NEWPORT 



4181 



NEWPORT NEWS 



On the highlands, about three miles back of 

 the city, is Fort Thomas, a United States mili- 

 tary po.-<t. The notable buildings are the 

 courthouse, city hall, post office, Masonic Tem- 

 ple and a public library. The city also has a 

 park, and there are many handsome residences 

 of Cincinnati business men. Although many of 

 its people are employed in Cincinnati, its home 

 industry' is considerable, represented by fac- 

 tories for making watch cases, pianos and car- 

 riage supplies, printing houses and mills for 

 making sheet-iron, rails and iron roofing. 



Newport was settled in 1791, was incorpo- 

 rated as a town in 1795 and as a city in 1850. 

 It is now governed on the commission plan. 



NEWPORT, R. I., the county seat of New- 

 port County, best known as an exclusive resort 

 of the wealthy. It occupies an area of six 

 square miles at the southwestern extremity of 

 the island of Rhode Island, in Narragansett 

 Bay, about thirty miles southeast of Provi- 

 dence, the state capital, and seventy miles 

 southwest of Boston. Railway service is pro- 

 vided by the New York, New Haven & Hart- 

 ford Railroad, and there is regular steamboat 

 connection with New York, Providence and 

 other ports. In 1910 the population was 27,149 ; 

 the state census of 1915 reported 30,472. 



Newport has a magnificent harbor, pro- 

 tected by Fort Greble and Fort Adams, which 

 are used as a headquarters and base of the 

 Atlantic fleet of the United States navy. On 

 Goat Island, partly enclosing the inner harbor, 

 is a United States torpedo station, and farther 

 north, on Coaster Harbor Island, are a United 

 States naval training station and a war college. 

 Adjoining the harbor are the narrow streets 

 and old-fashioned houses of the "Old Town," 

 while? the palatial summer residences of rich 

 Americans are on the famous Cliff Walk, which 

 wmd< .-dorm the cliffs on the east coast of the 

 island for i distance of three miles. North of 

 Walk is Easton's Beach, admirable for sea 

 >' ithing, and south of it is a private beach, the 

 y's. Among the interesting scenic features 

 he place and vicinity are Spouting Rock, 

 Mtory (a deep fissure in the rocks), and the 

 iresque Paradise and H.mumg rocks. 



Newport has many interesting historic asso- 

 ions. Its old State House, datum from 1743, 

 was used as a hospital during the Revolution- 

 ary War, and is at present the seat of the 

 >ty court. A Jewish synagogue, begun in 

 -'. is supposed to be the oldest Hebrew place 

 of worship in tin United States. Touro Park, 

 along Bellcvue Avenue, contains the old Stone 



Mill, or "Round Tower," mentioned by Long- 

 fellow in his Skeleton in Armour. Other inter- 

 esting features are the William Ellery Channing 

 House (1751), now used as a children's home; 

 the Redwood Library, incorporated in 1747; 

 Whitehall, built by Dean Berkeley in 1729 as 

 his place of residence ; Trinity Protestant Epis- 

 copal Church, dating from 1725; and the Sayer 

 House, the headquarters of the British army in 

 1777. 



Newer buildings include the Casino, a mag- 

 nificent country club, a Federal building, 

 erected in 1916; army and navy Y. M. C. A. 

 building, the Newport Hospital, Saint George's 

 School for Boys and the Townsend Industrial 

 School. The Newport Historical Society has a 

 valuable collection of relics and there are sev- 

 eral libraries, public fountains, monuments, 

 statues and parks. The city has considerable 

 coastwise trade in fish, coal and general mer- 

 chandise. Newport was founded in 1639; in 

 1784 it became a city but surrendered its char- 

 ter in 1787. It was rechartered in 1853 and 

 again in 1906. Until 1900 it was one of the 

 capitals of Rhode Island. A.B.C. 



NEWPORT NEWS, VA., famous for its ship- 

 building industry, its shipyards being among 

 the largest in the world. It is situated in War- 

 wick County, on the north shore of the estuary 

 of the James River, where it meets Hampton 

 Roads. By water Old Point Comfort is nine 

 miles north, and Norfolk fifteen miles south- 

 east; Richmond is seventy-five miles north- 

 west, by rail, and Washington, D. C., is 100 

 miles north and west, by water. The city is 

 the terminus of the Chesapeake A Ohio Rail- 

 way Company, and is one of the largest single 

 railway terminals in the United States. Elec- 

 tric lines connect with Norfolk, Old Point 

 Comfort, Hampton and Portsmouth. Newport 

 News is one of the principal ports of the South- 

 ern states and has direct steamship connection 

 with several home and European ports. In 

 1916 the population was 20,562 (Federal esti- 

 mate), an increase of 353 since 1910. The area 

 of the city is nearly two square mile*. 



The fine harbor and exceptional shipping 

 facilities of Newport News have in recent years 

 made it the center of an extensive commerce; 

 tin- value of the foreign tr:ide in merchandise 

 for a single year sometimes exceeds $72,000,000. 

 The city ranks fourth in the United States in 

 tin shipment of grain. In its vast shipyards 

 were built several United States battleships, 

 many gunboats, cruisers, submarine nnl oth-r 

 seagoing craft; the Newport News Shipbuild- 



