Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city located in Newport County, Rhode Island, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Providence. It remains today the location of the U.S. Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and a major naval training center.
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History
Newport was founded in 1639 by William Coddington, John Clarke, and others, who left Boston on account of their sympathy with the Antinomians. A public school was established in 1640. In 1727, James Franklin (brother of Benjamin) was printing in Newport; in 1732, he published the first newspaper, the Rhode Island Gazette. In 1758, his son James founded the Mercury, a weekly paper. One of the first acts of resistance to British authority occurred in 1769 when the British sloop Liberty was destroyed and its boats dragged in Washington Square.
Newport was incorporated from 1784 to 1787 and again in 1853. It was an important port during the slave trade (particularly a key port in the Triangular trade) and has since become a favourite holiday location and well-known summer colony.
The city is the site of the last residence of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the birthplace of Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the Reverend William Ellery Channing, and the mansion of General Nathanael Greene.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier were married in St. Mary's Church in Newport on September 12, 1953.[1]
In 1900, 22,204 people lived in Newport, Rhode Island; in 1910, 27,149; in 1920, 30,255; and in 1940, 30,532. The city has long been entwined with the U.S. Navy. It has been home to many warships, though none since the early 1970s. It held the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy during the Civil War, when the undergraduate officer training school was temporarily moved north from Annapolis, Maryland.
Geography
Newport is located at 41°29′17″N, 71°18′45″W. It is the largest (and only) city on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.7 km² (11.5 mi²). 20.6 km² (7.9 mi²) of it is land and 9.2 km² (3.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 30.86% water. The Newport Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in New England, connects Newport to neighboring Conanicut Island across the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 26,475 people, 11,566 households, and 5,644 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,287.4/km² (3,336.3/mi²). There are 13,226 housing units at an average density of 643.1/km² (1,666.7/mi²).
The racial makeup of the city is 84.12% White, 7.75% African American, 0.85% Native American, 1.33% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 2.41% from other races, and 3.44% from two or more races. 5.54% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 11,566 households out of which 22.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.3% are married couples living together, 13.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 51.2% are non-families. 39.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.11 and the average family size is 2.86.
In the city the population is spread out with 19.6% under the age of 18, 14.6% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $40,669, and the median income for a family is $54,116. Males have a median income of $37,780 versus $27,492 for females. The per capita income for the city is $25,441. 14.4% of the population and 12.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.8% of those under the age of 18 and 8.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Culture
Newport is the home of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where important tennis players are commemorated, as well as a number of mansions dating back to the Gilded Age, including The Breakers, Belcourt Castle, Chateau-sur-Mer, Rosecliff, Marble House and The Elms. Some of these are open for guided tours. The nearby Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum has a fine collection of trees and plants, including the largest sequoia on the East Coast.
With coastlines on the west, south and east, Newport is a maritime city. Its harbors teem with commercial fishing boats, power and sail pleasure craft. Many defenses by the New York Yacht Club of the America's Cup yachting prize took place here. Newport Country Club was one of the five founding clubs of the United States Golf Association; it hosted the first U.S. Open and the first US Amateur, both held in 1895.
Newport is also home to the Newport Tower, Salve Regina University, Hammersmith Farm and the Touro Synagogue, the oldest Jewish house of worship in the United States, as well as Redwood Library and Anthanaeum, the nation's oldest lending library.
The city is also known for the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival, where Bob Dylan shocked the crowd by playing an electric guitar. Each June, the city hosts the Newport International Film Festival.
Notable people born in Newport
- Frank Corridon, who pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals and is known for inventing the now illegal pitch, the spitball.
- Mena Suvari, actress, known best for her role as the vampish cheerleader whom Kevin Spacey's character is obsessed with in American Beauty.
- Tanya Donelly, musician, vocalist for Rhode Island-based bands Belly and Throwing Muses, as well as gutairist for the band The Breeders.
- Van Johnson, actor, known best for "all-American" roles in MGM films during World War II.
- Ida Lewis, lighthouse keeper credited with saving 18 lives in Newport Harbor throughout the nineteenth century; she recieved national attention and numerous honors.
- Matthew C. Perry, Commodore of the U.S. Navy who forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, under the threat of military force.
- William Ellery Channing, one of the foremost Unitarian preachers of the nineteenth century.
Further reading
- S. G. Arnold, History of the State of Rhode Island, (two volumes, New York, (1859-60)
- G. W. Mason, Reminiscences of Rhode Island, (Newport, 1884)
- E. M. Stone, Our French Allies, (Providence, 1884)
External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth
