Newport Historical Society

The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel (Hebrew: קהל קדוש ישועת ישראל) is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S. dating to the colonial era, and the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America. In 1946, it was declared a National Historic Site.The first congregation was made up of Sephardic Jews, who are believed to have come via the West Indies, where they participated in the triangular trade along with Dutch and English settlements. They practiced a Spanish and Portuguese Jewish liturgy and ritual. In the late eighteenth century, when warfare threatened, the congregation transferred the deed and Torah scrolls to Congregation Shearith Israel in New York for safekeeping. Since the late 19th century, the congregants have been primarily Ashkenazi. In 2012 the two congregations went to court to try to resolve which owned the synagogue and its contents, as the Newport congregation wanted to sell some items to raise money for restoration of the building. In 2017 the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the New York congregation owned it; as the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case, this ruling stands.

The Levi H. Gale House is a historic house at 85 Touro Street in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Russell Warren designed the house, which was built in 1835 for attorney Levi Gale. In 1925-26 the building was moved from its original location on Washington Square because of the erection of the Courthouse. The Jewish congregation of nearby Touro Synagogue paid to move the building and preserve it for use as a Jewish Community Center. The house is now located at the corner of Touro and Division Street. The Levi Gale House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and continues to be used as a Jewish community center.

Shiloh Baptist Church (also known as Trinity School House) is a historic former school building and former African American Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island.

The Lucas–Johnston House (also known as Augustus Lucas House) is an historic colonial house in downtown Newport, Rhode Island.

The United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial (previously known as the First Baptist Church in Newport, Second Baptist Church in Newport and the Second Baptist Church in America) is a historic Baptist church in Newport, Rhode Island, USA that was founded in 1638–1644. It is one of the two oldest Baptist congregations in the United States and is currently affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The current meeting house of the church was constructed in 1846.

The Newport Restoration Foundation was founded by Doris Duke in 1968 in Newport, Rhode Island to preserve early housing stock including 18th century colonial homes. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was the foundation's vice president.It is the largest collection of vernacular architecture in the Northeastern United States. In the 1960s, structures in Newport were threatened by redevelopment. Doris Duke purchased and restored over 83 individual houses under her direction. The entire project represents one of the largest preservation efforts undertaken in modern times and is currently led by Executive Director, Mark Thompson.

The Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House is the oldest house in Newport, Rhode Island, built around 1697. It is also one of the oldest houses in the state. It is located at the corner of Broadway and Stone Street, in the downtown section of the city in the Newport Historic District. The house "was damaged by Stamp Act riots in 1765 when occupied by a Tory Stampmaster."The house has passed through several owners since its construction and has been renovated and improved by some of them. The three for whom it is named were not the first, but they were members of a family related by marriage that owned it from shortly before the Revolution to 1911. Since the 1920s, it has been owned by the Newport Historical Society (NHS) which renovated it and converted it to a historic house museum. In 1960, it was among the first National Historic Landmarks designated by the Department of the Interior.

Timeline of Newport, Rhode Island.

Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. The city has a population of about 25,000 residents.Newport hosted the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge to the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and boasts many buildings from the colonial era.Newport is the county seat of Newport County, which has no governmental functions other than court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries. It was known for being the location of the "Summer White Houses" during the administrations of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

Governor Henry Bull House, in Newport, Rhode Island was purported to be the oldest house in Rhode Island, with parts of the house dating to 1639. It was destroyed by fire in December 1912. The Henry Bull house was located on the eastern side of Spring Street in Newport near modern-day Bull Street and Broadway. According to turn-of-the-twentieth-century research by Norman Isham, the back part of the stone house was built around 1639 by Henry Bull, a Quaker leader and one of the original settlers of Portsmouth and Newport. Bull served as a colonial militia officer and jail keeper. The original Newport jail may have been part of the house. Henry Bull died at the house in 1694 and was the last survivor of the original founders of Rhode Island. Large modifications were made to the house in later decades. Henry's son, Jireh Bull, constructed a large fortified house in South Kingstown, Rhode Island which was demolished during King Philip's War. A fire burned and destroyed the Henry Bull House on December 29, 1912.

The Newport Historic District is a historic district that covers 250 acres (100 ha) in the center of Newport in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1968 due to its extensive and well-preserved assortment of intact colonial buildings dating from the early and mid-18th century. Six of those buildings are themselves NHLs in their own right, including the city's oldest house and the former meeting place of the colonial and state legislatures. Newer and modern buildings coexist with the historic structures. It is a major tourist attraction due to its history, its setting on Newport's waterfront and the shops located within it along Thames Street. In 1997, it doubled for mid-19th-century New Haven, Connecticut during the production of Steven Spielberg's Amistad. "No comparable collection of colonial buildings exists today in the state or perhaps the nation", says Rhode Island historian William McLoughlin.

Governor Peleg Sanford House is one of the oldest houses in Rhode Island, possibly dating to the 1640s and certainly before the death of Peleg Sanford in 1701. The building is located at 2-6 Broadway in Newport, Rhode Island, and "Newport's most important surviving seventeenth-century buildings are found in the West Broadway Neighborhood." Local historians claim: "the original part of the building was the home of Peleg Sanford, Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island between 1680 and 1683. He built this house sometime before his death in 1701, probably as early as the 1640s. By 1827, the building had been modified to include a storefront, reflecting Broadway's change from a residential to a commercial area. The building was enlarged again in 1845, and a mix of Greek Revival and Colonial elements were added. Many Newporters remember the store as "Lalli's" for the family that operated a variety store and stand in this building for 63 years. In 1923, P. Joseph Lalli bought the tobacco store located here and members of the Lalli family ran the store until 1986." In 2000 the Newport Historical Society awarded the building its Historic Preservation Award in 2000.