DID YOU SEE the 1999 Summer Travel Guide by Yankee Magazine - my walks of old Newport were one of the Editor's Picks in as one of the "Outstanding Reasons to Visit New England."
Walks last usually last about 75 –90 minutes and the distance is about 1-¼ miles.
Since 1990, the walks that I lead through historic Newport during the Spring, Summer and Fall, weather permitting, have focused on architecture, history, folklore, cemeteries, preservation and what life was like in colonial times. (In winter, it is bus or van tours – see the post called Scenic Newport.) The walks give people a chance to learn about the early restoration efforts led by local homeowners in the
1950s and 1960s, as well as the preservation work done by Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress. Their heroic work saved nearly half of Newport's 18th century homes (the 1725 Isaac Dayton House, right) when a frenzy of urban redevelopment threatened the old seaport village. In just a 10-square block area, the people who walk with me get a "window-peeping" look into Newport’s colonial past. Over 200 17th and 18th century homes and public buildings are still standing in colonial Newport, many on their original locations.
On my walks through the heart of the National Registered Historic Landmark District, I use the geography and architecture of the modern village to explain the big picture of "How Newport Began.” The tale begins with Newport's settlement in 1639 - less than 20 years after the Mayflower landing. From there, I talk about Newport's rise in the maritime trades, then its Golden Age in the mid-1700s, and then I tell about the devastation of the Revolutionary war years during enemy-occupied Newport between 1776 and 1782.
Here is a short list of some of the sites where we often stop to talk, in addition to many historic homes along narrow side streets: the Governors Burial Ground, the Quaker Meeting House, the White Horse Tavern, the Old Colony House, Washington Square, the old town spring (now a gas station), the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, the Brick Market (now a gift shop and museum), the Newport Artillery Company, the Vernon House (George Washington slept here), Trinity Church and churchyard, Queen Anne Square, the Arnold Burial Ground, the Old Stone Tower, the Redwood Library, Touro Synagogue and more. Walks last usually last about 75 –90 minutes and the distance is about 1-¼ miles.
Walks last usually last about 75 –90 minutes and the distance is about 1-¼ miles.Since 1990, the walks that I lead through historic Newport during the Spring, Summer and Fall, weather permitting, have focused on architecture, history, folklore, cemeteries, preservation and what life was like in colonial times. (In winter, it is bus or van tours – see the post called Scenic Newport.) The walks give people a chance to learn about the early restoration efforts led by local homeowners in the
1950s and 1960s, as well as the preservation work done by Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress. Their heroic work saved nearly half of Newport's 18th century homes (the 1725 Isaac Dayton House, right) when a frenzy of urban redevelopment threatened the old seaport village. In just a 10-square block area, the people who walk with me get a "window-peeping" look into Newport’s colonial past. Over 200 17th and 18th century homes and public buildings are still standing in colonial Newport, many on their original locations.On my walks through the heart of the National Registered Historic Landmark District, I use the geography and architecture of the modern village to explain the big picture of "How Newport Began.” The tale begins with Newport's settlement in 1639 - less than 20 years after the Mayflower landing. From there, I talk about Newport's rise in the maritime trades, then its Golden Age in the mid-1700s, and then I tell about the devastation of the Revolutionary war years during enemy-occupied Newport between 1776 and 1782.
Here is a short list of some of the sites where we often stop to talk, in addition to many historic homes along narrow side streets: the Governors Burial Ground, the Quaker Meeting House, the White Horse Tavern, the Old Colony House, Washington Square, the old town spring (now a gas station), the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, the Brick Market (now a gift shop and museum), the Newport Artillery Company, the Vernon House (George Washington slept here), Trinity Church and churchyard, Queen Anne Square, the Arnold Burial Ground, the Old Stone Tower, the Redwood Library, Touro Synagogue and more. Walks last usually last about 75 –90 minutes and the distance is about 1-¼ miles.