Rhode Island

From the driver's seat, author and guide Edward Morris provides a diverse collection of biographical sketches that reveal the outrageous and opulent lives of some of America's leading entrepreneurs.

Newport, Rhode Island, was the summer playground of the Gilded Age for the Astors, Belmonts and Vanderbilts. They built lavish villas designed by the best Beaux Arts-style architects of the time, including Richard Morris Hunt, Charles McKim and Robert Swain Peabody. America's elite delighted in referring to these grand retreats as ""summer cottages,"" where they would play tennis and polo and sail their yachts along the shores of the Ocean State. The coachman had an important role as the discreet outdoor butler for Gilded Age gentlemen--not only was he in charge of the horses, but he also acted as a travel advisor and connoisseur of entertainment venues.

While now known as America's summer playground, Newport was at one time the nation's fifth-largest seaport, containing a diverse population that is reflected in its burial sites. Of special significance is the largest marked site for eighteenth-century African Americans in the country, as well as the oldest surviving colonial Jewish burial site. Notable burials include those for William Ellery, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and Richard Morris Hunt, the eminent nineteenth-century architect. It is also home to John Stevens, a noted gravestone carver who led six generations of his family to create exquisite stones throughout the city. Those same traditions are carried on today by the Benson family, America's premier stone carvers. Join local author and tour guide Lewis Keen as he explores the fascinating history behind the city's early burial grounds.

The opulent facades of the City by the Sea concealed the scintillating scandals, eccentric characters and unsolved mysteries of its wealthiest families.

Newport, Rhode Island, is renowned for its stunning cliff-side vistas and the luxurious summer homes of the Gilded Age elite. Learn how Cornelius Vanderbilt III was cut out of the family's fortune for his unapproved marriage to Grace Wilson and how John F. Kennedy's marriage to a Newport debutante helped to secure his presidency. Travel to the White Horse Tavern, where a vengeful specter still waits for his supposed murderer to return to the scene, and discover the mysterious voyage of the "Sea Bird" and its missing crew. Historian Larry Stanford searches the dark corners of Newport's past to expose these scandalous tales and more.

When Caleb Carr, one of the 101 men who purchased Conanicut and Dutch Islands in 1657, petitioned the General Assembly to incorporate Jamestown in 1678, the town had 150 inhabitants. The community thrived until the American Revolution, when the British occupation drove away many people. Nicholas Carr and John Eldred both remained, rebelling in their own ways. The town recovered slowly, and its character changed with modernized modes of transportation. Steam ferries, introduced in 1873, ushered in an era of resort hotels, affluent summer visitors, and a service economy. The West Passage bridge in 1940 brought permanent residents with off-island occupations and interests. The East Passage bridge (1969) and the replacement West Passage bridge (1992) created a suburban atmosphere enlivened by a continuing influx of summer vacationers. Most newcomers revel in the island's beauty and are intent on keeping Jamestown the peaceful haven that attracted them.

The story of Bristol is the story of America, played out on the small stage of a lobster claw-shaped peninsula at the heart of Narragansett Bay. From the massacre and displacement of the first Americans to the rise of the merchant class; exploration; slavery; war and peace; the Industrial Revolution; waves of immigration--all these wildly disparate facets of the American experience have been represented and reflected within these 20 square miles. Bristol has been home to patriots and pirates; ministers and murderers; captains who dominated at the helms of whalers, battleships, and 12-meter sailboats; larger-than-life industrialists; Hollywood and Broadway royalty; artists, writers, musicians, and culinary visionaries. But the bulk of the threads in Bristol's remarkable tapestry are not bold-colored silk, bright metallic, or rich cashmere--most are simple and natural, unremarkably structured and hued, but each one quietly doing its part to form the strong, tightly-woven foundation of this very special place.

""Dave Brussat has made a significant contribution to the history of Providence. For those interested in that history, ""Lost Providence"" is a real find."" Providence Journal

Providence has one of the nation's most intact historic downtowns and is one of America's most beautiful cities. The history of architectural change in the city is one of lost buildings, urban renewal plans and challenges to preservation. The Narragansett Hotel, a lost city icon, hosted many famous guests and was demolished in 1960. The American classical renaissance expressed itself in the Providence National Bank, tragically demolished in 2005. Urban renewal plans such as the Downtown Providence plan and the College Hill plan threatened the city in the mid-twentieth century. Providence eventually embraced its heritage through plans like the River Relocation Project that revitalized the city's waterfront and the Downcity Plan that revitalized its downtown. Author David Brussat chronicles the trials and triumphs of Providence's urban development.

The Blackstone Valley is alive with the echoes of souls that roam the old mills, homes, social clubs and land they once inhabited. Visit a haunted monument in Cumberland, where nine colonists slain in King Philip's War may linger. Shop at an antique store in Chepachet that harbors more than just treasures from the past. Enjoy drinks with the other kind of spirits in historic establishments like the Granville Pub and the Tavern on Main. Take a hike through Precious Blood Cemetery, where ghosts may wander endlessly searching for their loved ones. Join authors Thomas D'Agostino and Arlene Nicholson on a tour of the most haunted places in the Blackstone Valley.

Coventry was originally part of the Shawomet Purchase deeded to Samuel Gorton. People like Francis Brayton and Joseph Bucklin petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly to form the new town. During the Industrial Revolution, John Jenckes Kilton and Searles Capwell played roles in the development of mills and businesses. Today, Coventry boasts many second-generation businesses including Crystal Cleansers, owned by William Marcotte, and Maguire Lace & Warping, run by James Maguire alongside his father, Joseph Maguire. Coventry is home to several independently operated businesses as well, such as All Booked Up, owned by Deana Borges, and Summit General Store, owned by the Skaling family. Educators such as Peter Stetson and Julie Lima Boyle followed in the footsteps of Carrie Ina Shippee and Mary Harvey. Many of Coventry's men and women have answered the call to serve their country, including George Potter and Mary Agnes Delehantey. Not many towns can claim as their own a swimmer of the English Channel, a girl who was an ambassador to Alaska, and a recipient of a Field & Stream award.

In 1956, the Rosarios came to Providence and opened the first Hispanic food market in Rhode Island. This Dominican family's move signaled a new era of Latin American migration for the Ocean State. In the mid-1960s, Guatemalans came to Rhode Island as refugees from the dirty war at home, and Puerto Ricans arrived in the 1920s looking for agricultural work. From the Colombian factory workers who settled in Central Falls in the mid-1960s to the Cubans who fled Castro's revolution in the 1950s and 1960s, Latin Americans were flocking to the coastal towns and quaint neighborhoods of Rhode Island looking for brighter futures and a place to call home. Join author Marta V. Martinez as she turns a collection of oral histories into a fascinating story of the birth of Rhode Island's vibrant Latino community.

The rolling farmlands and gentle sea of Washington County--or South County, as it's locally known--disguise its spirited history. Famous sword swallower Marie Devere, the birdman of Canonchet and even gifted medicine-makers all called the region home. Stories of natural disasters, illegal liquor establishments and mysterious explosions have been all but lost to time. Discover how Depot Square in Hope Valley survived three different floods that threatened to wipe the landmark off the map. From relics of the local Indian wars to the remnants of mysterious shipwrecks, South County is strewn with souvenirs from its fascinating history. In this collection of her most intriguing columns from the Chariho Times, local historian Kelly Sullivan Pezza uncovers the hidden gems of the county's history.