Newport is the largest city on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay.To say that it is rich in history is an understatement. Considered by most to be New England's most prestigious seaside community, we're excited to be able to share what we think is the state's best location with you. We've put together snippits from various sites on the web as well as our own insite on the island here. We think it will give you a good idea of what Newport is all about...

The city of Newport was founded in 1639 and incorporated in 1784. Since the discovery of America and its early colonization by the British, Newport specifically stood out from the rest of the colonies as it was one of the five major commercial seaports in the New World.

On your walks through the cobblestone streets downtown, you'll see homes that have been preserved since that time. In fact, the oldest surviving house in Newport is the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, built in the 1670s for Stephen Mumford, a merchant and a founding member of Newport's Seventh Day Baptist congregation.

In the 1830s the city became a popular choice among affluent families from the South, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia looking for a summer seaside resort. As the socially elite began to flock to Newport and build summer homes, the town's status as a "destination" began to take shape.

Today the island is home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame and is legendary for the famed mansions along the elegant Bellevue Avenue which date back to the Gilded Age, including Belcourt Castle, The Breakers, Rosecliff, Marble House and The Elms. Some of these are open for guided tours. Don't be surprised to hear these mansions called Cottages - that's what wealthy summer people called the unimaginably sumptuous mansions they built in the last decades before the 16th Amendment to the Constitution permitted an income tax.

Our two favorite mansions are Rosecliff (setting for the 1974 film The Great Gatsby as well as Amistad and True Lies), William Backhouse Astor Jr.'s Astors Beechwood Mansion, and The Breakers, once home to Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1893.

To get a good picture of the "who's who" that made up Newport's society in the early 1900s, take a look at these two illustrated maps.

Illustrated map segment A dated 1939
Illustrated map segment B dated 1939

With coastlines on the west, south and east, Newport is a maritime town. Its harbors teem with commercial fishing boats, power and sail pleasure craft. Many defenses of the America's Cup yachting prize took place here. Tourists walk the historic waterfront district and explore the many unique shops and restaurants downtown. The city is also known for the Newport Jazz Festival.

Newport has long been entwined with the U.S. Navy. It has been home to many warships, though none since the early 1990s. 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. It remains today the location of the U.S. Naval War College and a major training center.

The island is also home to the Touro Synagogue. Dedicated in 1762, Touro is the oldest Jewish house of worship in the United States, and the only one that survives from the colonial era. Great Friends Meeting House at Farewell and Marlborough Streets, however, is Rhode Island's oldest surviving house of worship, built in 1699.

[ Continue on to sightseeing in Newport ]