As reported in an 1854 Harper's Monthly piece, the Germania Musical Society was likely the "band" who played at Fort Adams one afternoon when the Fort was "turned into a Hyde Park" with "Horsemen and chariots" parading to the music. The scene depicted by Harper's was idyllic: "The lovely ladies…smile and bow. The ribbons flutter, the gloves glisten. The air is soft, the band plays pleasantly; over all shines the summer sun."

Undoubtedly, music and dancing were main attractions in Newport as it emerged throughout the 19th century to become a world-class resort destination. This impactful feature of the summer experience extended from Bellevue Avenue all the way to the tip of the island at Fort Adams. Opened in 1799 to function as a coastal defense site, Fort Adams also became a place where people gathered to celebrate the natural beauty of their surroundings, oftentimes with music.

An article from the Newport Mercury on July 25, 1857 mentions a reunion of the Germania under the direction of William Schultze, including a performance at Fort Adams which commenced their season. Later that summer, the Mercury added, "On Monday closed the drives to the Fort…the fashion of driving to the Fort on stated days to hear the music of the Germanians is at an end." By 1857, both Newport's "hotel period," and with it the era of Germania Musical Society performances, was coming to a close.

The boom and decline of Newport's "hotel period" and the Germania's heyday took place 100 years prior to the more contemporary summer celebrations that Fort Adams is now famous for. As if the Newport Mercury foretold this story, the paper stated in 1857: "…the crowds thronged there on pleasant days out-numbered the gathering at any other point on the island. The distance from town is about the right one for such a drive, the parade ground is admirably adapted to the purpose, and the music in itself was an attractive feature."

With the rise of Newport's renowned music festivals and cultural events during the 20th century (many of which take place at Fort Adams), the legacy of the Germania Musical Society and the central role of music in Newport's summer experience continues today.

For more (including 3 images) view the original article

In the summer of 1857, preceding the trend-setting Astors and Belmonts, and epitomizing the transition to a more private and exclusive Newport, William Wetmore (former China-trade magnate) threw a big party for his good friend, the financier, George Peabody. Over 2,500 people attended the afternoon "Fête Champêtre" (garden party) at Chateau-sur-Mer. Attendees ate, danced, and drank hundreds of magnums of champagne. The Newport Mercury reported, "it was unquestionably the event of the summer." It could be argued that this event also helped set the tone for the extravagant Gilded Age entertainments to come. As notable Newport resident and Pulitzer-prize winning author Maud Howe Elliott (daughter of Julia Ward Howe, author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic) once remarked, "Some of these gorgeous fetes have cost a sum that would support and educate a professor's family for a lifetime."

A curious offshoot of the Germania Musical Society, who were actually broken up by this time, provided the music. A program card with the order of dances coupled with a New York Times article verify that the music was indeed "furnished" and conducted by a former Germania member, William Schultze. Schultze was the Germania's first violinist, but was probably never an officially elected conductor, although he may have served in a leading role in the interim before Carl Bergmann. At the event, the Germania's former manager F.B. Helmsmuller served as Master of Ceremonies.

The Times reported that a "pavillion" was built by a carpenter from Boston using over 30,000 feet of lumber, "for the purpose of a dancing saloon in the rear of the house." The reporter added with effect: "This superb pavillion was a hundred feet square; it was covered with canvas, and the floor was admirably laid for dancing." The article mistakenly referred to the ensemble as the (official) Germania Musical Society, but at the very least, several former members were most likely involved.

Compositions included many by the famous Strauss and former Germania members, including "Annie Polka Redowa" by Schultze himself, and some of Bergmann's dance tunes. It was reported that the party went past schedule as, "dancing was kept up with great glee until nearly eight o'clock, when the gay and festive scene was deserted, and the dash of the waves at the base of the rocky cliff succeeded the music of the fete."

For more (including 3 images) view the original article

In 1828, the Bellevue House on Catherine Street made a splash as the first genuine resort hotel in Newport, helping to shape a burgeoning culture that would soon propel a new economic boom for the city.

During the magical summers of the late 1840s and 1850s, newspapers described the music scene in Newport in glowing terms, with the Germania Musical Society situated clearly at the center of the experience. On July 30th 1853, during the height of the "hotel period," the Germania gave a full ensemble concert at the Bellevue House that required the cancellation of music at both the Ocean and Atlantic House Hotels for the evening. The advertisement in the Newport Daily News referred to it as, "A Grand Instrumental Concert to be rendered in the form of a Symphony Soiree." It was anticipated to be, "one of the most brilliant gatherings of the season." The concert included Mozart's Grand Symphony in G, Mendelssohn's Nocturne for A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Wagner's finale to the opera Tannhauser.

The same year, the New York Daily Times reported that the Germania and acclaimed pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk (who was visiting Newport) performed at a benefit concert for New Orleans at the Bellevue House. At the time, New Orleans was in the midst of a yellow fever epidemic. The reporter praised the Germania for volunteering their efforts and forgoing their customary, "grand concert, from which they derive the principal portion of their Summer revenue." The owner of the Ocean House, John G. Weaver, donated his share of the ensemble for the sake of the benefit.

Although Gottschalk and the Germania both performed throughout the evening, it is unclear if they actually performed together. Nevertheless, one can very well imagine such a treat, especially on the dance tunes, with Gottschalk rounding out the Germania's already exceptional ensemble sound with his piano talents. Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream was highlighted that night as well as an excerpt of a Beethoven symphony. A follow-up piece in the Newport Daily News deemed the event a "brilliant affair," as "Gottschalk and the Germanians never performed better…their efforts called forth thunders of applause."

The same article mentions that the event was so crowded with "beautiful ladies" and "men of distinction" that "many were unable to obtain admission."

For more (including 3 images & 2 audio files) view the original article

In his memoir, the Germania Musical Society's Henry Albrecht painted an interesting picture of the ensemble's relationship to Newport during the "hotel period," stating: "the magical effect of the sounds of the orchestra aroused not very solemn thoughts in the breasts of art-loving ladies, affections more than on the level of Platonic friendship." He added that their concerts "brought to the fore the reality of the words that 'Music is the language of the heart.'" Such memories included pleasurable and cozy evenings at the Ocean House.

When the original Ocean House opened on Bellevue and East Bowery in 1844, it instantly rivaled the most luxurious European hotels. The Ocean House offered summer visitors topnotch accommodations, fine-dining, and a variety of attractions. A Newport Mercury article in 1884 reminisced about "Old Time Newport" highlighting the new Ocean House and the hundreds of people assembling daily and nightly to the music of the "celebrated Germania Band."

Although the original Ocean House burned down one year after its opening, a larger and grander replacement was ready for the summer season of 1846 to host masquerade balls, cotillions, and Saturday night dances known as "hops." At the time, fashionable dances like the polka, redowa, and cotillion were all the rage: "morning noon and night the whirl went on."

In 1850, following their very successful first summer in Newport, the Germania helped close out the season with a "Fancy Ball" at the Ocean House. The Germania opened the ball with a late-evening march, dinner was served at midnight, and dancing continued through sunrise the next morning. Germania conductor Carl Bergmann's composition "Fancy Ball Polka Redowa" was published the following year. The mazurka-like redowa, featuring a Czech dance rhythm, was new to the States at that time.

To be sure, the scene at the Ocean House on dance nights was effervescent as mellifluous music drifted through the hotel's alcoves and corridors while guests promenaded around the grounds with glee. Despite a number of other hotels opening in Newport over the following two decades, the highest praise was usually reserved for John G. Weaver's Ocean House. Summer visitors considered it the embodiment of the elegance, beauty, and style of American summer society.

For more (including 3 images & 2 audio files) view the original article

The Newport Mercury announced a "Grand Instrumental Concert" to be given by the full Germania Musical Society ensemble on July 16, 1849 at the grand hall of the Atlantic House. Tickets were fifty cents. Doors opened at 7:30pm. The concert began at 8:30pm. In his newspaper abstracts, Newport Historian Lloyd Robson described this Newport Mercury article as the first public notice of the German musicians on the island. As with the other major hotels in Newport, the Germania soon became central to the Atlantic House experience.

The Atlantic House opened in 1845 on Bellevue Avenue and Pelham Street and was instrumental to Newport's economic boom during the period. The Atlantic featured Greek Revival design elements, including a glistening white veranda that wrapped around three of its sides. The hotel stood four stories high and could accommodate 250 summer guests. The Atlantic House was known for its topnotch amusements and featured dances and balls on a regular basis. Harper's New Monthly Magazine, the authority on American culture and society at the time, published a piece in 1854 outlining the historical context for the burgeoning tourist-based economy in Newport. Harper's stated, "From about the year 1840, and the erection of the 'Ocean House' and the 'Atlantic House,' may be dated the renaissance of Newport. There is an immortal excellence in the air and the island which will not suffer it to fall into forgetfulness or complete decay."

The Germania were known for innovative musical programming in Newport during this "renaissance" and gave a "Soiree Dansante, Preceded by a Grand Instrumental Concert" at the Atlantic House in 1853. An ad in the Newport Daily News previewed the program which included a classical concert, considered "part 1," and a set of dance tunes, "part 2," mostly composed by Strauss and the Germania's own Bergmann. In that same issue, it was suggested in commentary that it would probably be, "the only entertainment of the kind," that summer, and "lovers of excellent music and those who are fond of dancing, should not fail to attend." The full band also performed for this particular engagement, whereas at many of the other hotel "hops" (or, dances) only a portion of the Germania played, as they would be divided throughout Newport performing in smaller ensembles at the major hotels.

A few years later, on July 21, 1855 the Newport Mercury declared for the record: "The arrival of the Germanians this week, proclaims the commencement of the season, and the genial face of the leader, as he reappeared on the piazza of the Atlantic (House), was a harbinger of musical delight to young and old." The Germania were a core facet to the Atlantic House and Newport's summer identity.

For more (including 3 images & 1 audio file) view the original article

Easton’s Beach is a beach of many names. You may also have heard it called First Beach or Newport Beach. But whatever its name is, the beach can be found on the strip of land on Easton’s Bay that connects the peninsula named Easton’s Point in Middletown with Newport, where the Breakers and Marble House stand.

Just like the ferry that runs from Providence to Newport today, steamboats going from Providence to Newport allowed access to Easton’s Beach (and such steamboats provided access to other beaches mentioned in this Rhode Tour).

And like the other beaches on this tour, Easton’s Beach had amusement park rides including a carousel that the 1938 hurricane wiped away. The current carousel at Easton’s Beach is from 1958. Newport as a coastal city was exceptionally vulnerable, and nearby areas experienced severe damage.

A 1920s real estate brochure shows us that Easton’s Beach was equipped with the amenities necessary for any beach town. Easton’s Beach was close to cottages, a park, the cliff walk, and nearby on Easton’s Point was a clambake club, which still exists to this day. Families could rent swimsuits and cabins when they came to visit, making Easton’s an easy trip in the summer. There was also a boardwalk at Easton’s. The quick steamboat trip mentioned above along with these amenities allowed Easton’s Beach to give families and individuals the perfect summer’s day experience with few inconveniences. Today, Easton’s Beach is still an iconic part of Newport. Visitors to Easton’s can ride the carousel, eat at food stands and restaurants, surf, and even visit an aquarium run by Save the Bay.

The location of Easton’s Beach within Newport is important to understand the history of the beach. Newport is best known for its luxurious Gilded Age mansions and the wealthy families who owned them, but it also was a coastal city people could visit for rest, relaxation, and entertainment. Families living in Newport were of notorious wealth, and class is quite apparent in the surrounding buildings and centers by Easton’s Beach, especially the exclusive clambake club or yacht club. Many of these still exist today. But despite the wealth all around Newport, much like at Watch Hill, Easton’s Beach was a public beach that was surprisingly accessible.

For more (including 5 images) view the original article

While the story is set in Newport, many of the scenes were shot at MGM Studios in Culver City, California, with a Bel Air mansion standing in for Newport. The film opens with a scenic flyover of Newport and its Gilded Age mansions including The Breakers and Clarendon Court. While some filming took place in Newport, many scenes filmed there were merely used as establishing shots, but you can definitely see Bellevue Avenue in the background of some driving scenes.  During Rhode Island filming, Grace Kelly stayed on the secluded side of Newport’s coastline at the Castle Hill Inn. Between takes, Kelly would sneak away to its quiet, rocky beach, where she could enjoy some privacy from autograph seekers. Kelly had recently announced her engagement to Prince Ranier of Monaco, and she wore her own engagement ring in the film. Because the climb back up from the beach was difficult, the staff of the Castle Hill Inn built a staircase to accommodate her. Today, the beach still has that staircase built for Kelly, and it is accessible to the public. The location is now called “Grace Kelly Beach.” In the film, the character played by Grace Kelly is wooed by three men including a jazz musician played by Bing Crosby, whose character is in charge of the Newport Jazz Festival in which Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra are to appear. The use of Newport as the setting for the film reinforced the “old money” lifestyle of the main characters. Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm sing “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” as they explore the opulent home of Kelly’s character. After the opening flyover, the scene changes to Armstrong and his Orchestra in their Greyhound bus, with scenes of Newport in the background. The father of late state Representative Paul Crowley allowed MGM’s crew use his station wagon to secure the camera as they drove down Bellevue Avenue to film this sequence.

For more (including 4 images & 1 video) view the original article

Sunny von Bülow, a wealthy Newport resident active in charity and social organizations, was found unconscious and undressed on the floor of her bathroom. Sunny had suffered catastrophic brain damage and would likely remain in a persistent vegetative state for the rest of her life.  Before this, Sunny appeared to have it all. In her younger years, people said she resembled actress Grace Kelly. She knew literary giants, aristocrats, and movie stars. She was the beneficiary of a fortune conservatively valued at $75 million. All this and she had a suave spouse to boot: Claus von Bülow.  Claus and Sunny met while she was wed to her first husband, Prince Alfred von Ausberg of Austria, whom Sunny wished to divorce. A witty Dane and lawyer who had spent much of his young life in London, Claus was tall, handsome, and eccentric, but with impeccable manners. Sunny saw him as a knight in charming armor. Claus and Sunny wed in 1966, and moved with Sunny’s two young children to the United States, where the family split their time between a spacious Fifth Avenue apartment and this immense mansion in Newport. Less than two decades later, Claus’ new family accused him of trying to kill Sunny and the court of public opinion soon agreed.  During trial at Newport’s Municipal Court, the prosecution contended that Claus had injected Sunny with an overdose of insulin and he was found guilty of Sunny’s attempted murder and sentenced to serve thirty years. This verdict was overturned on technical grounds during an appeal led by Professor Alan Dershowitz, one of Harvard Law School’s most illustrious faculty members.  In 1986, Dershowitz published a book based on the case, Reversal of Fortune, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1990 by director Barbet Schroeder. Ron Silver’s performance as Dershowitz garnered wide praise, and Jeremy Irons won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Claus. Critics also marveled at Glen Close’s portrayal of Sunny, though her children publicly disputed its accuracy. Claus eventually moved to London, where he wrote theatre reviews and remains a fixture on the city’s social scene. Sunny, meanwhile, never woke from her coma. She died in December 2008, surrounded by her children, at a nursing home in New York City, almost twenty-eight years to the day after she lost consciousness. 

For more (including 6 images & 2 videos) view the original article

In 1888, William Kissam Vanderbilt gave his wife Alva Marble House as a 39th birthday gift. The railroad magnate spared no expense on his wife’s summer home, which used 500,000 cubic feet of various marbles, gathered from across the globe, and is estimated to have cost $11 million at the time of construction. Francophile Alva Vanderbilt appreciated the work of architect Richard Morris Hunt, trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Hunt built Marble House in the shape of a perfect cube, drawing inspiration from King Louis XV’s Petit Trianon château in on the grounds of Versailles.  Marble House was featured in the 2008 film 27 Dresses, as the location of a decadent wedding. The film centers on Jane, played by Katherine Heigl, who wrestles with her decision to coordinate a wedding between her sister and a man who Jane secretly loves. Although the film presents Marble House in a flattering light, Alva Vanderbilt might have found irony in her home being used as the backdrop for a film that revolves around themes of marriage and women’s dependence on men.  Alva and William Vanderbilt shocked high society in March 1895 when they announced their divorce. In addition to a $10 million dollar settlement, Alva walked away from the divorce with Marble House and several estates. Alva was particularly enamored by Marble House, and chose to construct an elaborate Chinese teahouse behind the residence, inviting workers from China to complete the project.

Alva Vanderbilt became involved in the Suffrage movement, and in 1914 a meeting of woman activists inaugurated the teahouse. Marble House became a haven for women’s rights activists, and when Alva died in 1933, her funeral was conducted entirely by women. Today, the Preservation Society of Newport maintains Marble House. The property’s ornate appearance makes it an ideal location for grand events, and for movies that feature them.

For more (including 5 images & 2 videos) view the original article

Amistad is based on the 1839 story of Sierra Leone tribesmen, kidnapped as slaves, who staged a mutiny. The mutineers ordered the crew to return them to Africa, but the navigator instead sailed to New England. Importing slaves had been illegal since 1808, but since the Mende couldn’t talk with their captors, authorities presumed them to be American-born runaway slaves. The Mende were arrested and tried for murder in New Haven, Connecticut. While imprisoned, they taught a Yale linguist, Josiah Willard Gibbs, how to count to ten in Mende. Gibbs walked along the docks counting until a Mende sailor looked up. With the sailor serving as a translator, the men told their story and were set free. In Amistad, Newport’s Washington Square stands in for the New Haven Green, with Colony House serving as the courthouse. Djimon Hounsou starred as Cinque, leader of the Mende, and Anthony Hopkins played an astute John Quincy Adams.  Matthew McConaughey played the Mende’s lawyer, Roger Sherman Baldwin; Stellan Skarsgård was Lewis Tappan, an abolitionist who supported the Mende; and Morgan Freeman was cast as fictional abolitionist Theodore Joadson. The film crew used the first floor of the Colony House for staging, while the second and third floors became the court. Secondary locations included Queen Anne Square and Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Newport’s Point neighborhood. During filming, McConaughey was often spotted at Newport’s bars. The film encountered modern-day challenges beyond parades. Heavy wind turned the dirt used to cover modern asphalt roads into billowing clouds. The barely clothed actors portraying the Africans suffered in the cold. They covered themselves with blankets between takes although Spielberg reportedly wanted them to look genuinely cold. Newport’s changing weather posed a lighting issue for interior scenes. To handle fluctuations, the film crew mounted giant, adjustable screens on the outside of the building. Visitors can still tour the Colony House, now operated by the Newport Historical Society. Though not the site of the actual Amistad trial, the Colony House has served many purposes since its construction in 1736. The Declaration of Independence was read on its steps, the British Army resided in the building during the Revolutionary War, and it served as the statehouse of Rhode Island until 1901. 

For more (including 4 images & 2 videos) view the original article

The film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby,directed by Jack Clayton, starred Robert Redford as the newly wealthy businessman Jay Gatsby trying to win the affection of his former love Daisy Buchanan, played by Mia Farrow. Set against the rich social landscape of the Roaring Twenties, the film explores the decadence of the American dream and the nature of wealth and class division. The actors, draped in pastel seersucker, fine speckled cashmere, and silk ties and scarves in every color, played their roles against the backdrop of the gleaming white terracotta Rosecliff, standing in as Gatsby’s grand Long Island estate.  Rosecliff played its role perfectly. Theresa Fair Oelrich, a silver heiress from Nevada, commissioned the mansion in 1909, as a place for summer entertaining on a grand scale. Stanford White, the principal architect, modeled the estate after the Grand Trianon retreat of Versailles, with a classical arcade of arched windows and paired columns. The mansion offers unexpected views of the surrounding area through an en filade special arrangement; the doors dividing rooms are aligned on a single axis with those of connecting rooms, providing vistas from one end of the house to the other. The house includes a grand ballroom and a swooping limestone “sweetheart staircase” that greets guests when they enter. The back lawn, ideal for a leisurely roam, overlooks the Newport Cliff Walk and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1902, at the time of its completion, Rosecliff cost $2.5 million, the equivalent of about $65.5 million today. During the residency of the Oelrichs, servants kept Rosecliff in notoriously clean condition, with Theresa Oelrich conducting an inspection of the house every morning and instructing her domestic staff to change the beds daily regardless of whether or not guests had used them. Mrs. Oelrich was known to engage in the maintenance herself, taking a mop and a pail to any marble floor that fell short of her standards. “When I die, bury me with a cake of sapolio [soap] in one hand and a scrubbing-brush in the other; they are my symbols,” Mrs. Oelrich once said. The last private resident of Rosecliff, J. Edgar Monroe, became known for lavish parties, often with a Mardi Gras theme and involving fancy costumes. In contrast to the formal dinners thrown by the Oelrichs, the Monroes’ parties were notable for being relaxed and easygoing, with an air of conviviality uncommon in the social scene of the time, but perhaps more recognizable to Jay Gatsby. 

For more (including 3 images & 1 video) view the original article

In June of 1776, on the highest point of ground in Newport, the Americans erected a signal beacon and a small fortification. This high point is known as Tonomi Hill, a shortening of Miantonomi, the name of the sachem of the Narragansetts when Newport was settled in 1639. According to local tradition, the Narragansetts used the hill in much the same way as the European settlers, as a lookout and signaling location.

When the British occupied Newport in December of 1776, they made Tonomi Hill a focus of their efforts to defend the city, according to Frederick Mackenzie, a British soldier who kept a detailed diary of his time spent in America. For instance, on August 10, 1777, Mackenzie reported, “A Detachment of a Captain, 2 Subs. and 100 men of the 22d Regiment, marched this day and encamped near Tonomi-hill near Newport, where they are to be employed in carrying on some works.”

On May 2, 1778, Mackenzie wrote, “The troops are employed in construction of a Redoubt on Tonomi hill, which, from the nature of the situation, is capable of being made a place of great strength, and will cover the left of our position.” On May 5, he reported, “Three of the Redoubts near the town are finished, and that on Tonomi hill nearly so. When the works intended to be made from Green-end to the shore on the left of Tonomi are finished, the town will be rendered very secure, as it is by much the best position for the purpose.”

There were actually two earthwork fortifications at this location. The first and larger is on Tonomi Hill; the second earthwork (sometimes called a “fleche”) is located on an outcrop to the north called Sunset Hill or Little Tonomi, and was connected to the main earthwork by a high ridge. After the French sent their fleet into Narragansett Bay on July 29, 1778, Mackenzie noted, “The troops were informed last night, that on three Guns being fired from the North Battery in Newport, (which is the Signal that the Enemy is landing) they are immediately to get under arms. On this Signal, Ditfourth's Regiment is to throw 200 men into Tonomi hill; 30 into the Fleche on the left of it.”

In August of 1778, when the Americans began massing troops on the north end of Aquidneck Island in preparation for an attempt to retake Newport, the British created a new front line, with Tonomi as the westernmost position. During the American siege, Mackenzie noted the role Tonomi played in defending the British position: “About 6 this afternoon about 40 Rebels took post at Potter's chimnies on our left, but some shots being fired at them from Little Tonomi & Irish's they went off. We lost no men this day by the fire of the Enemy. Our troops at work on the Line, which is now extended within 200 yards of Great Tomini.”

After the Revolution, the earthworks at Tonomi Hill remained intact due to their difficult terrain and inaccessibility. Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan who traveled within the former thirteen colonies after the Revolution, described the “two hills close to each other and very dominating called Tonomi hills, where there is a sufficiently capable and well constructed...redoubt.” The property surrounding the fortifications soon reverted to farmland. On October 15, 1795, William Ellery (a signer of the Declaration of Independence) was paid $10 for “levelling the earth round the Citidel on Tonomi hill,” possibly to remove the remains of the barracks or an encampment.

On his 1848 visit to Newport, the American historian Benson Lossing provided a detailed description of Tonomi Hill: “About a mile and a half northward of Newport rises a bold, rocky eminence, called ‘Tonomi Hill’, celebrated as the seat of the Narragansett sachem of that name, and the commanding site of a small fort or redoubt during the war of the Revolution. …Tonomi Hill is said to be the highest land upon the island, except Quaker Hill, toward the northern end. On its southern slope is the mansion of Mr. Hazzard. …On the top of the hill Mr. Hazzard has erected an observatory, seventy feet high, over a cellar which was dug by the Indians, and in which is a living spring of water. The hill is two hundred and seventy feet above the bay and the top of the observatory commands one of the most beautiful panoramic views in the world.”

According to a 1921 description of the area, “A dense growth of cedars now covers these hills. In the center of Tonomi Hill fort there is an observation tower, which replaced an old one blown down many years ago, from which an extensive view of Newport and its harbor and surroundings could be enjoyed.” In 1922, Newport created a city park on Tonomi Hill, which included a 90-foot tall stone memorial, supposedly on the foundation of the Tonomi Hill powder magazine.

For more (including 2 images) view the original article

In early 1776, the residents of the Point neighborhood in Newport awoke to see the British frigate HMS Scarborough anchored just offshore. With the threat of war suddenly looming, the town hastily threw up a semi-circular earthwork fort at the northern end of the neighborhood on the pastureland of “Quaker Tom” Robinson.

When the British occupied Newport in December of 1776, they took possession of the earthwork and began to improve it. In December 1777, British officer Frederick Mackenzie noted in his diary that one corporal and six privates manned the fort. As the British prepared for imminent attack by combined French and American forces in 1778, they thickened the battery’s walls and installed guns. The North Battery became one of three British sea batteries designed to protect Newport from attack by water. During the aborted siege of Newport, the battery stood ready to defend its position with two 24-pound and three 12-pound cannons.

Before the British abandoned Newport and Aquidneck Island in 1779, they destroyed many of the earthworks and fortifications. When the Americans returned they went to work to repair the damage. Jeremiah Greenman, a young soldier from Rhode Island, reported in his diary entry of October 29-31, 1779: "Continuing in Newport fixing the North battery on the point which the enemy had layed almost level".

The North Battery was re-named Fort Greene in 1798 to honor Rhode Island’s General Nathanael Greene, one of George Washington’s most trusted officers. The fort was abandoned a few years later, after the construction of Fort Adams at the entry of the passage to the Atlantic Ocean. During the War of 1812, Fort Greene was again repaired, this time with a semi-circular brick wall facing the water. In 1814 – 1815, the Secretary of War granted responsibility of the fort to the Newport Artillery Company. In 1891, the Secretary of War approved use of the property as a park, and the City of Newport filled in remaining trenches and levelled the surface.

By 1905, the fort and its wall were in ruins. The semicircular brick wall was nearly destroyed and covered with water. In 1926, the War Department offered the property for sale, and former Newport mayor Frederick P. Garretson bought the site and gave it to the city. During World War II, the government purchased the site back from the city of Newport and used it for ship repair and storage, but in 1964 sold it back into private hands for commercial purposes. Local citizens banded together and raised funds to preserve the property, and in 1973 Fort Greene again became a city park, this time permanently.

For more (including 2 images) view the original article

“I would have been a millionaire today if I had bent to prejudice.” So said George Thomas Downing, prominent African American Rhode Island restaurateur and civil rights champion. From behind the curtains of his lavish Sea Girt Hotel, built on this site in 1854 and destroyed by arson just six years later, Downing fought against racial injustice in a life-long struggle that would eventually ruin his fortunes and cause the demise of his hotel.

George T. Downing was born in New York City, in 1819, into a family of successful restaurateurs. His father, Thomas Downing, helped elevate the city’s street snack, the oyster, into the world of fine dining. His luxurious Wall Street oyster house served pickled oysters and jellied turkeys to Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria, and the city’s elite. George owned his own restaurant in New York City before moving to Newport in the 1840s to open an offshoot of his father’s oyster house, catering to big city gentry on holiday.

The oyster house has a long history in African American heritage, particularly in Rhode Island. Emmanuel Manna Bernoon, an emancipated slave, had opened one of the first restaurants in the United States, an oyster and ale house, in 1736 on Towne Street (now Main Street) in Providence. By the 1840s, oysters had become a shared passion for rich and poor. For many black entrepreneurs like Downing, oysters became the foundation on which they built their culinary empire.

Downing’s crowning centerpiece was the Sea Girt Hotel. Catering to a white clientele, the grand five-story building included large stores, a restaurant, accommodation for gentlemen boarders and families, and served as the Downing residence. Martin R. Delany, the African American intellectual, said of Downing’s Newport enterprise: “This fashionable establishment is spoken of as among the best conducted places in the country, the proprietor among the most gentlemanly.”

The Sea Girt served the community until an arsonist burned it down ten days before Christmas in 1860. While the culprit was never caught, many believed that the fires were lit in retaliation for Downing’s staunch advocacy of civil rights. A “race man” like his father and grandfather before him, Downing was keenly interested in the treatment of African Americans. As one of America’s earliest civil rights activists, Downing led the campaign for the desegregation of Newport schools and was instrumental in getting the first African American into the Diplomatic Corps.

His political concerns led him to Washington, where he made alliances with white abolitionists and other African American activists. In 1865, he became the manager of the Members’ Dining Room for the U.S. House of Representatives, a position he held for twelve years. There, he was able to wield his influence through political ties and friendships, such as the one he shared with Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. During his time in Washington, he worked for the passage of public accommodation laws in the capital city.

Downing died in 1903, a “galvanizing and enduring symbol of African American entrepreneurship and culinary excellence.”

For more (including 3 images) view the original article

“In Memory of Duchess Quamino, A free black of distinguished excellence: Intelligent, Industrious, Affectionate, Honest, and of Exemplary Piety, Who deceased June 4, 1804, aged 65.”

Quamino’s weather-worn marker, along with nearly 300 others, comprise a section of Newport’s Common Burial Ground known as “God’s Little Acre,” one of the oldest and largest colonial African burial grounds in the United States. Dating from the late 1600s, “God’s Little Acre” offers insight into the lives of enslaved and free Africans such as Quamino through the commemorative words and images etched into stone.

Although described as a “free black” on her marker, Quamino was enslaved in the home of William Channing until she bought her freedom. Quamino also lived in her master’s house, which was customary in urban seaports where slaves worked in trades and crafts rather than on plantations. Many of the slaves brought to Newport were young children who worked alongside their masters to learn skills like rum making, rope braiding, stone carving, candle making, and chocolate grinding. Quamino used her culinary skills to run a catering business out of her master’s house. Her entrepreneurial success allowed her to purchase her freedom and earned her the title “Pastry Queen of Rhode Island.”

Quamino’s inscription praises her “Exemplary Piety” and includes a hymnal verse: “Blessed thy slumbers in this house of clay, And bright thy rising to eternal day.” With these words, William Ellery Channing, the founder of the Unitarian Church and the author of the epitaph, recognized Quamino’s involvement in the religious community of Newport. Quamino’s husband John was also a devout Christian. After gaining his freedom, he studied alongside a minister at Princeton in preparation for missionary work in Africa, but their plans dissolved when John was killed aboard a privateer ship during the American Revolution.

Like many slaves in colonial Newport, the Quaminos experienced the wave of Christian revival known as the Great Awakening during which Protestant America sought to convert the African population. In Newport, some slaves were provided religious education, converted to their master’s religion, and worshipped with the family in the home and at church. The burial ground reflects the breadth of religious diversity present in the city through carvings of angels, Biblical verses, and acknowledgements of those who lived with virtue and piousness.

The markers also tell about the origins of the deceased through the traditions of names. The prevalence of Anglicized or phonetically spelled versions of names from the African Gold Coast revealed the homeland of many Newport slaves to be Ghana. Upholding the naming tradition of the Akan people, the Africans often had names that identified the day of the week and order in which they were born. The name “Quamino” is given to boys born on a Saturday. In Duchess’ case, “Quamino” was her married name after her husband.

Walking through “God’s Little Acre,” the leaning, faded colonial stones are joined by the new markers of their descendants, a tribute to the resilience and preservation of African heritage in Rhode Island.

In November 2025, Duchess Quamino played a prominent role in “Life After Life,” a live performance developed through research and performed by 50 community members in Newport Common Burying Ground in November 2025. Actress Rebekah Acquah embodied Duchess, a transformative experience that gave her profound insight into Duchess’s character: “[This play] allowed me to honor not just [who the characters] were in the books, but also who the person was. It gave me the ability to give life to the dead.” As Rebekah noted, Duchess sparked opportunities for generations to come through her entrepreneurship, determination, and drive: “[Duchess] purchased her freedom and her children’s freedom and then bought a home next to the people who enslaved her. That’s a boss…If it wasn’t for someone like Duchess Quamino and so many others, I wouldn’t have been free to express [myself], to be sitting in this room right now.” You can see Rebekah portray Duchess in the Image Gallery below, and can learn more about “Life After Life” here: centeraquidneck.com/life-after-life-about

For more (including 6 images) view the original article