.jpg/2000px-Newport_Tower_-_Newport,_RI_(51488606239).jpg)
Recent from talks
Newport Tower (Rhode Island)
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Newport Tower (Rhode Island)
The Newport Tower, also known as the Old Stone Mill, is a round stone tower located in Touro Park in Newport, Rhode Island, the remains of a windmill built in the mid-17th century. It has received attention due to speculation that it is actually several centuries older and would thus represent evidence of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. Carbon dating shows this belief to be incorrect.
Other names given to the tower include Round Tower, Touro Tower, Viking Tower, and Newport Stone Tower.
The Newport Tower is located in Touro Park at the top of Mill Street, surrounded by a historical residential neighborhood on the hill above the waterfront tourist district. Eighteenth-century paintings show that the hill itself once furnished a view of the harbor and would have been visible to passing mariners in Narragansett Bay, but recent tree growth now obscures the view.
The Newport Tower is not exactly circular. From southeast to northwest, the diameter reportedly measures 22 feet 2 inches (6.76 m) but, when measured from east to west, the diameter lengthens to 23 feet 3 inches (7.09 m). However, the 19th-century measurements of the interior gave an east–west dimension of 18 feet 4 inches (5.59 m), which was slightly shorter than the north–south measurement of 19 feet 9 inches (6.02 m), suggesting that the discrepancies may be due to the unevenness of the rubble masonry. The tower has a height of 28 feet (8.5 m) and an exterior width of 24 feet (7.3 m). At one time, the interior of the tower was coated with smooth white plaster, the remnants of which may be seen on the interior faces of several pillars. It is supported by eight cylindrical columns that form stone arches, two of which are slightly broader than the other six. Above the arches and inside the tower is evidence of a floor that once supported an interior chamber. The walls are approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) thick, and the diameter of the inner chamber is approximately 18 feet (5.5 m). The chamber has four windows on what used to be the main floor, and three very small ones at the upper level. Almost directly opposite the west window is a fireplace backed with grey stone and flanked by nooks.
A representation of the tower is featured prominently on the seal and unit patch of the former US Navy vessel USS Newport.
The tower is described in a document of 1741 as "the old stone mill." It was used as a haymow in 1760, while it was described in 1767 as being used as a powder store "some time past". De Barres' plan of Newport published in 1776 marks it as "Stone Wind Mill." During the American Revolution, the tower was used by the Americans as a lookout and by the British to store munitions.
The tower is located at the upper end of the plot behind the now-demolished mansion built by Benedict Arnold, the first colonial governor of Rhode Island, who moved from Pawtuxet to Newport in 1651. In 1677, Arnold mentions "my stone built Wind Mill" in his will; the site for his burying ground is between this mill and his mansion and still exists today. The phrase has therefore generally been accepted as referring to the Newport Tower, and is evidence that the tower was once used as a windmill. Still, others have contested that locals remembered the tower was previously a functioning corn mill, and that since it had a ground-level fireplace, it couldn't have been built as a windmill.
An illustration from the British "Penny Magazine" published in 1836 (shown at right) reveals that the tower is of a similar type to Chesterton Windmill, a 17th-century mill near Chesterton, Warwickshire, England. There is a mistaken notion that Arnold was born in Leamington, Warwickshire, only a short distance from Chesterton; the family lived near Limington in Somerset, about 100 miles (160 km) away. However, Chesterton windmill stands on a ridge within half a mile of one of the main southwest–northeast roads of early modern Britain, which also runs past Leamington, and it is entirely plausible that Arnold would have seen it, or perhaps another colonist in a position to influence the design of his "stone built windmill".
Hub AI
Newport Tower (Rhode Island) AI simulator
(@Newport Tower (Rhode Island)_simulator)
Newport Tower (Rhode Island)
The Newport Tower, also known as the Old Stone Mill, is a round stone tower located in Touro Park in Newport, Rhode Island, the remains of a windmill built in the mid-17th century. It has received attention due to speculation that it is actually several centuries older and would thus represent evidence of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. Carbon dating shows this belief to be incorrect.
Other names given to the tower include Round Tower, Touro Tower, Viking Tower, and Newport Stone Tower.
The Newport Tower is located in Touro Park at the top of Mill Street, surrounded by a historical residential neighborhood on the hill above the waterfront tourist district. Eighteenth-century paintings show that the hill itself once furnished a view of the harbor and would have been visible to passing mariners in Narragansett Bay, but recent tree growth now obscures the view.
The Newport Tower is not exactly circular. From southeast to northwest, the diameter reportedly measures 22 feet 2 inches (6.76 m) but, when measured from east to west, the diameter lengthens to 23 feet 3 inches (7.09 m). However, the 19th-century measurements of the interior gave an east–west dimension of 18 feet 4 inches (5.59 m), which was slightly shorter than the north–south measurement of 19 feet 9 inches (6.02 m), suggesting that the discrepancies may be due to the unevenness of the rubble masonry. The tower has a height of 28 feet (8.5 m) and an exterior width of 24 feet (7.3 m). At one time, the interior of the tower was coated with smooth white plaster, the remnants of which may be seen on the interior faces of several pillars. It is supported by eight cylindrical columns that form stone arches, two of which are slightly broader than the other six. Above the arches and inside the tower is evidence of a floor that once supported an interior chamber. The walls are approximately 3 feet (0.91 m) thick, and the diameter of the inner chamber is approximately 18 feet (5.5 m). The chamber has four windows on what used to be the main floor, and three very small ones at the upper level. Almost directly opposite the west window is a fireplace backed with grey stone and flanked by nooks.
A representation of the tower is featured prominently on the seal and unit patch of the former US Navy vessel USS Newport.
The tower is described in a document of 1741 as "the old stone mill." It was used as a haymow in 1760, while it was described in 1767 as being used as a powder store "some time past". De Barres' plan of Newport published in 1776 marks it as "Stone Wind Mill." During the American Revolution, the tower was used by the Americans as a lookout and by the British to store munitions.
The tower is located at the upper end of the plot behind the now-demolished mansion built by Benedict Arnold, the first colonial governor of Rhode Island, who moved from Pawtuxet to Newport in 1651. In 1677, Arnold mentions "my stone built Wind Mill" in his will; the site for his burying ground is between this mill and his mansion and still exists today. The phrase has therefore generally been accepted as referring to the Newport Tower, and is evidence that the tower was once used as a windmill. Still, others have contested that locals remembered the tower was previously a functioning corn mill, and that since it had a ground-level fireplace, it couldn't have been built as a windmill.
An illustration from the British "Penny Magazine" published in 1836 (shown at right) reveals that the tower is of a similar type to Chesterton Windmill, a 17th-century mill near Chesterton, Warwickshire, England. There is a mistaken notion that Arnold was born in Leamington, Warwickshire, only a short distance from Chesterton; the family lived near Limington in Somerset, about 100 miles (160 km) away. However, Chesterton windmill stands on a ridge within half a mile of one of the main southwest–northeast roads of early modern Britain, which also runs past Leamington, and it is entirely plausible that Arnold would have seen it, or perhaps another colonist in a position to influence the design of his "stone built windmill".
Recent media