Welcome to the "lively experiment"

 Known as the queen of summer resorts, most famous for her opulent mansions, settled in 1639 by eight founders, Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull, Newport was the largest of the four original towns. By 1640 it had become the most important port in colonial New England. In 1663 the colony of Rogue Island and Providence Plantations received its Royal Charter and Benedict Arnold (1615-1678) selected its first Governor. Rogue Island remained its capital until 1790 when it became the 13th state of the Union.

Although religious dissenters and others were welcome, Rogue Island grew slowly. Being a rough and uncomfortable frontier many pilgrims afraid for their lives feared settling here. Not all natives were friendlyand they weren’t the only threat to the colonists. During the 1660s, the legislature granted bounties for the killing of wolves and large cats. Rogue Island paid four pounds for the killing of a wolf.

          The emerging colony took a devastating hit during King Philip’s War (1675-1676). A war between the New England Natives and the first settlers that was brought on by ongoing tensions, disagreements over land, and a series of hostile incidents, some claim the Puritan colonies to the North wanted to gain control of Rogue Island and Providence Plantations lands. Rogue Island and Providence Plantations attempted to remain neutral but that proved impossible.

          King Philip’s war resulted in thousands of Indians and over 600 colonists slaughtered. This conflict would come to be, in proportion to population, the deadliest war in American history. With the mainland destroyed and the accomplishments of the colonists’ ruined, the settlers were forced to start over.

From 1650 until 1700, piracy was the major industry in Rogue Island and Providence Plantations.  For roughly 75 years pirates were embraced as a valid source of commerce, viewed as a way to boost the local economy by lowering unemployment among seafaring men, Governors, city leaders, port and trade officers, sheriffs, merchants, and others all took part. These officials would use the money and its influence to expand their power and to tighten their control on the populace.

  “Pirates Needed”  would have filled the help wanted ads in the second half of the 17th century and Rogue Island and Providence Plantations were so welcoming that they were considered ideal places for men like William Kidd, Blackbeard, Henry Every, and Thomas Tew to recruit, rest, and even take up residence. These men casually walked the streets enjoying a certain amount of celebrity. Rogue Island native Thomas Tew returned to his home here after his legendary haul in the Red Sea.  Although it was the Governor of New York Colonel Benjamin Fletcher sold Tew the letter of marque for his second and fatal journey to Madagascar.

By the 1690’s the Rogue Island and Providence Plantations legal system had become a revolving door for pirates and it wasn’t long before English trade officials were petitioning the king to remove her charter. The English Board of Trade was referring to Rogue Island as “having become a great receptacle for pirates”.

This caused local leaders to change their policies. Piracy began to suffer in the late 1700’s when a larger number of merchant vessels came to Newport, a time when shop owners had more to lose than gain.

 By this time Rogue Island and Providence Plantations were well on their way to controlling the majority of the North American slave trade. Local merchants sponsored at least 1,000 slaving voyages and carried over 100,000 slaves back to America. There are reports of up to 100 Million people enslaved with only 11 million surviving the journey, due to poor record keeping the truth may never be known. One thing is for certain more slave ships would leave Rogue Island than any other American port.

  In 1770, one out of every three families owned at least one slave. It is said James De Wolf of Bristol gave his wife 2 as Christmas presents, although most slaves were sold in the Caribbean for molasses that was used to produce rum.

 Rum also fueled the early Rogue Island economy. With twenty-two of over three dozen distilleries, operating along the Thames St. waterfront, at one time Rogue Island produced over 80% of the “English Guinea Rum”. Not only did Rogue Island merchants own the local distilleries they also owned the large sugar plantations in the West Indies that grew the sugar used to distill the rum.

Abraham Redwood, a prominent Rogue Island merchant, inherited a large sugar plantation in Antigua, enslaving over 200 people. Redwood used the profits from these activities to fund the Redwood Library, America’s oldest existing lending library. At one point the Quaker Church asked Redwood to either leave the slave trade or leave the church, he left the church.

          In 1774 the slave population of Rogue Island and Providence Plantations was 6.3%, nearly twice that of any other New England colony. In the late eighteenth century, several merchant families (most notably the Browns, for whom Brown University is named) were heavily engaged in the “Triangle Trade”. 

          The Brown family was one of the first of the Rogue Island and Providence Plantations merchant families to enter into the slave trade. James Brown, the father first ventured into the trade in 1736. James died in 1739 leaving his four sons in the care of his younger brother Obidiah. In 1762 Nicholas, John, Joseph and Moses “The Four Brothers” started a candle works and established the firm, Nicholas Brown & Company.

 

In 1764 John Brown convinced his brothers to enter the slave trade with Esek Hopkins, (The First Commander in Chief of the United States Navy) as master of their brig “Sally”. Nicholas Brown & Company left the slave trade in 1767. Although brother John remained a member of the firm he continued in the trade into the early 1800s.

Several of Rogue Island and Providence Plantations most historically significant colonial buildings were constructed using slave labor. On Rogue Island these include the Old Colony House, Redwood Library, Brick Market, and Touro Synagogue. 

In Providence, Brown University benefited from the profits generated by the trade and the industries that depended on slavery. The John Brown House located in Providence lists at least two workers as “Negros”.

In 1774 Stephen Hopkins introduced a bill in the Rogue Island and Providence Plantations Assembly that prohibited the importation of slaves. This became one of the first anti-slavery laws in the new world. In February 1784 the Rogue Island and Providence Plantations legislature passed a measure for gradual emancipation of slaves.

All children of slaves born after March 1 were to be “apprentices,” the girls to become free at 18, the boys at 21. Rogue Island and Providence Plantations abolished racial segregation throughout the state in 1866. Many historians believe that without slave labor, the industrialization of New England and the enriching of Europe would not have been possible.

Rogue Island and Providence Plantations also had a long tradition of evading the navigation acts. Beginning with opposition to “The Sugar Act” (1764), and its restrictions on the molasses trade. In June of 1772, Lieutenant William Duddington, of Her Majesty’s Ship “Gaspee”, was on patrol for the crown in the waters of Narragansett Bay. Duddington had a reputation as an overzealous enforcer of “The Stamp Act” . Known for  detaining and boarding merchant vessels often confiscating their cargoes without recourse for the merchants.

On June 9, 1772, a vessel out of Rogue Island was under way to Providence when its captain baited the HMS “Gaspee” leading Lt. Duddington and crew into shallow waters near what is known today as Warwick causing the “Gaspee” to run aground at Namquid Point. News of this grounding spread quickly.

The firm of Nicholas Brown & Co. under Nicholas’ and John’s guidance often engaged as privateers against British ships. Upon hearing this news John convened a party of fifty five men and planned an attack on the “Gaspee”. The following evening they rowed out in eight long boats with muffled oars, surrounded and boarded the vessel. After wounding Lt. Duddington a reputed 5” below his belly button they captured his crew, hauled everyone ashore, and abandoned them. The “Gaspee” was then looted and burned. The crown offered a 5,000 pound reward for the leader and 2,500 pds. for any of the men who accompanied him. No one came forward even though everyone in the state must have known, these men were never prosecuted.

Rogue Island and Providence Plantations engaged in open defiance against the crown, with such rebellious acts as the scuttling and torching of the British sloop “Liberty” in July 1769, the burning of the revenue schooner “Gaspee” in 1772, and Providence’s own “Tea Party”  in March 1775.

On May 17, 1774, after passage of the “Coercive Acts” the Providence Town Meeting became the first governmental assembly to call for a general congress of colonies to resist British policy.

A leader in the American Revolution, having enjoyed self-rule since her founding, Rogue Island and Providence Plantations had the most to lose from England’s efforts to increase supervision and control over her American colonies.

During the Revolutionary War, Rogue Island and Providence Plantations supplied its share of men, ships, and money “Volunteers”  included Negro and Indian slaves, who would gain distinction as the “Black Regiment,” a detachment of the First Rhode Island Regiment. Esek Hopkins (brother of Stephen, a signer of the Declaration of Independence) became the first commander in chief of the Continental navy, a force which Rogue Island and Providence Plantations helped create. Nathanael Greene alsoa Rogue Islander became Washington’s second-in-command and chief of the Continental army in the South.

When the British began their occupation of Rogue Island in December 1776, the long siege to evict them culminated in August 1778 with the inconclusive “Battle of Rhode Island”  this act was the first combined effort of the Americans and their French allies.

The British voluntarily left Newport in October 1779. In July 1780 the French army under Comte de Rochambeau made the port town its base of operations. It was from Rogue Island encampments that the French began their march to Yorktown in 1781.

        The Revolution was another blow from which Rogue Island would recover slowly. The British occupation adversely affected both its population and its prosperity. In 1774 its population was 9,209, by 1782 it dwindled to 5,532.

        Meanwhile the Brown family of Providence rose to new financial, commercial, and industrial heights, surpassing in stature, Aaron Lopez, Joseph Wanton, and Christopher Champlin of Rogue Island and James De Wolf of Bristol.

The resourceful Brown brothers Nicholas (1729-91), Joseph (1733-85), John (1736-1803), and Moses (1738-1836) guided by uncles Obadiah (1712-62) and Elisha (1717-1802), laid the groundwork in this turbulent age for remarkable commercial and industrial advances.

 Rogue Island and Providence Plantations had a good supply of water courses needed to power mills. With advances in technology textile production would become the next industry to shape the state and its communities.

Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) an early American industrialist popularly known as the “Father of the American Industrial Revolution” or the “Father of the American Factory System”  brought British textile technology to America. In 1789 Slater violated a British immigration law prohibiting the spread of British technology to other nations. Slater was the first person in America who knew how to build as well as operate textile machines. He worked in nearby Massachusetts as well as Rogue Island and Providence Plantations replicating British textile equipment until he eventually received backing to design and build the first water-powered cotton mill in the United States. Hoping to make his fortune in America’s infant textile industry he sold his knowledge to American industrialist Moses Brown, who used the plan to generate significant profits.

Samuel Slater would open Slater mill in 1793. Enlisting entire families, including children, to work his mill, these families were often housed in company owned housing located near the mills, shopped at the company stores, attended company schools and churches. His methods became known as “The Rhode Island System.”  Wages were low and the hours were long but this system of labor worked, and by the 1820s it was firmly established in American industry.

By 1815 there were 167 textile mills producing goods from cotton. Although these early mills were generally small, they became the center of the community, with many villages forming around them. In 1832 an estimated 40 percent of all factory workers were between the ages of seven and sixteen. The families hired by Slater often relocated to be near the factories, giving rise to mill towns. By the late 1830s, factory conditions in New England deteriorated. Increased competition in the industry forced factory owners to cut wages and lengthen hours to stay profitable and keep up with production demands. As the textiles industry grew, the supply of labor did not.

 The Civil War (1861–1865) disrupted cotton exports due to a combination of blockades and attempts to use the commodity as a bargaining tool for foreign support.

 Europe sought cotton elsewhere, while in Rogue Island and Providence Plantations demand remained high. 

Despite strenuous Confederate efforts to prevent cotton from falling into enemy hands, large amounts were smuggled north keeping the Yankee mills working. 

Fortunes of the textile mills and their communities fluctuated along with cotton prices. Another textile boom was created with World War I, but it was to be the last.

By the turn of the century, the Rogue Island and Providence Plantations economy was booming which increased the demand for immigration. Post-war immigration increased Rogue Island and Providence Plantations population from the 1860s to the 1880s, most of the immigrants were coming from England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and Quebec.  Towards the end of the century most immigrants were coming from Southern and Eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean.

        While women and children made up the majority of the labor force mill owners turned to this steady stream of immigrants to supplement them. By the second half of the 1800s, Labor systems, such as Rogue Island’s were no longer necessary.  Competition, new fabrics, and a general slowdown in world economies all contributed to depressing the textile industry. Efforts to reduce production brought discontent and labor disputes which further hastened the industrial decline. The industrial boom began to wane in the mid-1920s when textiles began shutting down. By 1930 over 25% of Rogue Island’s textile mill workers were unemployed and the latter part of the 19th Century saw an increased awareness of social issues involving these mill operations. Conditions were very poor with children working 54-hour weeks while failing to receive a proper education. As farming moved west, it became even more difficult to recruit mill hands from the resident population.

        The Depression hit the state hard. Rogue Island and Providence Plantations received a brief boost from World War II that ended with the war. Further decline came as a result of nation-wide trends, along with the construction of highways and increased suburbanization. Over the next thirty years the population of Rogue Island and Providence Plantations dropped by 38%. At one time Rogue Island and Providence Plantations hosted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, to include Brown & Sharpe, Nicholson File, and Gorham Silverware, industries that attracted immigrants from Ireland, French Canada, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, England, Cape Verde, and Italy.

         From the 1950s to the 1980s, Rogue Island and Providence Plantations was a notorious bastion of organized crime. The area and gang members operating here were considered by law enforcement officials (LEO) to be part of the Boston crime family. There is not much verifiable information about organized crime in New England. What little is available often contradicts itself.

        Vincent Teresa in “My Life in the Mafia,” discusses Frank “Butsey” Morelli, one of five brothers who moved into New England from Brooklyn during World War I. Allegedly controlling their criminal operations from Rogue Island and Providence Plantations, it is also alleged Butsey controlled parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Morelli is said to have maintained control of this area from 1917 to 1947 when he died of cancer.

        In the mid-1950s LEO (Law Enforcement Officials) claim Raymond L.S. Patriarca took over “the family” and ran operations out of Providence. This alleged criminal organization began to be referred to as the “New England Crime Family”.

        Raymond Salvatore Loreda Patriarca was born on St. Patrick’s Day 1908 in Worcester, Massachusetts. When he was three years old his family moved to Providence. At the age of seventeen, Patriarca was arrested and convicted of breaking prohibition laws in Connecticut.

His arrests include failing to stop for a policeman, breaking and entering, white slavery, and masterminding a jail-break in which a prison guard along with a trusty were killed. Over the years Patriarca was arrested or indicted 28 times, convicted seven, imprisoned four, and served eleven years in prison. The majority of his prison time was for a murder conspiracy charge during the 1960s.

LEO believes that Patriarca served his apprenticeship in Providence, first as an associate and later as a member of the New York Mafia involved with prostitution and hijacking. In 1938 he participated in the robbery of a Massachusetts jewelry store.  Convicted of carrying a gun without a permit, possession of burglar’s tools, and armed robbery Patriarca was sentenced from 3 to 5 years. He was paroled in less than three months setting off a political corruption storm. The investigation lasted three years and in 1941 Daniel H. Coakley, a Massachusetts Governor’s Councilor, was impeached and removed from office. After being released from prison Patriarca returned to Providence where his influence and power increased during the 1940s. It is said that Patriarca was the driving force behind, and heir apparent to, what would become the “New England Crime Family”.

 By the early 1950s, it was impossible to be a major crime figure and not have to deal with Patriarca. As the alleged crime boss of New England, Patriarca is believed to have formed strong relationships with New York crime families, who supposedly controlled organized crime in Providence before he moved in.

In addition to having close ties to the powerful New York mafia, Patriarca was also said to have been on the Mafia’s ruling commission with investments in Las Vegas casinos. One of Patriarca’s under bosses was Gennaro “Jerry” Angiulo. Angiulo who was involved in the numbers racket in Boston,  was being shaken down by rival mobsters because he was not a “made” member. Jerry supposedly solved this problem by paying Patriarca $50,000 plus an additional $100,000 a year to become a made member. Based in Boston Angiulo gained complete control of gambling in the city,  however, Angiulo’s office at 98 Prince St was bugged by the FBI, who persuaded Vincent Teresa to testify against the family. Angiulo tried to have Teresa’s wife and daughter hurt or killed. But because Teresa was not a “made guy”, this was a serious violation of the Mafia code. Instead, Ilario “Larry” Zannino, Angiulo’s number two man, withheld millions from Teresa and never helped out Teresa’s family. As a result Vincent Teresa testified against them and others, eventually writing a book about his life in the Mafia.

In 1957, more than 60 of the most powerful crime bosses met in Appalachian, a small upstate New York town. This meeting was attended by reputed powerful organized crime figures such as Joe Bonanno, Carlo Gambino, and Vito Genovese. Raymond Patriarca was also there and subsequently arrested with the other attendees. The Apalachin Meeting drew a lot of attention from the press, the public, and law enforcement.

The situation became worse in 1961, when Robert Kennedy became Attorney General and began an assault on organized crime. Law enforcement agencies worked to develop informants within the mob and finally succeeded with Joe Barboza in 1966, a hit man for the Patriarca family who claimed to have killed 26 people. Arrested on a concealed weapons charge Barboza became concerned when Patriarca did not post bail and two of his friends were killed for trying to do so. Barboza turned informant and in 1967 Patriarca and Enrico Tameleo were indicted for the murder of Providence bookmaker, Willie Marfeo. While Patriarca was in prison, Angiulo served as acting boss. When Patriarca was released in 1974 he resumed control of the family.

Patriarca would be plagued by law enforcement for the rest of his life. LEO charged him numerous times for a variety of crimes until his death. These charges included the murder of Raymond Curcio in 1983, and again in 1984 for the murder of Robert Candos, whom Patriarca believed, was an informant. On July 11, 1984 Raymond “il Patrone” Patriarca died of a heart attack at the age of 76.

In 1986 Rogue Island and Providence Plantations would see it’s Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Joseph A. Bevilacqua resign after an investigation of his activities revealed his misuse of public funds and employees, along with other behavior unbefitting a judge. Had he not resigned voluntarily he would have been impeached.

In 1991 Superior Court Judge Antonio Almeida was arrested for soliciting bribes, convicted and sent to prison. Two years later a second Chief Justice, Thomas F. Fay, resigned in the face of unethical conduct charges and the prospect of impeachment.

 Also in 1991 a massive embezzlement by banker Joseph Mollicone led to the collapse of 45 credit unions denying 350,000 people, a third of the population without access to their money. On New Year’s Day 1991 the newly elected Governor Bruce Sundlun announced that Rogue Island and Providence Plantations banks and credit unions would be closed.

 The Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corporation, the private fund that insured the deposits collapsed. $1 billion dollars, belonging to more than 150,000 depositors, were frozen. Joe Mollicone fled the state.

By bankrupting RISDIC Mollicone exposed the insurer as a sham. There was nothing backing up the more than $1 billion in deposits. 

Under Governor Sundlun’s plan, depositors with up to $100,000 were to get back all their money. Those with more than $100,000 were given no guarantees. Depositors didn’t receive their money until June 1992, 18 months later. Bankruptcy filings increased 62% and needless to say many businesses didn’t survive.

When the facts came out about the corrupt politics and inside deals that caused this collapse the state exploded. Rogue Island and Providence Plantations became a national laughingstock, depicted in the media as a Third World state, a corrupt backwater run by crooked politicians and mobbed backed bankers.

 While depositors worried about paying their bills, those “connected” lived the life of the idle rich. Robert Barbato, an alleged associate of mob boss Raymond J. “Junior” Patriarca walked off with more than $2 million. Questionable transactions enabled him to buy a $200,000 Rolls-Royce convertible and $60,000 worth of Boston Red Sox luxury skyboxes. At the RISDIC Commission hearings, Robert Barbato invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, others involved did the same.

There were plenty of people to blame. From bankers to the General Assembly yet the main focus was placed on two men, Mollicone, the banker, and former governor Edward DiPrete.

Ed DiPrete served three terms as governor, had an audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, hung out with Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and rubbed elbows with the jet set, had known since 1986 that the system was ripe for disaster. The commission investigating this financial fiasco concluded that DiPrete failed in his duty to protect Rogue Island and Providence Plantations depositors.

On December 11, 1998 despite having vowed never to speak the words Ed DiPrete professed “GUILTY Your Honor”

In 2009 Governor Carcieri audited the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation who ran the state landfill “as their own personal playground.” The audit revealed at least $75 million had been wasted during the eight-year period between 1999 and 2007. Rogue Island State Police, working with the auditors, conducted their own inquiry.  Due to obstacles such as a lack of cooperation from witnesses and statute of limitation concerns no criminal charges were filed.

It’s difficult to imagine this “nest of pestilential heretics” as a 5 star resort destination but alas this “City by the Sea” with her awe-inspiring architecture, bustling downtown waterfront, and welcoming hospitality, is considered by many to be a shining gem that epitomizes the ambiguities of the proverbial “American Dream”. 

 Cotton Mather disagreed believing Rogue Island to be “the sewer of New England”

Regardless of opinion Rogue Island and Providence Plantations provide the options of interesting activities, distinctive stories, and enticing photo opportunities for millions of people drawn by the allure of Amercana.

To explore this Rogue Island simply follow the vicious circle, starting with town center the Old Colony House, where titles were obtained, brothers committed, and magistrates bought. Out to the parade where Brick market awaits, merchants still ply their wares brought from far away lands or perhaps created by a local craftsman, food and beverage are in abundance, no longer for sale outright, slaves are now rented by the hour or task.

Meandering down Thames Street reveals resort living at its finest. With priceless harbor views and often raved about restaurants serving everything from animals to zucchini to customer satisfaction, not to mention the many varieties of “English Guinea”  available. This short stretch of Newport sets the standard for a life of leisure.    

 Near the end of Thames Street is Wellington Avenue, which locals consider the start of the world famous “Ocean Drive” a breathing taking excursion from beginning to end. Literally… 

Waste water empties into the harbor here and the land on the corner was/is a toxic waste dump before becoming the luxurious resort it is today. The stench isn't quite as bad as the odorless treatment plant to the north BUT...

 Beginning with King’s Park the home of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club ending near the home of the late Senator Claiborne Pell (Pelican Lodge) this portion of Newport is a fabulous recreational treasure of public parks with miles of accessible shoreline, ranked as one of the most popular drives in the country.

“Swiss Village” built in 1916 by Arthur Curtiss James modeled on a Swiss Village from the Italian region of Switzerland, which recently underwent renovations that were completed in 2002 when the “SVF Foundation” commenced its preservation program for endangered breeds of livestock, the former home of JFK, that is literally across the street from one of America’s first golf courses are only a few of the amazing sites to be seen on this Ocean Drive.

          The east wall of Hammersmith Farm, originally owned by William Brenton who named the region after his former home later the childhood home of Jacqueline Kennedy, known as the Summer White House while JFK held office marks the entrance to Fort Adam state park once the largest coastal fortification in the United States, now a playground for all to enjoy. Fort Adams offers not only wonderful panoramas, but also areas for picnics and aquatic activities.

          

        Every summer the park plays host to the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival.

        Sail Newport, the Museum of Yachting, the Eisenhower House and the Block Island ferry are just a few of the many organizations that call Fort Adams home today. 

        Three athletic fields, The Joseph "Jay" Kirwin Memorial Rugby Pitch, home field of the Newport Rugby Football Club, where the annual Newport Rugby Sevens Tournament is held each summer. In addition to the dedicated Kirwin rugby there are two soccer fields/rugby pitches all of which are shared with Salve Regina University.

          

       The wedding reception of Jacqueline Lee Bouvier and John Fitzgerald Kennedy was held at Hammersmith Farm on September 12, 1953. During his presidency, Kennedy spent so much time at Hammersmith that it was referred to as the "Summer White House." The estate features a large 28-room mansion built in 1887 that was opened for public tours in the late 1970s.  In November 1999 the property was sold off as a private residence for a reported $8 million and closed to the public today it is owned by the SVF.

          President Kennedy often golfed across Harrison Avenue at the Newport Country Club. An average length course with personality, where the greens undulate on the short holes and are slightly sloped on the long holes, the narrow fairways require accurate shot placement to make birdie or par. Originally founded in 1894 NCC is listed by the USGA as one of the first 100 clubs established in the U.S.

Castle Hill light sits on the westernmost point of Rogue Island. A 34-foot tall granite lighthouse built in May 1890. Originally housing a fifth order Fresnel lens that flashed a red light visible for 10 nautical miles. The light was automated in 1957 and a modern optic lens replaced the fifth-order lens.

 Castle Hill received worldwide attention June of 1989, when the “World Prodigy” a Greek oil tanker ran aground on Brenton Reef, spilling about 7000 barrels (294,000 gals.) of fuel oil.

         Located at the southern tip of Rogue Island, with an ever changing view of the Narragansett Bay meeting the Atlantic Ocean is Brenton Point State Park, a Memorial to the lost, a playground to the living, a place of wonder to all. With the vast Atlantic in one direction, a nature trail through the past in another, Brenton Point is truly unique.

           

       The story of Brenton Point begins with the start of Rogue Island’s earliest history, named for colonial Governor, William Brenton (1600-1674). Its commanding view of the ocean and its rugged topography made it an ideal location for early settlement. The original farm encompassed the state park  Castle Hill, Hammersmith Farm, and Fort Adams.

         

      Further along Ocean Avenue is King’s Beach, a rugged patch of coastline with a sandy cove nestled inside rough rock outcroppings. The sandy cove is preferred by casual bathers, the more adventurous prefer the rocks, and both settings provide easy access to the Atlantic.

     Ocean Avenue spans the spillway at Green Bridge a true splendor of nature where the salt water of the Atlantic merges with the fresh water of the island.

      Hazard, Goose Berry & Spouting Rock beaches can be found on the eastern end of this splendid drive while many new and a few older summer homes dot the surrounding landscape. 

      Ocean Avenue empties onto Bellevue Avenue this is where the ocean portion of “Ocean Drive” ends and the museums begin.

        The late Senator Pells home “Pelican Lodge” is located along the eastern cliff of Spouting Rock (Bailey’s) Beach, on Ledge road. This house is a front row seat to natures fury situated directly across from “Spouting Rock”, a crevice in the opposing cliff that during turbulent water shoots plumes high into the air that turn to mist. 

          A Stroll down “The Avenue” brings the commoner to the gates of Rogue Island royalty. Today after paying a fee one can enter through the front doors. In the days of yore commoners were paid to use the back door, some things do change. Bellevue Avenue North flows into Touro Street, home to America’s oldest synagogue.

In or around 1658, Rogue Island's first Jewish community “Sephardic Jews” arrived from Spain and Portugal. At first they held services in private homes and rented buildings. In 1677 they bought a cemetery and the ground was broken for Touro synagogue in 1759 although the structure wasn’t completed until 1763.

 Peter Harrison, designer of King's Chapel in Boston and Christ Church in Cambridge, volunteered his services and designed the building. Ground was broke in 1759. Completed for Chanukah in 1763 it is located on what was originally called Griffin Street.

The founding Newport congregation known as "Yeshuat Israel" or Salvation of Israel didn’t name the synagogue Touro. It was named in recognition of Abraham Touro’s generous gifts to restore the building, street, and boundary walls in the mid-19th century.

 Under the Bimah there’s a trap door that was used to hide slaves as part of the Underground Railroad.

The trap door also represents the Marrano tradition of remembering the perils of Jews living in Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition. 

"It [Touro] is not only the oldest Synagogue in America but also one of the oldest symbols of liberty.  No better tradition exists than the history of Touro Synagogue's great contribution to the goals of freedom and justice for all." 

President John F. Kennedy, September 15, 1963

          

      Down the street from Touro synagogue, directly across from the Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. Visitors Center sits the Old Colony House resting quietly. No longer, the hub of Rogue Island government, now simply a lure for the tourist and a gathering spot for historians.

     Today Rogue Island Justice is served at the Florence K. Murray Judicial Complex sitting majestically atop Washington Square. Which marks the beginning and end of the vicious circle of life on this rock.

Visitors are cautioned to act responsibly while imbibing in the Guinea, G*D forbid, they find themselves before the Judge.

Now days Rogue Island tries to keep its criminals confined to public office but citizens should be aware scoundrels of all sorts are known to frequent this Isle of Peace.

“We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do- gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.”  Maggie (from the internet)

    This is a brief synopsis of the history and layout of this nest of pestilential heretics I was born onto. An isle full of fascinating and intriguing tales of vampires, witches, and the Illuminati that I a simple native wish to share with this blog.


    Thank You for visiting, be sure to check back often as I can't say how frequently I'll be posting.

What can I say? 

Sometimes life gets in the way of the plan.

Until next time PEACE from this isle of miscreants 

ALL comments and feedback are WELCOME