Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/541

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NEWPORT.
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NEWPORT.

the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Charles I. Its grammar school, founded in 1612, was the scene of negotiations between Charles I. and the Parliament. The town, already favored with charters and privileges, was incorporated by James I. It owns the water supply and markets. Population, in 1891, 10,210; in 1901, 10,911.

NEWPORT. A city in Campbell County, Ky., at the junction of the Ohio and Licking rivers, which separate it from Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Ky.; and on the Chesapeake and Ohio and the Louisville and Nashville railroads (Map: Kentucky, G 1). There are bridges across both rivers, and the cities of Cincinnati, Newport, and Covington are connected by electric railroad, the Kentucky cities being popular as places of residence for Cincinnati business men. A few miles distant, in the hills back of Newport, is the United States military post, Fort Thomas. Newport has a city park, and a public library, the library building ranking with other prominent edifices of the city—the court house, municipal building, and in addition the post office, Masonic Temple, and Newport and German national banks. The chief manufactured products are watch-cases, cast iron pipes, sheet iron, rails, carriage supplies, and cigar-box material. Settled about 1791, Newport was incorporated in 1795 as a town, and in 1850 received a city charter. The government, under a charter of 1894, is administered by a bicameral council and by a mayor, elected every four years. The executive appoints fire, police, and water-works commissioners, and, with the consent of the board of aldermen, the city auditor and superintendent of public works. The council is selected from the wards, but elected at large, and appoints bridge commissioners. Other municipal officials and the board of education are chosen by popular vote. Members of the municipal council and board of education hold office for two years, all other officers for four years. The city owns and operates the water-works. Population, in 1890, 24,918; in 1900, 28,301.

NEWPORT. A town and the county-seat of Sullivan County, N. H., 42 miles west-northwest of Concord; on the Sugar River, and on the Boston and Maine Railroad (Map: New Hampshire, F 8). The beautiful surroundings of the town make it of considerable importance as a summer resort. There is a public library of 7000 volumes. Newport has extensive manufactures of flannels, cotton underwear, shoes, agricultural implements, and lumber products. The water-works are owned by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 2623; in 1900, 3126. Consult Wheeler, The History of Newport, N. H. (Concord, 1879).

NEWPORT. A port of entry and the county-seat of Newport County, R. I., and until 1900 one of the capitals of the State, 17 miles south by west of Fall River, Mass., and 30 miles south of Providence; on Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay, and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Map: Rhode Island, C 4). It has also regular steamboat communication with New York, Providence, and other cities, with increased transportation facilities in summer. Newport is an important United States naval station, but has far greater reputation as a summer resort. Its splendid harbor, defended by Fort Adams and Fort Greble, admits the largest vessels and usually presents a scene of great animation, while its varied scenery, its points of historic interest, equable climate, and excellent facilities for boating, bathing, and driving have combined to establish Newport as the most exclusive and fashionable watering place in the United States. The narrow streets and quaint houses of the old town adjoin the harbor; the ‘society’ quarters with their new and more elaborate architecture reach over to the ocean side of the island. Among the popular objects of interest are First or Easton's Beach, and Bailey's Beach, the bathing resorts; Cliff Walk and the ten-mile Ocean Drive; the Hanging Rocks; the rocky fissure, fifty feet deep, locally known as Purgatory; and Spouting Rock, where the water, when disturbed by a storm, is forced through an opening in the rock, sometimes to a height of fifty feet. On Coaster Harbor Island is the United States Naval Training Station and War College, and on Goat Island, a United States torpedo station. The naval hospital on the mainland was opened in 1897. On Canonicut Island, opposite Newport, is the town of Jamestown, which has an individual reputation as a summer resort. There are numerous public fountains, statues and monuments, and public parks, notably Touro and Morton parks; several libraries—Redwood and People's together containing more than 60,000 volumes, and the Newport Historical Society, which has an interesting collection of relics; Saint George's and Cloyne House schools. Other attractive features of Newport are its historic buildings: the State House, erected in 1742; the old city hall, in 1763; the synagogue (1763), said to be the oldest in the United States; Redwood Library, in 1748; Trinity Church (Protestant Episcopal), in 1725; the Sayer House, headquarters of the British army in 1777; and the Vernon House, Rochambeau's headquarters in 1780. In commerce and industry Newport is comparatively of small importance; there is, however, a large trade in fish. The government is administered under a charter of 1853, which provides for a mayor, annuallv elected, and a bicameral city council that has important elective powers in municipal offices. Population, in 1890, 19,457; in 1900, 22,034.

Newport was settled in 1639 by William Coddington and a few followers, who in the previous year had been driven from Boston for sympathizing with Antinomianism. In 1647 it was united for governmental purposes with Providence, Portsmouth, and Warwick, under the charter of 1643, but there was much dissatisfaction until a second charter was issued in 1663. Here, in 1640, one of the first public schools in America was begun; and here, in 1656, came some of the first Quakers who emigrated to this country. In 1729 Bishop Berkeley came to Newport, and remained in the vicinity for nearly three years, the house, Whitehall, occupied by him, being still in fairly good condition. Here he wrote much of his Alciphron and his ode on Western progress. In the latter half of the eighteenth century Newport was a great trading centre, and by 1769 its commerce exceeded that of New York. On May 17, 1769, the British sloop Liberty, engaged in enforcing the smuggling laws, was destroyed here—this being one of the earliest acts of American resistance to England. From December, 1776, to November, 1779, Newport was occupied by British troops, by whom 480 of its houses were de-