James Clayton Sattel’s RI Summer: Newport’s Historic Neighborhoods

Thames Street

Buzzing with daily commercial and tourist activity, Thames Street has been a center of Newport life for centuries. Thames Street (along with Marlborough Street) was one of Newport's original two streets officially laid out in Newport in 1654, providing access to the city's many wharfs. The southern part of Thames Street was historically home to a large Irish population in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Bellevue Avenue

When we think of historic Bellevue, we may picture the grand parade of mansions that line the avenue, but this commercial stretch is equally vibrant, interesting, and historic. Anchored by the Newport Casino, home of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the north end of Bellevue positively hums with commerce.

Thames Street II

The street takes its name from the Thames River in London, England, an area from which many of the early colonists migrated. Here, the northern view of Thames takes us back toward the Common Burying Ground, passing through several blocks of what was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a Quaker settlement in the area near Easton's Point.

America's Cup Avenue

This colorful avenue skirts between Thames Street and Newport's waterfront, which still teem with life and commerce. Both Bowen's and Bannister's wharfs lure tourists up and down their narrow lanes to enjoy the myriad restaurants and shops that now inhabit historic maritime buildings. But it's not all tourism... businesses catering to the sailor also reside along our waterfront—Newport will always be a center of sailing life.

Washington Square

This beautiful square is the geographical and historical heart of Newport. The famed Old Colony House stands proudly at one end, the Brick Market at the other.

By the nineteenth century, this spot came to be known as “The Parade” and became a more defined, park-like area with boundary fencing, trees, fountain and a bronze sculpture of one of Newport’s military heroes, Oliver Hazard Perry.

Lower Thames

The hustle and bustle of Newport feels especially vibrant on Lower Thames, where colonial homes now house restaurants, shops, and other small businesses.

Touro Street

This view of Touro Street as it flanks Washington Square gives us a sense of the incredible variety in such close quarters in Newport. In the foreground, the Jane Pickens Cinema. In the distance, the bleached walls of historic Touro Synagogue. Built from 1759 to 1763 for the Jeshuat Israel congregation in Newport under the leadership of Cantor (Chazzan) Isaac Touro, the synagogue's cornerstone was laid by Aaron Lopez, a prominent merchant in Newport involved in the spermaceti candlemaking business and other commercial ventures.

Bannister's Passage

These wharfs are among the most evocative along the Eastern seaboard. How can you not conjure Newport's thriving maritime history, walking among these buildings?

Long Wharf

Newport remains an active fishing port, and these lobster pots, stacked as surely as the brick supporting the buildings across the lane, remind us of this every day. In the background, the steeples of old Newport stand guard, as they have for centuries. 

The Point

The Point is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Newport, and has one of the highest concentrations of colonial houses in the United States. The neighborhood sits between Washington Street and Farewell Street/America's Cup.

Farewell Street

How fitting that this aptly named street borders two of Newport's historic cemeteries!

Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery contain more than 5,000 graves, including a colonial era slave cemetery and Jewish graves.

The Common Burial Ground dates to the 17th century, featuring a remarkable number of headstones from that era—and a noted number of colonial African American headstones.

The Island Cemetery is a private cemetery started in the middle 19th century. Many members of Newport's most prominent families lie here in eternal rest.