Cover: Starting from scratch at the IYRS School of Technology and Trades. Originally the International Yacht Restoration School.
Over the last two centuries Newport, Rhode Island has come to be known as a summer get-away for the rich, a center for high society, and the leisure activities of tennis, golf and sailing. But that has not always been the case and walking the town's streets you can find clues that point back to its working class and historic colonial roots.
Before it was a center for yachting, and the home of the America's Cup, Newport was a center of boat building. Before its streets and beaches were filled with tourists each summer, Newport was a center for the trade of whale oil and shipping. Before Providence was the capital of Rhode Island, Newport was. And when the slave trade began, Newport played a role.
Like many New England cities in the 1600's, Newport began as a commercial hub, settled by Europeans seeking religious freedom and new opportunities in a new land. Like other port cities I have visited this summer, Newport was and is geographically located to take advantage of fishing grounds, shipping routes, agriculture and connections to similar communities up and down the east coast.
Above: The Cliff Walk.
In the late 1800s Newport began to transform into the exclusive enclave we know today. Summer cottages were replaced by extravagant mansions owned by the Vanderbilts, the Astors and other wealthy American families, who built massive homes on the short cliffs overlooking the ocean. Expansive verandas and rolling green lawns offered a view back across the water toward Europe, Africa, and southern shipping routes leading to exotic ports around the world.
The mansions are one of the great tourist attractions of modern Newport, some are preserved as museums open to public tours, many can be viewed through fencing from the public Cliff Walk along the eastern shore, some are still owned and used by private owners.
Sailing is at the heart of Newport's sporting legacy. It was home to the America's Cup race for more than fifty years. The cup trophy is known as the oldest in international sport. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy both traveled to Newport to watch the races in the decades following the end of World War II. One of the main streets through town is known as America's Cup Avenue. Newport's marinas are filled with sailing vessels of all sizes and vintages. There is a school and a small industry centered on the design, building and restoration of fine boats.
Above: Surfing Easton's Beach.
At one end of the Cliff Walk is Easton's Beach, which allows local residents, and other visitors, the chance to access the otherwise occupied Newport shoreline.
One of the best views of the city, and its many harbors and inlets, is on the drive across the Newport bridge, which is a suspension bridge named after former U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell. Pell is best known for the creation of college opportunity grants which were later officially named Pell Grants, in his honor. During his six terms in the Senate, he was also known for the phrase, "the imperfect computer that is my mind," which he often used when asking a witness to explain a complicated issue.
Headed east on the Pell bridge, over Narragansett Bay, you can see the Naval War College to the left and to the right Goat Island, Fort Adams State Park and the channel towards open water. It is not unusual for the waters of the bay to be filled with pleasure boats and a large cargo ship or two.
It is interesting to study the genesis, history and development of a place like Newport. Part happenstance, part geography, part why change something that seems to be working.
As I have rediscovered during my Coast of Summer tour, there are many beautiful places along the northeast coast of the United States that could have developed as Newport did, but there is only one Newport. It is the one place whose name conjures an immediate visual impression in the minds of people across the country. People may not know exactly where it is, but they know what to expect when they get there.
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© Dean Pagani 2020
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© Dean Pagani 2020