Traveler's Visiting Guide to
Newport, Rhode Island
Crossing Newport Bridge
under the towering arches
and soaring cable you
get the
spacious sensation of
visiting a cathedral. When
the island city of Newport
comes into view from the
height of the bridge a
blindingly pure sunlight
doubles the religious
effect. It was this
sparkling clear sunlight
that inspired the Italian
navigator Giovanni da
Verrazano to name Rhode
Island after the Greek
Island of Rhodes when he
first visited Narragansett
Bay in 1524.
The maritime city of Newport
has inspired new arrivals
through the course of a
pre-Revolutionary War Golden
Age, and through the 19th
Century when the wealthiest
families in America chose to
build their summer mansions
here. Newport is a gem in
the New England coastline
that offers early
reflections of America's
nautical history, as well as
preserved images of the
Gilded Age of the 19th
Century that were formed
around the famous social
circles of the Belmont's,
Vanderbilt's and the Astor's.
Local History:
Newport has the stark, New
England feel of Boston
combined with that
trader-rich, aristocratic
sensibility of places
like Charleston. Wharves,
beaches and rocky coasts
extend in all directions and
the streets crowd each
summer with tourists and
seasonal residents.
Newport's power to attract
visitors is astounding. In
a city of 30,000 residents,
within a state of 1,000,000
people, Newport hosts
3,500,000 visitors per year,
culminating in the JVC
Newport Jazz Festival held
every August.
On the coast of tiny,
ocean-gripped Rhode Island,
Newport was founded in 1639
by a group of settlers
seeking a separate existence
from the Portsmouth
settlement. Like Charleston
and Boston, Newport was
nourished by the sea trade.
Newport thrived in the
pre-Revolutionary War years,
trading rum for slaves, and
slaves for molasses, which
was used to produce more
rum. (Although in 1774 Rhode
Island became the first
state to outlaw slavery.)
This entrepreneurial spirit
fueled the Golden Age of
Newport, which ended
abruptly when the British
occupied the city from 1776
until 1779.
Newport rose slowly from the
destruction of the
Revolutionary War. During
the mid-19th
Century, early steamship
routes were established
between Newport and New
York. Direct access to New
York rekindled Newport's
earlier role as a summer
retreat for the rich. After
the Civil War many of
America's wealthiest
families built lavish
mansions in Newport. These
structures were commissioned
using the best architects
and finest materials
available. They survive as
unique testaments to the
post-Civil War American
aristocracy.
Relics of the Gilded Age:
Newport is all about the
indelible spirit of America,
its nautical heritage, and
its unique culture of
wealth. The Colonial and
Georgian architecture has a
stringent, sentry-like
appeal that is born of New
England. Even the rows of
European-styled mansions
convey a chapter of robber
baron Americana, with their
fantastic opulence and their
co-opting of varied
stylistic flourishes.
Bellevue Avenue is the
legendary boulevard of the
great mansions frequented by
the American high society of
the 19th Century,
including the summer
residence of the Astors.
Ms. Caroline Schermerhorn
Astor formed the list of 213
families whose ancestry
could be traced at least
three generations and this
list became the original
social register. For her
Newport residence, Beechwood,
Ms. Astor purchased the
mansion of New York merchant
Daniel Parrish. In 1881 Ms.
Astor hired famed architect
Richard Morris Hunt to
undertake a $2 million
renovation of Beechwood,
which then became the social
center of Newport's Gilded
Age.
Another renowned "summer
cottage" is The Breakers,
the awesomely extravagant
summer residence built by
Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
Completed in 1895 The
Breakers was modeled by
Richard Morris Hunt after a
high renaissance Italian
palace. There are 70 rooms
crafted in rare marble and
alabaster. For two years
2,500 workers labored on The
Breakers to complete it at
an estimated present day
cost of $400 million.
Despite the exclusive
history of Newport high
society, most of the great
mansions are open for public
tours. Similarly, most of
Newport's stunning coastline
enjoys public access. Along
the old wharves of Newport�s
west coast is a popular
thoroughfare, Thames Street,
that offers shopping and a
number of dockside
restaurants. At the
southeastern corner of
Newport there is a
three-mile coastal
pedestrian path called the
Cliff Walk that boasts
unobstructed views of the
rocky coast, as well as
views of many of the great
mansions. Along the
southwestern coast of
Newport is Ocean Drive, a
ten-mile roadway leading to
Brenton Point State Park.
Brenton Point is one of the
best locations in town to
view the nightly event of a
Newport sunset, sparkling in
clear light and framed in
rocky cliffs.
Modern Hospitality in
Newport:
Newport has a long history
of gracious hospitality.
One hotel choice for
visitors is the centrally
located Hotel Viking. The
Hotel Viking is a handsome,
brick structure in the
Federalist style originally
built in 1926 to house the
excess guests of the mansion
set. The hotel now offers
218 rooms, off street
parking, a pool, a sauna,
and conference rooms.
Nearby on Thames Street is
the Frances Malbone House, a
building constructed in 1760
at the end of the Newport's
pre-Revolutionary War Golden
Era. Thoroughly renovated
in the early 1970s, the
Malbone has operated for 25
years as a luxury inn
on the main strip of
restaurants, wharves and
shops. The Malbone House
has a young and engaging
staff that provides
afternoon tea and a gourmet
breakfast of egg dishes and
baked goods. Three common
areas, each with gleaming,
hardwood floors and a
fireplace, are handsomely
furnished in period
reproductions. The nine
guest rooms in the main
building were doubled in
1996 to 18 rooms by a
complementary building
addition that is connected
to the originally building
by a breezeway.
Commanding a stunning,
300-degree view of
Narragansett Bay is Castle
Hill Inn and Resort. The
Inn is a former summer home
dating from 1874. Aside
from the seductive common
areas, and the bay view
dining areas, Castle Hill is
known for its rolling lawn
that stretches to the
water. From the promontory
in front of the resort
guests enjoy bay views of
the lighthouse, the rugged
coast, and Newport Bridge.
Sunday brunch and afternoon
cocktails on the lawn are a
local favorite and draw
summer crowds.
Only a block from the
mansions along Bellevue
Avenue is the Ivy Lodge, an
inn within a Victorian
structure originally
designed by Stanford White.
From the outside the Ivy
Lodge may not look a
sumptuous as the mansions on
Bellevue Avenue, but once
inside the front door there
is dark wood baluster
staircase that seems to
climb into the heights of a
Gothic heaven. The lodge
has 11 fireplaces to match
the seven guestrooms. The
common area is furnished
with a baby grand piano and
there is a wrap around porch
that attracts guests in the
warmer months.
Newport has an excellent
selection of seafood
restaurants. The Mooring is
famous for its seafood
chowder recipe and its wharf
side views of Narragansett
Bay. Scales and Shells on
the main strip of Thames
Street offers casual dining
downstairs and a more formal
setting upstairs where
reservations are accepted.
Scales and Shells is so
proud of the freshness of
their catch that waiters
sometimes show off live sea
creatures tableside before
they go in the pot. Flo's
Clam Shack us a popular
summertime raw bar that has
been a favorite with locals
since 1936.
Asterix & Obelix on Thames
Street is a restaurant that
loves good food and the
dining experience. A
single, open room includes
the bar, dining area and an
open window through which
the chefs can be seen
preparing the cuisine. The
waiters enthuse about their
favorite dishes. The drinks
menu offers dozens of
varieties of fine liquors
while the bar sells fine
cigars. On Thursday nights
a jazz trio squeezes into a
corner of the restaurant.
For dining in a more
traditional Yankee setting
there are a number of
excellent choices. At Clarke
Cooke House on Bannister's
Wharf the waiters in tuxedos
serve under an exposed beam
ceiling. La Petite Auberge
has been operated for 25
years in a 1714-era building
on the Register of Historic
Places. Previously the
owner cooked for Charles de
Gaulle. La Petite Auberge
serves traditional French
fare in a group of small
rooms within the old
building.
Despite the over-used term,
"oldest tavern in America",
the White Horse Tavern is
insistent that it is the
real article and it has the
period, gambrel roofed
building to back up the
claim. The White Horse
serves expensive colonial
fare in an authentic period
setting. The bar is small
and inviting, alongside of
an open hearth.
The seafaring culture of
Colonial New England is the
starting point for what our
country has become. The
streets and buildings of
Newport trace our American
evolution from Colonial
trader to world citizen.
Newport preserves the
earliest meetinghouses, the
saltiest wharves, and the
most splendid expressions of
wealth founded on the
entrepreneurial expertise of
Americans. On a fine day,
under the glass-clear light
of Rhode Island, Newport
shows what America is made
of and what America has made
out of her opportunities.
Travel Logistics:
Newport is 30 miles south of
Providence Rhode Island and
about 80 miles south of
Boston. From the exit on
I-95 it is about 25 miles to
Newport. From I-95 take
highway 138 eastbound (near
Wyoming, RI), over the
Newport Bridge ($2 toll).
T. F. Green State Airport (PVD)
is located 10 miles south of
Providence, with the smaller
Newport State Airport (NPT)
located three miles
northwest of Newport.
The JVC Newport Jazz
Festival takes place in
Newport each August at Fort
Adams State Park (call
401-847-3700). The
festival started in 1954 and
then moved to New York in
the 1970s before returning
to Newport.
The Mansions
Astor's Beechwood -Actors in
period costumes conduct
tours at the Beechwood in
the guise the Astor family
and various servants. 580
Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI
02840 (401-846-3772)
www.astors-beechwood.com.
Tours for eleven of the
other Newport mansions
(including The Breakers on
Ochre Point Avenue) are
managed by the Preservation
Society of Newport County.
424 Bellevue Avenue,
Newport, RI 02840
(401-847-1000)
www.newportmansions.org.
Restaurants -
The Mooring - Sayer's Wharf
(401-846-2260), major credit
cards.
Scales & Shells - 527 Thames
Street (401-848-9378), no
credit cards.
