The Point is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

 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 in Newport looking out on Goat Island, former home to the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station.

History

Nicholas Easton

Nicholas Easton

Nicholas Easton was an early colonial President and Governor of Rhode Island. Born in Hampshire, England, he lived in the towns of Lymington and Romsey before immigrating to New England with his two sons in 1634. Once in the New World, he lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony towns of Ipswich,...

, a founder of Newport, first settled in the area in the 17th century. Easton's heirs divided the property into lots in 1725 and sold parcels to many of Newport's early tradesmen and merchants. Many of the early inhabitants attended the nearby Quaker Meeting House

Great Friends Meeting House

Great Friends Meeting House is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends built in 1699 in Newport, Rhode Island. The meeting house, which is part of the Newport Historic District, is currently open as a museum owned by the Newport Historical Society...

 or Touro Synagogue

Touro Synagogue

The Touro Synagogue is a 1763 synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, that is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States,the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America, and the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S...

. Because of the Quaker tradition none of the streets were originally named after people, so 1st (now Washington), 2nd, and 3rd Streets were intersected by streets with tree names (Elm, Poplar, Willow, Walnut, Chestnut, Cherry, Pine, Sycamore, and Cypress). Marsh Street was formerly the site of a marsh and Bridge Street, the site of a bridge traversing the north side of the marsh. Long Wharf jutted across the south side of the marsh until it was filled in the 19th century.

In 1723 Gravelly Point (off of Long Wharf) was the site of the largest public mass execution in American history, when 26 pirates were executed. They were then buried on nearby Goat Island.

Various houses in "The Point" were occupied by British and French forces during the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 around the time of the Battle of Rhode Island

Battle of Rhode Island

The Battle of Rhode Island, also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill and the Siege of Newport, took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of General John Sullivan were withdrawing to the northern part of Aquidneck Island after abandoning their siege of...

. The famous Goddard and Townsend

Goddard and Townsend

The Goddard and Townsend families of Newport lend their name to an extensive body of New England furniture associated with Newport, Rhode Island in the second half of the 18th century.-Family of Artisans:...

 furniture makers lived and worked in The Point, and their houses still remain.http://www.projo.com/ri/newport/content/HO_thepoint040608_04-06-08_1J9HNBR_v22.28b0b96.html Battery Park was created from "Fort Greene," a former military battery from the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

.

Revitalization

Because Newport remained largely unindustrialized, many of the historic colonial houses were not demolished as was done in Boston and New York. As a result Newport allegedly has the highest concentration of colonial homes of any American city. The Point was, however, largely neglected by the 1950s and remained a working class area. In the 1960s and 70s, Doris Duke

Doris Duke

Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...

's Newport Restoration Foundation

Newport Restoration Foundation

The Newport Restoration Foundation was founded by Doris Duke in 1968 to Newport, Rhode Island to preserve early housing stock including 18th century Colonial homes. Historic building preservation was threatened by redevelopment. Individual houses were purchased and restored...

 bought 27 historic houses in The Point, restored them, and currently rents the homes to tenants. In the 1960s the construction of the Newport Bridge

Newport Bridge

Newport Bridge may refer to:*Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, a bridge over Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island*Newport Bridge *Newport Bridge, Newport, a bridge over the River Usk in Newport, Wales...

 divided the neighborhood in two. The Point is home to the Hunter House museum, the Rumbline Restaurant, and Saint John the Evangelist Anglican-Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

Church.http://www.projo.com/ri/newport/content/HO_thepoint040608_04-06-08_1J9HNBR_v22.28b0b96.html After the old docks disappeared at the end of the streets, the driftways remained allowing public access to the harbor for boaters.http://oceandrivenewport.com/HarborWalk/north/HarborWalkNorth.htm