CITIKS, AMKUICAN. (NEWPORT.) 



163 



hed in is?) costing in nl! $200,000. The an- 

 Mippl\ la 580,380,000 gallons, and ihe height 

 I I hr \\atcr give 'i head of from so to 

 feet, dispensing \\ ith steam-power fire engines. 

 :. part men! numbers 260 oflicers ami 

 11, ami tlien- i.- an electric iliv alarm. There 

 I-,' . 'hurdics. In 1888-'89, $40,000 were ap- 

 >pri:ited for school buildings, which unrulier 

 with a:i enrollment of 2,040 pupils ami II 

 oners. The Bulkelt y High School for boys, 

 ting $40.1 |;| O. was founded and is maintained 

 the bequest of a private citizen. It was 

 tied in 178. Then- arc 3 national, 2 savings 

 d 1 union bank, with total capital of $850,000. 

 beautiful new public library building was 

 mpleted ia 1890, with a capacity for 50,000 

 '1 nines. It contains also the New London 

 unty Historical Society. The Williams Me- 

 rial Institute contains also a fine library. 

 ere are a theatre, a new armory, a Masonic 

 1, an Odd-Fellows' hall, and other public 

 a customs house, erected in 1830, a fine 

 w depot, and a court house. Gas and electric 

 " ts are in use, and 2 daily papers are pub- 

 ed.' New London is especially noted for the 

 which take place yearly on the Thames 

 i ween the college clubs. B'etween New Lon- 

 and the Pequot House, a summer resort two 

 a half miles distant, to which there is a 

 e drive, lies Fort Trumbull, erected in 1849 at 

 :t of $250,000. Fort Griswold, the scene of 

 bloody massacre of Sept. 6, 1781, which is 

 mmemorated by a shaft 127 feet high, is now 

 t an earthwork, with a small battery. 

 Newport, a city and one of the capitals of 

 ' ode Island, a United States port of entry at 

 head of Narragansett Bay, on the west shore 

 the island from which the State is named, 5 

 lis from the Atlantic Ocean, 19 from Fall 

 ver, Mass., 30 from Providence, and 162 (by 

 inner) from New York. The harbor is excel- 

 t, anchorage being 80 feet between Fort 

 ams (one of the largest fortifications in the 

 >imtry), on Brenton Point, and Goat Island, 

 wh.-rc are the headquarters of the torpedo divis- 

 ion of the United States navy. On Coaster's 

 Ihrbor Island is the Naval War College, estab- 

 lished in 1884, and consolidated with the tor- 

 ,o station by act of March 2, 1889. Nearly 

 quarter of a million dollars are disbursed yearly 

 the Government at these points. Newport 

 first settled in 1638^39, and in 1640 the first 

 blic school in America was established (pos- 

 sibly the first in the world), accessible to all, 

 upporti'd by public charge. The city also claims 

 -- first Baptist church in America. In 1643 it 

 chartered with Providence and Portsmouth 

 der the name of Providence Plantations, and 

 1 ?:;M the population was 4,640. In 1738 more 

 an loo vessels were owned at the port, and in 

 t lie I'Yench War, 1756-'63, 50 vessels were engaged 

 in privateering, and more than 100 were lost by 

 capture. In 1763-'64, 182 vessels were engaged 

 in foreign and 352 in coastwise trade, the sea- 

 men niiniberiiiLT. including those in fishing ves- 

 .v!00. Until 1769 the commerce of New- 

 port exceeded that of New York. In 1774,80 

 distilleries were in operation; the population was 

 1 'i, and there were 300 families of Jews. The 

 . uairogue in the United States (erected 

 1762) is found here, still in use, though but 



few Jews now remain in the city. I Hiring the 

 Revolution mon- than 1,000 men were furnished 

 by the city alone to the war on tin- H-a. Newport 

 was taken by the British on l>ec. 0, 1776, and 

 held until Oct. ir t , 1779, during which time the 

 sufferings of the eiti/ens were extreme; 480 

 buildings (:K) dwelling*) were destroyed, and on 

 the withdrawal of the British all the public build- 

 ings were left untenantable, with the ex< 

 of Trinity Church, the town records being car- 

 ried away also and sunk in Hell (iate. In 1780 

 the city was the headquarters of Rochambeau 

 and the French fleet. Touro Park, purchased 

 by legacy of $10,000 from Judah Touro, contains 

 the famousold stone mill and a bronze statue of 

 Commodore O. H. Perry. Among other notable 

 antiquities are the State House, dating from 

 1 ::!!; the City Hall, built in 1763; the armory 

 of the Artillery Company, organized in 1741 ; 

 and the Central Baptist Church, 17:;"). Bishop 

 George Berkeley, who resided at Newport from 

 1729 to 1731, writing his "Minute Philosopher" 

 at the Hanging Rocks, presented an organ to 

 Trinity Church, which was erected in 1725. 

 Redwood Library, originated in 1780 and incor- 

 porated in 1747, contains 33,000 volumes, and 

 there is also a public library with 26,000. The 

 opera house, erected in 1867, has a seating ca- 

 pacity of 1,000. There is also a music hall, a 

 Masonic temple, a Grand Army of the Republic, 

 and several other halls, a Yonng Men's Christian 

 Association, an Odd-Fellows' building, two asy- 

 lums, a hospital, and a Business Men s Associa- 

 tion. The city has 26 wharves, with daily boats to 

 Providence in summer, and the Old Colony line 

 to New York ; also the Old Colony Railroad and 

 the Newport and Wickford Railroad and Steam- 

 boat Company, as well as boats to Block Island 

 and other point*. The city property in 1889 was 

 valued at $700.375.25, and the total debt was 

 $243,000. The assessed valuation in 1888 was 

 $28.804,800. The street improvements in 1889 

 reached $54,708.86, and $19,908 were expended 

 on sewers. The fire department had property 

 valued at $64,985. Gas works were established 

 in 1853, and electric lights introduced in 1885. 

 There are 14 public fountains, 18 churches and 

 2 chapels, and 10 public-school buildings valued 

 at $157,828, in which 42 teachers are employed, 

 with over 2,500 pupils. In addition there is an 

 industrial school for girls, and a parish school. 

 In 1886 land for a public park was presented to 

 the city by Hon. Levi P. Morton. In 1643 the 

 first Quakers settled in the city, which for more 

 than two hundred and fifty years has been the 

 seat of the annual meetings" of the Society of 

 Friends. The Historical Society of Newport 

 was founded in 1853, and the Natural HUtory 

 Society in 1883. Newport has also the oldes't 

 newspaper in the Unitea States, founded in 1768 

 by a nephew of Benjamin Franklin. Two daily 

 and 3 weekly newspapers are published, and 

 also 1 monthly. There are 11 banks, 6 of 

 which are national, with an aggregate capital of 

 $970,000. A system of electric street railway 

 was opened in 1889. As a summer resort. New- 

 port has 5 large hotels. There are 4 beaches 

 for surf bathing, and the Hanging Rocks, 

 Spouting Rock, and " Purgatory," a chasm 160 

 feet long. 50 feet deep, and with width at bottom 

 of from 2 to 24 feet, at top of from 8 to 14 feet, 



