for the colonial and state legislatures for 149 years.
The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair of cemeteries was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a single listing in 1974.
The Bristol Waterfront Historic District is a historic district encompassing the original heart of Bristol, Rhode Island, which was laid out in 1680 by the town's original proprietors. It stretches from Bristol Harbor to the east side of Wood St., as far north as Washington Street, and south to Walker Cove. The district's principal areas of importance are the waterfront area on the west side, and the Town Common, part of the original layout, which forms the civic heart of the town. It is one of the few planned communities in the state, and the only one of such great age. The district features residential, civic, and commercial architecture encompassing most of its more than three centuries of existence. Its 19th-century architecture is particularly strong in examples of the work of native son Russell Warren.
Governor Henry Bull House, in Newport, Rhode Island was purported to be the oldest house in Rhode Island, with parts of the house dating to 1639. It was destroyed by fire in December 1912.
Jeremy Clarke (1605–1652) was an early colonial settler and President of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Born into a prominent family in England, he was a merchant who came to New England with his wife, Frances Latham, and four stepchildren, settling first at Portsmouth in 1638, but the following year joining William Coddington and others in establishing the town of Newport. Here he held a variety of civic positions until 1648 when Coddington's election as President of the colony was disputed, and Clarke was chosen to serve in that office instead. He was the father of Walter Clarke, another colonial governor of Rhode Island, and also had family connections with several other future governors of the colony.
Henry Bull (1610–1694) was an early colonial Governor of Rhode Island, serving for two separate terms, one before and one after the tenure of Edmund Andros under the Dominion of New England. Sailing from England as a young man, Bull first settled in Roxbury in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but soon became a follower of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, and was excommunicated from the Roxbury church. With many other followers of Hutchinson, he signed the Portsmouth Compact, and settled on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay. Within a year of arriving there, he and others followed William Coddington to the south end of the island where they established the town of Newport.
The Coddington Cemetery is an early colonial cemetery located in Newport, Rhode Island. It is sometimes called the Friends' Burial Ground, and has more colonial governors buried in it than any other cemetery in the state.
The Clifton Burying Ground is an early colonial cemetery located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It is a Quaker cemetery, and has the graves of four Rhode Island colonial governors.
Timeline of Newport, Rhode Island.