'« 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024419008 
 
Cornell University Library 
 NAC 6827 .N59051 
 
 Proposed ■■"P'°,]j,f,t|'n|||||m?n^ |||| 
 
 3 1924 024 419 008 
 
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 FOR 
 
 NEWPORT 
 
 A REPORT 
 
 PREPARED FOR THE NEWPORT 
 
 IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED 
 
 1913 
 
 (vfiV'hli&f'i Y 
 
Copyright, 1913, by the 
 Newport Improvement Association 
 
 /^r.G tZj 
 
 The University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 
 
NEWPORT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 
 OFFICERS 
 
 JOHN THOMPSON SPENCER . . President 
 
 FREDERICK P. GARRETTSON Chairman Executive Committee 
 
 MAX LEVY . . • . . . . Secretary 
 
 PETER KING . . • . . Treasurer 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 LETTER OF TRANSMISSAL v 
 
 GENERAL REPORT 1 
 
 Basis op Newport's Prosperity .... ... . 1 
 
 The Big Scenery 3 
 
 The Street Scenery . 5 
 
 Suggestions for Maintaining Old Type of Street Scenery . . . 12 
 
 Thoroughfares and Building Lines . . 15 
 
 PARKS AND CERTAIN SPECIAL PROBLEMS .21 
 
 Needs for and Essentials of Playgrounds . . 21 
 
 Playground Opportunities ... .24 
 
 Securing Park Lands . .24 
 
 Need for Reservations . 25 
 
 MiANTONOMi Hill ... .... 26 
 
 Washington Street Extension and Circumferential Parkway . 26 
 
 Almy's Pond .... .29 
 
 THOROUGHFARES AND CERTAIN SPECIAL PROBLEMS 31 
 
 New Thoroughfare West of Thames Street 33 
 
 Marchant Street Improvement .35 
 
 Farewell Street Connection 35 
 
 Railroad Station Improvement .36 
 
 Bridge Street Grade Crossing .36 
 
 Touro Street 39 
 
 Eustis Avenue .40 
 
 Bellevub Avenue near Bailey's Beach 40 
 
 Ocean Drive 40 
 
 Bath Road .41 
 
 Easton's Beach . . 48 
 
 New Drive past Easton's Beach . . .50 
 
 Levin and Cannon Street Improvement . . .51 
 
 SUMMARY . . 53 
 
LETTER OF TRANSMISSAL 
 
 August 2, 1913 
 
 Mr. JOHN THOMPSON SPENCER, President, 
 Newport Improvement Association, 
 Newport, Rhode Island 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 In pursuance of the instructions received from you several months 
 ago, I have made a general examination of the City of Newport with 
 respect to public improvements, and I submit herewith my report. 
 
 Your Committee explained at the beginning that there was available 
 for the expenses of the investigation and the publishing of this report a 
 very limited sum of money, which would make it impossible to undertake 
 more than a superficial study of the problems involved. Except for this 
 important but inevitable limitation, the Committee left me free to pursue 
 the investigation in my own way and to reach my own conclusions. They 
 merely called to my attention certain proposed improvements which have 
 been strongly advocated and which they felt should be given particular 
 consideration, namely: (i) improvements in connection with the proposed 
 new railroad station, (2) the extension of Washington Street northward 
 along the shore, (3) a circuit drive from the shore around the northern part 
 of the city returning southeastward to connect with Kay Street, (4) a 
 widening of Bath Road, (5) some treatment of Almy's Pond and its shores, 
 (6) a new street between the water front and Thames Street for relieving the 
 congestion of the latter. 
 
 The method of investigation has been personal study of the visible 
 conditions on the ground, with the aid of existing maps and surveys supple- 
 mented by a certain amount of direct measurement of critical details. On 
 foot and by automobile I and my assistant, Mr. E. C. Whiting, have trav- 
 ersed almost every street in the city, most of them many times, making 
 notes, taking photographs, and studying conditions. I have had the help 
 of consultation with members of the Committee, especially the invaluable 
 help of Captain J. P. Cotton, without whose intimate, accurate and life-long 
 familiarity with conditions in Newport, from the point of view of a Civil 
 Engineer as well as that of a citizen, I should not have been able to obtain 
 so good a grasp of the situation without a very much more thorough and 
 costly original investigation. Finally, I have had the benefit of conference 
 with the Mayor and other city officials, with officers of the New York, New 
 Haven & Hartford Railroad, and with a considerable ntunber of private 
 citizens. 
 
NEWPORT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 
 
 OUTLINE- MAP OF 
 
 SCALE 
 
 la 
 
 legend; 
 
 POPULATION-lOO PERSONS THUS • 
 EXISTING PARKS THUS B^ 
 
 PROPOSED PARKS THUS ^B 
 
 CEMETERIES THUS 
 GOVERNMENT LAND THUS 
 R.R. AND WATERWORKS THUS 
 AREAS WHERE ESTATES OF SUMMER 
 RESIDENTS PREDOMINATE 
 
GENERAL REPORT 
 
 Before discussing any specific improvements I wish to present some 
 general considerations which have forced themselves strongly upon me 
 during my study of the city as a whole. 
 
 I was impressed anew with the picturesque charm of Newport. This 
 is certainly not a startling discovery or an original observation; but I want 
 to make very clear that I do not say it lightly, as the usual complimentary 
 remark. There is much that is sordid and shabby and ugly in Newport ; 
 there is much that seems vulgarly ostentatious; there is also a great deal 
 that is charming. On previous visits to Newport I have generally been 
 intent upon some particular purpose, going to some particular place, and I 
 have been impressed by the aspects merely of particular parts of the city. 
 And it has seemed to me that most of the changes during recent years in 
 the superficial visual attractiveness of the city have been for the worse and 
 very few indeed for the better. Therefore, when I go over the whole ground 
 deliberately, critically, impartially, I am surprised and pleased to find in 
 how large a measure Newport retains the picturesque charm which, with its 
 climate and its harbor, won for it that distinction as an agreeable place of 
 residence which forms the main basis of its prosperity. I will try to indi- 
 cate below some of the factors upon which its charm and attractiveness now 
 depend, factors which are at the same time practically within the control of 
 the City, and upon the safeguarding of which its continued prosperity will 
 partly depend. But first I want to make clear the degree of importance 
 which ought, in my opinion, to attach to the maintenance of those quali- 
 ties, as a sort of measure of the extent to which the City can afford to go in 
 a business-like endeavor to protect its resources. Your Association is con- 
 cerned with the interests not of any one group but of the City as a whole, 
 meaning thereby all the citizens and residents, whether property owners or 
 not, and all the owners of real estate in the city, whether resident or not. 
 
 As to the owners of real estate: from an investor's point of view there 
 can be no question but that the maintenance and increase of values are de- 
 pendent far more upon the attractiveness of the city as a place, of residence 
 than upon any other factor. Even properties the -uses of which depend not 
 upon the demand for attractive places of residence, but rather upon the 
 presence of the naval and military forces, or upon the limited local manu- 
 facturing establishments, or upon the excursion business from nearby 
 
 [ 1 ] 
 
manufacturing centers, are probably held up to their present investment 
 value in considerable part by the scale of prices prevailing in response to 
 the demand for residence property. High land values are not the final test 
 of wisdom in the management of city affairs. There may be wide difference 
 of opinion as to the equity with which the benefits represented by high land 
 values are distributed; but there can be no doubt that they measure the 
 opinion of the market as to the owner's share in the total prosperity of the 
 community. And since the cost of public improvements is imposed mainly 
 upon the owners of real estate through the tax levy, it is inevitable that the 
 financial expediency of making improvements should turn upon an estimate 
 of the net effect of those improvements upon the value of real estate. 
 
 I believe that the fundamental question about most public improve- 
 ments is not, "Will they bring a cash return upon the investment in the 
 form of increased land values and correspondingly increased tax revenue?" 
 It is rather, "Will they add to the health, convenience, and happiness of 
 the community to an extent commensurate with the sacrifices, financial 
 and otherwise, which the community must make to secure them?" But 
 the argimient-from land values is always a useful guide. It is peculiarly so 
 in Newport, where the land values are a direct index of the demand for 
 residences by those people who derive their means of support from other 
 places — a demand which directly or indirectly maintains in large part the 
 prosperity of those who have their living to earn in the city. 
 
 Land values as a whole are lower than they were a few years ago under 
 pressure of a steadily mounting wave of fashion for Newport residences 
 among people of great wealth. The crest of that wave passed, as is inevi- 
 table with waves of fashion, and the inflated speculative land values, predi- 
 cated on its indefinite continuance, receded with it. But as compared with 
 other cities of its size Newport land values to-day are high ; because the causes 
 which led fashion to Newport long before that particular passing wave- 
 crest appeared, and which still hold fashion there, are still operative. If 
 those causes were to become seriously impaired, the bottom would drop out 
 of Newport land values and Newport prosperity. 
 
 I cannot put the case better than by quoting from a report which my 
 father made to the Mayor of Newport in 1883 in regard to certain improve- 
 ments proposed at that time for Easton's Beach: 
 
 "The degree in which the life of many of the siimmer 
 residents of Newport is, to outward appearance, given 
 to the pursuit of social enjoyments and ruled by fashion, 
 tends to distract attention from the special root of the 
 City's prosperity. 
 
 It was not fashion that first brought people of luxu- 
 rious tastes, with means for indulging them, to Newport. 
 
 [ 2 ] 
 
It was a satisfaction found in its air and scenery by people 
 of a rather reserved, unobtruding, contemplative, and 
 healthily sentimental turn, little troubled by social ambi- 
 tions. Social attractions came with them, and fashion, as 
 is usual, followed social attractions. Little as it may be 
 obvious on the surface, it is the same local advantage 
 of air and scenery, and the same class of minds yield- 
 ing to it, that yet retains for Newport so much larger a 
 share of social advantages and of fashion than, with con- 
 stantly increasing outlays and exertions, competing 
 places of public resort are able to secure. 
 
 Whatever is to the disadvantage of the air or the nat- 
 ural scenery of Newport, to the sense of this inadvertent 
 leadership of society and of fashion, is disadvantageous to 
 the prosperity of the City. Whatever lessens any such dis- 
 advantage, and tends to strengthen the attractiveness of 
 its air and scenery, even though it be by action on a list- 
 less imagination, reduces its rate of taxation by enlarging 
 the basis of assessment, and otherwise puts money in its 
 pocket, as surely as any other means by which capital 
 might be attracted and the profitable trade of the best 
 customers of the country secured to a community." 
 
 The air and climate of Newport are secure assets. Only the devel- 
 opment of a serious smoke nuisance would be likely to impair them, and 
 that is a remote contingency. 
 
 But with the scenery it is otherwise. The scenery of Newport is of two 
 kinds, both subject to radical alteration in character and in availability 
 for public enjoyment as a result of human operations — operations, how- 
 ever, which can be controlled in greater or less degree by public action. 
 The larger kind of scenery — that least dependent upon the human element 
 ■ — is the scenery of distant views and of the shores of open water. 
 This scenery is a natural asset due to the topography of the island ; and its 
 maintenance requires only that it shall not too generally be made inac- 
 cessible to the public, that the foregrounds over which it may be seen 
 shall not be inharmonious, and that the means of access shall be reason- 
 ably convenient. The Ocean Drive, the Cliff Walk, and Easton's Beach 
 provide direct public access to the ocean shore for people on foot and in 
 vehicles ; and many delightful views and glimpses of the sea are still to be 
 had across private land from the Ocean -Drive and from some others of the 
 public ways in the southwest part of the city, where much of the land is as 
 yet vacant and very beautiful in its open semi-wild condition. Welling- 
 ton Avenue and King Park afford views of the harbor and bay from the 
 
 [3] 
 
south. Pleasant glimpses of the water are still to be had, on sufferance of 
 the owners, between the houses and other, obstructions on the west side of 
 Washington Street. And finally, there is still so much of open fields in the 
 hilly northern part of the city that inspiring views are to be had from many 
 of the public roads, pending, of course, the extension over those open fields of 
 the buildings, hedges and other obstructions which are spreading from year 
 to year as a necessary incident of the steady and rapid growth of the city 
 
 THE SCENERY OF THE STREETS AND OF THE HOUSES AND GARDENS 
 
 in that direction. It is rather surprising, when one comes to figure it out, 
 from how very small a portion of the public roads and public grounds of 
 Newport the view of the water or of any distant landscape can be counted 
 on as a permanent feature. I do not doubt that the natural asset which 
 Newport possesses in this kind of scenery — its greater scenery — can be 
 put to its most effective human use if the sites along the shores and com- 
 manding hillsides are in the main occupied by residences, to the exclusion 
 of the general public. To have laid out, years ago, a continuous public 
 park or thoroughfare all around the shore, cutting off all exclusive private 
 occupation and enjoyment of the shore sites, would have resulted, I be- 
 lieve, in lower total land values for the City and a smaller sum of human 
 enjoyment. On the other hand, the shore sites and hill sites permanently 
 commanding this larger natural scenery comprise a small percentage of the 
 
 [4] 
 
entire city area, and all the rest of the land will be materially more valuable 
 if the occupants thereof cannot, be wholly cut off from the more favored 
 sites, but are guaranteed reasonably good, and permanently protected, op- 
 portunities for the enjoyment of such scenery. 
 
 These considerations point to the great desirability of securing addi- 
 tional convenient means of public access to the shore scenery, especially 
 on the bay north of the city, and of preserving for the public certain out- 
 
 SCHOOL STREET OFFERS ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF NEWPORT S PICTURESQUE STREET SCENERY 
 
 look places on the hills ; but at the same time doing so in such a manner as 
 to minimize the interference with efficient private developments. 
 
 The other kind of scenery is that to be found throughout the city. 
 It is the scenery which the people of the city have made in adapting their 
 environment to their own uses. It is the scenery of the streets and of the 
 houses and gardens and other things along the streets. It is the dominant 
 visual aspect of Newport. It is the scenery which most continuously and 
 intimately affects the lives of the residents and most strongly impresses the 
 visitor. 
 
 I venture to believe that it was the inherent human quality of the old 
 town of Newport itself, and the charming and picturesque expression which 
 this quality had wrought for itself through the centuries in the form of 
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
streets and houses and gardens, and of the trees which embowered them all — 
 that it was this kind of scenery even more than the larger scenery of the shore 
 and the hills, even more than the climate, which led people of discriminating 
 taste, and of means for indulging their taste, increasingly to seek Newport 
 as a place of residence during the nineteenth century. I believe this, partly 
 
 because most of the. 
 people who thus came 
 to Newport in its earlier 
 days as a pleasure re- 
 sort were appreciative 
 of these qualities, and 
 partly because, through 
 the force of local habit, 
 much of the develop- 
 ment which took place 
 as a distinct summer 
 colony added to the old 
 town, was fairly har- 
 monious with it in char- 
 acter. More recently, 
 especially within the last 
 generation, many dis- 
 turbing and inharmo- 
 nious notes have been 
 introduced in all quar- 
 ters of the city, and 
 many old features which 
 contributed each its 
 little share to the pecul- 
 iarly attractive general 
 effect have been de- 
 stroyed or altered. 
 Nevertheless the city 
 still has a great deal of 
 charm and distinction. In parts it is still utterly charming; but in many 
 places the charm is almost visibly slipping away or being driven out. 
 
 This picturesque quality of the city is a man-made affair, even though 
 based on favorable natural opportunities and even though not deliberately 
 planned. Its loss, if it is to be lost, will just as certainly be due to the action 
 and to the neglect of the people of the city. To go blundering on to the 
 gradual destruction of this tremendously valuable asset without gaining any 
 other in its place would be a pitiably wasteful folly. We all know of charm- 
 ing old New England villages converted into ugly, sordid maniifacturing 
 
 [6] 
 
 THERE IS OFTEN AN UNFORTUNATE LACK OF HARMONY 
 THE NEW AND THE OLD IN NEWPORT 
 
A. ON MARY STREET. NEW BUILDINGS OF A TYPE OF 
 ARCHITECTURE APPROPRIATE FOR NEWPORT 
 
 towns with a ruthless 
 disregard of the human 
 value of their old beauty; 
 but at least those who did 
 these things had their 
 eyes fixed clearly on other 
 values for which they 
 were entirely ready to ex- 
 change the pleasant but 
 not financially remuner- 
 ative qualities of the old 
 town. In Newport there 
 is no gain in prospect to 
 offset the loss. 
 
 I have tried to ana- 
 lyze the distinctive quali- 
 ties of this street scenery of Newport, as it may be called, in the hope of 
 being able to make some practical suggestions to your Association for action 
 
 toward perpetuating and 
 enhancing it. Its subtler 
 qualities defy analysis, but 
 whatever else it may in- 
 volve, it seems to depend 
 in large part upon certain 
 obvious physical conditions, 
 as follows: 
 
 In the first place its 
 scale is small and intimate. 
 The roadways are narrow, 
 sometimes to the point of 
 great inconvenience under 
 modern traffic conditions, 
 seldom over thirty-three 
 feet in width, often under 
 twenty -four feet, occasion- 
 ally under fourteen feet. 
 The sidewalks are corre- 
 spondingly narrow, some- 
 times to the point of 
 disappearing altogether 
 from at least one side of the 
 street . The curbs are gener- 
 ally low and narrow. The 
 
 A BIT OF THE PICTURESQUE STREET SCENERY OF OLD NEWPORT 
 — CLARK STREET 
 
 7 1 
 
older buildings, both public and private, are also small in scale, many of 
 them with that delicacy of detail, even in the case of very simple and 
 technically crude detail, that is so characteristic of colonial work. Only 
 the trees are large, and these serve as a foil to the small scale of the man- 
 made things, and become the more impressive thereby. Even the trees, 
 though large themselves, seldom form large compositions such as long, 
 wide, stately avenues. To regard this prevailing quality of a small and 
 
 intimate scale in making 
 changes and new im- 
 provements, would -not 
 mean to make the road- , 
 ways too narrow to carry 
 the traffic they must bear, 
 or to use the seven-foot 
 ceiling height of a colonial 
 cottage in building a 
 modern schoolhouse. It 
 would merely mean that 
 in solving practical prob- 
 lems in a practical way, 
 instead of seizing every 
 opportunity to make 
 things look impressively 
 big in scale, one would 
 seek to keep the scale 
 relatively small and to 
 obtain impressiveness in 
 other ways. Some defi- 
 nite applications of this 
 and of the following con- 
 siderations will be made 
 later. 
 
 In the second place, 
 closely associated with the matter of scale, is the fact that the private 
 properties are generally inclosed from the streets by fences, hedges, or walls. 
 Even very small yards and gardens are apt to be so fenced off from the 
 street, not in such a way as to prevent the passerby from looking in, but 
 so as to help in giving to each yard and garden a separate individuality, 
 distinct from that of the adjacent gardens and distinct from that of the 
 street. Thus the land which one passes through in going a hundred yards 
 along the street may be divided into a dozen distinct little gardens and one 
 little street. One may contrast this habit of subdivision which is to be 
 found in several other old seaport towns of New England, as for instance, 
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
 CITY HALL - 
 
 A TYPE OF ARCHITECTURE DISTINCTLY OUT OF PLACE 
 IN NEWPORT 
 
Marblehead, with the open lawn effect to be found in many villages of the 
 New England farm country, where the houses are set rather far apart 
 among tall trees growing in one continuous breadth of greensward broken 
 only by the public roadway, a few paths, and occasional bushes and flowers 
 near the houses. The simplicity and spaciousness of this latter type of 
 street are so delightful that it has become a widespread fashion to decry 
 the use of fences and hedges along any village or suburban street. This is 
 like saying, because one appreciates the successful use of blue, that red 
 
 THE NEW TOWN HALL AT BILLERICA, MASS. AN APPROPRIATE SUGGESTION FOR NEWPORT 
 
 should never be used in house furnishing. It is fortunate that this alien 
 fashion has inade so little headway here as to impair but slightly the charac- 
 teristic Newport method of inclosed individual gardens bordering upon 
 the narrow fence-lined streets. 
 
 In the third place, the forms in this street scenery are generally irregu- 
 lar. The streets are seldom perfectly straight or of uniform width for any 
 considerable distance. Slight angles and subtle accidental curves abound in 
 fences and in curbs. The buildings, even when facing directly on the side- 
 walk, seldom come exactly to one line. The effect is hardly ever one of 
 disorder, but of a pleasantly picturesque and intensely interesting freedom. 
 The trees in particular are extremely irregular in their disposition. 
 
 [9] 
 
In the fourth place, the trees along the streets are numerous, and for the 
 most part arranged in a manner which is not usual in American cities. It 
 is the exception for them to be growing within the limits of the street. In- 
 deed, there is seldom adequate room for "them. They rather generally 
 overhang the street from the front or side yards of the houses. A large part 
 of the quality of the more agreeable Newport streets, both in the poorer 
 
 ONLY THE TREES ARE LARGE, AND THEY SERVE AS A FOIL TO THE 
 SMALL SCALE OF THE MAN-MADE THINGS 
 
 quarters and in the more fashionable, depends upon the very irregular dis- 
 position of the trees, and their variation in kind and size, giving a delightful 
 play of light and shade. The open sunny spaces are a foil to the trees, 
 and it is astonishing how two or three trees overhanging from between the 
 houses will convert an otherwise bare and rather mean-looking street into 
 one of much interest. 
 
 The fact that these trees are so frequently to be found growing in the 
 side yards of houses indicates a fifth fact of considerable importance, 
 namely, that there are generally side yards in which the trees can grow, 
 even in the poorest and most crowded dwelling-house regions. Especially 
 
 [ 10 1 
 
SUBTLE ACCIDENTAL CURVES AND ANGLES 
 ABOUND IN FENCES AND IN CURBS 
 
 in the older parts of the city the economizing of land and crowding of houses 
 was done mainly by making the lots shallower, thus curtailing the land on 
 the front and the back where there was 
 light and air to spare, instead of narrow- 
 ing the lots and crowding the sides of 
 adjacent buildings objectionably close 
 together. The latter is the usual practice 
 in American cities where detached dwell- 
 ings prevail, when rising land values or 
 other causes force a curtailment in the 
 size of lots. But the former arrangement, 
 characteristic of the older streets of New- 
 port, whether occupied by the poor or 
 the well-to-do, providing a shallow lot, 
 a house near the street, a garden at one 
 side of the house protected from the 
 street by a low fence, and with nothing 
 wasted in the street beyond a narrow 
 roadway and two narrow sidewalks, is 
 an altogether admirable arrangement for 
 a purely local residence street without 
 through traffic. It is economical, it pro- 
 vides admirable light and air for the houses, it provides space for trees near 
 
 the corners of the houses where they are least 
 likely to darken the windows objectionably, 
 and with these occasional trees in the side 
 yards near the fence line, it makes a pictur- 
 esque and interesting street. Students of 
 city planning seem to be turning more 
 and more toward this type of residence 
 street as the ideal one for lots of limited 
 extent. 
 
 I dwell upon this point because there is 
 a partial drifting away from this excellent old 
 habit of laying out small lot subdivisions, in 
 the newer quarters which are developing 
 northward and southward near the car lines, 
 and because I believe it points out a very 
 valuable service that could be rendered by 
 the Improvement Association — that is, a 
 strong effort to divert this recent tendency, and to perpetuate the good 
 qualities of the older method. 
 
 Let me set forth a simple piece of constructive work along these lines 
 
 [ 11 ] 
 
 OCCASIONALLY FULL-GROWN TREES BLOCK 
 THE NARROW SIDEWALKS 
 
which this Association might well get under way. In some of the older 
 streets, and in too many of the newer streets, there is a lamentable absence 
 of the trees upon which the quahty of this characteristic Newport street 
 scenery is so dependent. The planting of public street trees is seldom de- 
 sirable because there is no proper room for them in most of the streets. 
 Some of the illustrations indicate the unfortunate results of planting trees 
 in such narrow sidewalks. Having grown them to maturity we may put 
 
 EVEN THE OLD STREETS ARE NOT ALWAYS AGREEABLE WHERE 
 THE TREES HAVE DISAPPEARED — PORTION OF SPRING STREET 
 
 up with the inconveniences rather than cut them down; but to plant them 
 thus as a general practice is not a wise undertaking. There seems to be no 
 reason, however, why the irregularly disposed foliage so desirable in the 
 street scenery should not be grown in the newer quarters, as it is in the older, 
 upon the abutting private lots at the will of the owners. If the Improve- 
 ment Association were to offer the necessary trees and vines, together with 
 skilled advice and assistance in setting them out, there can be no question 
 that enough of the residents, along the streets that are now bare, would avail 
 themselves of the suggestion to make, in the course of a few years, a decided 
 improvement in the appearance of some of the least agreeable parts of the city. 
 
 f 12 1 
 
Of course there are places where the buildings are set too close together 
 and too close to the street to permit of such planting (and, likewise, too 
 close for the good of the occupants), and there is a tendency, with rising 
 land values, to build over as much of the entire lot as the building laws per- 
 mit. Adequately to protect the interests of the community, therefore, espe- 
 cially where these narrow streets are permitted and encouraged, it is de- 
 
 IT IS ASTONISHING HOW ONE OR TWO TREES OVERHANGING FROM BETWEEN THE HOUSES WILL CONVERT 
 AN OTHERWISE BARE AND MEAN-LOOKING STREET INTO ONE OF MUCH INTEREST — ANOTHER PORTION OF 
 SPRING STREET. 
 
 sirable to add to the ordinary limitation on the percentage of the lot to be 
 built on, a limitation requiring a definite and substantial percentage — say 
 forty per cent — of that portion of the lot lying within forty feet of the 
 street to be left vacant. In case the house were erected on the street line, 
 a side yard would then have to be left, two-thirds as wide as the house ; or 
 if the house were built to occupy the full width of the lot it would have to 
 stand back from the street at least sixteen feet. Such a limitation would, 
 of course, be undesirable on business streets, but highly desirable upon 
 
 f 13 1 
 
A PICTURESQUE GLIMPSE OF OLD NEWPORT 
 
 THE MONOTONY, AND THE LACK OF BEAUTY AND INTEREST, FOUND ALL TOO OFTEN IN THE NEWER DEVELOP- 
 MENTS. TREES WOULD GREATLY IMPROVE THE SITUATION 
 
 [14] 
 
residential streets. And fortunately the 
 way has been opened by the decision 
 of the United States Supreme Court in 
 the case of Welch v. Swasey,^ for a reg- 
 ulation making such a distinction between 
 the business district and the residential 
 districts. If the Association could be in- 
 strumental in bringing about the establish- 
 ment of such a law for Newport it would 
 be an admirable accomplishment. It would 
 make for more healthful and pleasanter 
 housing, and would go a long way toward 
 maintaining the unique charm of the city. 
 While it is true, as pointed out above, 
 that many students of city planning highly 
 approve of narrow streets, like many of the 
 
 AS HERE ON FAREWELL STREET, 
 THERE IS SELDOM ROOM FOR TREES 
 WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE STREET 
 WITHOUT OBSTRUCTING THE SIDE- 
 WALK AND SHADING THE BUILDINGS 
 UNPLEASANTLY 
 
 old streets south of Bull 
 Street, for strictly local 
 residential purposes, that 
 approval is based upon 
 the assumption that thor- 
 oughfares of adequate ca- 
 pacity will be provided at 
 reasonable intervals, so 
 that no through traffic 
 will ever have to be forced 
 through the narrow resi- 
 dence streets. The trouble 
 with the people who laid 
 out these excellent little 
 local residence streets, 
 branching out from 
 Broadway and Thames 
 Street and from what is 
 
 SOME TREES ON FAREWELL STREET. AN ATTRACTIVE PICTURE, BUT UOW WaShlUgtOn SqUarC, 
 AN ARRANGEMENT NOT ADAPTED TO THE NARROW STREETS OF 
 
 NEWPORT 1 214 U. S. Report, page 91. 
 
 [ IS ] 
 
was that they apparently did not reaUze that 
 the town would ever require any thoroughfares 
 except Broadway. Even Spring Street was a 
 short stub-end in the beginning. Bellevue 
 Avenue was a quite modern development 
 through farm lands, and the idea that any one 
 would ever have to go through Levin Street, 
 except the people who lived on it, never 
 entered the heads of those who laid it out. 
 
 It is a sound principle of city planning 
 that where only a narrow roadway is needed 
 for present conditions, but where it is obvious 
 that a traffic of considerable volume will ulti- 
 mately press for passage, an adequate space 
 ought to be reserved outside of the roadway 
 for its ultimate widening. There are several 
 thoroughfares of permanent importance in 
 Newport, of clearly inadequate width to carry 
 the inevitable increase in their present traffic, 
 and with considerable open space between 
 the street lines and the adjacent buildings. Where it is undesirable or 
 impracticable to widen such a street at the present time, it is highly im- 
 
 BELLEVUE AVENUE WHERE TREES HAVE 
 GIVEN WAY TO COMMERCIAL DEVELOP- 
 MENT 
 
 BELLEVUE AVENUE, SHOWING HOW A FEW LARGE TREES GIVE QUALITY TO A STREET VIEW EVEN SO COMMON- 
 PLACE AND BALD AS THAT SHOWN ABOVE 
 
 16] 
 
portant to prevent the existing open space adjacent to the street from 
 being obstructed by new buildings. Along many such streets it is also in 
 
 WASHINGTON STREET. TO WIDEN THE ROADWAY WOULD DESTROY SOME FINE TREES AND MUCH IMPAIR ITS 
 
 VALUE AS A PLEASURE DRIVE 
 
 the interest of the other abutters to have any one individual prevented 
 from erecting a new building close out to the street line in advance of all 
 
 [ 17 ] 
 
the rest. A good illustration is to be 
 seen on Washington Street between 
 Chestnut and Cherry streets. I do not 
 think that Washington Street needs to 
 be physically widened at present or for 
 a long time to come — perhaps never. 
 To widen the roadway would destroy 
 some fine trees and much impair its 
 value, both locally and as an impor- 
 tant pleasure drive to the Naval Station 
 and the shore north of it. But I do 
 believe it very important, for the bene- 
 fit of the public using the street, to 
 maintain the generally wide open 
 space between the street and the ad- 
 jacent buildings. The maintenance of 
 this, open space on all the lots is also 
 of decided benefit to each of the abut- 
 ters. One illustration (below) shows a 
 typical view along this street; the one 
 above it shows how radically the charac- 
 ter of the street is injured by the erection 
 of a single building flush with the street 
 line. With the gradual addition of 
 other such buildings against the narrow sidewalk all along the street, 
 consider how little of the present enjoyment of scenery would be left for 
 
 WASHINGTON STREET NEAR CHESTNUT STREET, 
 SHOWING HOW RADICALLY THE CHARACTER OF 
 THE STREET IS INJURED BY THE ERECTION OF 
 A SINGLE NEW BUILDING FLUSH WITH THE 
 PROPERTY LINE 
 
 A TYPICAL VIEW ON WASHINGTON STREET, NEAR CHESTNUT 
 
 [ 18] 
 
those driving along such a street or Hving in the remaining houses shut in 
 between these structures. 
 
 The effective method of preventing this kind of destruction of the com- 
 mon assets for the selfish benefit of a minority of the landowners, is for 
 the public to acquire under 
 the right of eminent do- 
 main, and with proper com- 
 pensation, an easement pre- 
 venting the erection of new 
 buildings within a certain 
 distance of a given street. 
 The law under which such 
 action is taken in Massachu- 
 setts, Section 1 03 of Cha pter 
 48 of the Revised Laws, as 
 amended by Chapter 572 of 
 the laws of 1913, is as follows: 
 "Section 103. If the 
 city council of a city or 
 if a town accepts the 
 provisions of this section 
 or has accepted the cor- 
 responding provisions of 
 earlier laws, a building 
 line not more than forty 
 feet distant from the 
 exterior line of a high- 
 way or town way may 
 be established in the 
 manner provided for lay- 
 ing out ways, and thereafter no structures shall be erected or main- 
 tained between such building line and such way, except steps, win- 
 dows, porticos and other usual projections appurtenant to the front 
 wall of a building, to the extent prescribed in the vote establishing 
 such building line, and except that buildings or parts of buildings 
 existing at the time of the establishment of the building line 
 may be permitted to remain and to be maintained to such extent 
 and under such conditions as may be prescribed in the vote estab- 
 lishing such building line. Whoever sustains damage thereby shall 
 have the same remedies therefor as for damages sustained by the 
 laying out of a town way." 
 
 [ 19] 
 
 A FINE OLD TREE ON SCHOOL STREET, WHERE THE SIDEWALK 
 SPACE IS LESS RESTRICTED THAN USUAL 
 
Under this act it has frequently been found that along a given street where 
 the existing houses generally stood back from the street about as far as 
 
 the proposed building line, 
 all or nearly all of the lot 
 owners would waive all 
 claim to damages for the 
 establishment of the build- 
 ing line provided it were 
 applied to all their neigh- 
 bors so as to protect them 
 in the enjoyment of the ex- 
 isting conditions. 
 
 I strongly urge the As- 
 sociation and the City to 
 press for the passage of a 
 similar act by the Rhode 
 Island Legislature, as the 
 most effective, if not the 
 only, practicable means of 
 dealing with some of the 
 important thoroughfare 
 problems of Newport. There 
 are many desirable street 
 widenings that the City, 
 for financial reasons, can- 
 not hope to execute for a 
 long time to come. By 
 means of this law you 
 could, at moderate cost, 
 prevent the erection, close 
 to the present street line, 
 of new buildings which 
 might so much further in- 
 crease the cost of widening as to put it beyond all hope of accomplish- 
 ment in the future. 
 
 THE TREES RATHER GENERALLY OVERHANG THE STREET FROM 
 THE FRONT OR SIDE YARDS OF THE HOUSES 
 
 20 
 
PARKS AND CERTAIN SPECIAL PROBLEMS 
 
 I have been unable to make a thorough and detailed study of the 
 local park situation in Newport, but the importance of the subject is so 
 great that I feel justified in pointing out certain considerations which I 
 believe may be of value to you in the creation and maintenance of an effi- 
 cient system of public recreation grounds. 
 
 First of all let me point out what I believe to be those needs of the 
 people which can and should be met by public playgrounds. How the 
 playgrounds can best meet them can then be more easily understood. 
 
 Generally speaking adequate provision for play and relaxation should 
 be offered to every child, woman, and man in the city. Little children need 
 an opportunity to play in sand piles or on the lawn, preferably under the 
 watchful guidance of an attendant who keeps them out of mischief, plays 
 with them, tells them stories, and stimulates the healthy activities of their 
 minds and bodies. Boys and girls of larger growth and the women and 
 men need provision for the more active games, with and without appara- 
 tus, in the open air and under cover, preferably with a swimming pool and 
 always with the opportunity to bathe. They also need running tracks and 
 space for basket ball, baseball, hockey, and other field games and athletic 
 sports. Then there are the older and less active people who need pleasant 
 shaded walks to stroll on, benches to rest on amid agreeable surroundings, 
 opportunity to watch the youngsters play, and the chance to enjoy a band 
 concert perhaps once or twice a week. Finally all the people need field or 
 assembly houses where sanitary arrangements are kept to a high standard 
 of cleanliness, where reading room branches of the Public Library are avail- 
 able, where lectures, entertainments, and dances may be held, and where 
 indoor games may be played. 
 
 Clean, healthy recreation is thus given full play among decent sur- 
 roundings instead of in the streets, and in saloons, questionable dance halls, 
 and many other baneful establishments for the commercial exploitation of 
 the spirit of play. To supply these needs for all the people and especially 
 for the children — the future population of the city — is the sole purpose 
 of the local or neighborhood park or playground and the athletic field. 
 There appear to me to be three points of principal importance in the crea- 
 tion of a system of playgrounds that will adequately supply these needs. 
 
 [ 21 1 
 
^ 
 
 In the first place it is essential that the recreation area be so easily 
 accessible to all the people served that the small child will walk to it rather 
 than play in the gutter, that school children will go there for their games, 
 that tired mothers will not hesitate to seek the refreshment of a half hour's 
 rest in the park between household duties, and that working men and 
 women will not be barred from an evening's rest or entertainment by the 
 effort or expense of getting to the park. Practically, this means that the 
 local playground should be not more than a quarter or a third of a mile 
 from the home. 
 
 The second point is that of size, collectively and individually. Re- 
 garding the former there is still much uncertainty, but the experience of 
 American cities seems to indicate that between 5 and 10 per cent of the total 
 city area should be given over to local parks. In Newport, where the sea 
 is a surety of openness and a sense of freedom seldom more than one-half 
 a mile distant, probably the lower percentage would prove adequate. 
 Individually also the size may vary greatly. In large cities like Chicago, 
 such advantages of economy and efficiency have been found in grouping 
 related activities that reasonably large park units — about 20 acres — 
 are considered more desirable than a larger niimber of smaller parks. 
 But such large parks must be wasteful in serving limited areas of work- ^ 
 
 ing population such as are found in Newport — ■ areas that are confined 
 pretty rigidly between the ocean and the estates of stimmer residents.-^ 
 Ordinarily I believe that the local opportunities for securing land at rea- 
 sonable cost — such as gifts, unoccupied areas, and land which is inexpen- 
 sive because it is not adapted for commercial development — ■ should be 
 controlling factors in determining the sizes of individual playgrounds. , 
 
 The third point is [development and maintenance, and I want to call 
 particular attention to this matter, for I have been impressed by the 
 decided lack of efficient utilization and decent up-keep of the small parks 
 in Newport. It is not enough merely to acquire local park areas whether 
 by gift or by purchase. A city is not justified in withholding these lands 
 indefinitely from private revenue-producing occupation unless it develops 
 and maintains them in such a manner that they are constantly producing 
 an adequate amount of public recreation per square foot of area. That 
 particular public need for which a given park area is best adapted 
 should be determined at the start, and to that end it should be developed 
 to the highest point of efficiency. Once developed, the high standard 
 should always be maintained, or its use becomes aborted and its measure 
 of value to the community may even become a negative quantity. 
 
 I believe that in Newport the most important single step in park mat- 
 ters is the more effective development and maintenance of your present 
 pubHc areas, notably King Park, King Parkway, Aquidneck Park and the 
 
 ' See diagram opposite page 1. 
 
 [22 ] 
 
two recreation grounds recently acquired. It is then essential to organize 
 and supervise the play, enough to insure the maximum use of the equip- 
 ment, and to police the parks adequately in order to insure the safety of 
 all the people using them. 
 
 As bearing on a future system of recreation grounds in Newport, it 
 is interesting to note what a large proportion of the city is occupied mainly 
 by the estates of summer residents ; ^ for it is evident that public play- 
 grounds will not be wanted in those areas except in the more or less re- 
 mote contingency of a radical change in the character of occupancy of the 
 
 8000 
 
 7000 
 
 12 
 
 O 
 
 ^ 6000 
 
 c- 
 
 <. 
 
 D 
 Q, 
 O 
 
 ■WARD 2- 
 
 5000 ==7 
 
 4000 
 
 5000 
 
 DIAGRAM SHOWING RECENT GROWTH OF POPULATION IN NEWPORT BY WARDS. 
 
 PART OF THE CITY 
 
 WARD 2 IS THE NORTHERN 
 
 land. Considering, therefore, only the remaining areas — some 49 per 
 cent of the total city area — it appears that Newport already has a rea- 
 sonably satisfactory area and distribution of parks in the central and 
 southern sections, but is almost totally lacking in park land north of Wash- 
 ington Square.^ Only about three acres of park land now exist in this 
 section, although 50 per cent of the permanent population of Newport 
 now lives there, and almost all the present and future development of the 
 city^ must of necessity be northward for the simple reason that there is 
 little other opportunity. 
 
 2 See also diagram above. 
 [ 23 ] 
 
 ' See diagram opposite page 1. 
 
During my investigations at Newport I have noted several vacant or 
 nearly vacant areas which are reasonably well located and adapted for 
 local playgrounds, as follows: 
 
 1. A vacant field in the block northwest of Battery and Third streets. 
 
 This section of the city west of the railroad tracks now has no 
 playground space whatever. 
 
 2. A vacant area between Van Zandt, Tilley and Congdon avenues. 
 
 3. The low vacant land east of Whitwell Avenue and south of Bliss Road 
 
 where a good sized playground area could easily be secured. 
 
 4. The whole or a large portion of the now vacant land between Merton " 
 
 Road, Annandale Road, Weaver Avenue and Middleton Avenue. 
 
 5. The low marsh lands west of Miantonomi Hill and between it and the 
 
 railroad. This land can never be of much value for residential pur- 
 poses, and for that reason, as well as its location, it is almost ideal 
 land to secure for a large recreation field for running, baseball, and 
 other field sports. I would recommend that at least 30 or 40 acres 
 of this land be secured and developed by drainage and otherwise for 
 that purpose. 
 
 It may not be amiss here to offer a suggestion as to securing land for 
 parks. About the best method of procedure is as follows: first, get the 
 cash in hand; second, decide upon the general locality within which the 
 park is needed and the functions which it is to serve ; third, make a general 
 examination of the values of property within the locality, consider roughly 
 the cost of developing different pieces, of land into the sort of park required, 
 and select, tentatively, one or more sites which seem promising; fourth, 
 obtain options on such of the land within the limits of the tentative site or 
 sites as can be put under favorable option; fifth, ask publicly for the tender 
 of any lands in the locality for parks, and hold public hearings thereon; 
 finally, in the light of the information thus secured, select definitely the 
 site and boundaries of the park, and take it by condemnation proceed- 
 ings. It is far better to proceed in this way than to begin by buying or 
 accepting certain pieces of land, no matter how favorable the terms may 
 be, and subsequently acquiring adjacent pieces to rectify the boundaries 
 or complete the requisite area. The very establishment of a park renders 
 the adjacent land more valuable at once, and therefore, if the City buys 
 park land piecemeal, it has to pay in the later purchases an increased price 
 due solely to its having previously started to establish a park in the neigh- 
 borhood. The condemnation process, preceded by obtaining options where 
 possible, takes all the land at one and the same instant, and the cost is 
 that of land in a parkless district. 
 
 Delay is apt to add but little to the cost of acquiring parks in built- 
 
 [24] 
 
up regions where land and building values are reasonably stable, whereas 
 it adds enormously to the cost in regions at the growing margin of the city. 
 Here, the greater city of the future is being made, and here if anjrwhere 
 must be the greatest opportunity for municipal foresight and economy. 
 
 In addition to the local recreation grounds, it is important, for the rea- 
 sons discussed earUer in the report, to preserve public access in reasonable 
 degree to the larger natural scenery of Newport. This is needed both for 
 the sake of maintaining the attractiveness of the city as a pleasure resort 
 
 AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PLAY ON THE EAST SIDE OF MIANTONOMI HILL 
 
 for people of means from elsewhere, and for the sake of the refreshment 
 and enjoyment of the resident population. 
 
 Seashore reservations such as Easton's Beach and the Cliff Walk are 
 of tmtold value in this respect, and the citizens of Newport are fortunate 
 in what they now possess. It is to be noted and regretted, however, that 
 Easton's Beach is already so crowded with buildings and people (many of 
 the latter from neighboring cities) that its value in supplying that special 
 form of recreation which I have just described is rapidly diminishing. As 
 yet the further need for this form of recreation is not acutely felt ; but the 
 
 [ 25 ] 
 
time will come, and that not long from now, when the city will be thickly 
 settled over so large an area that the need will be a crying one. In antici- 
 pation of this future demand let me remind you of an opportunity — 
 though you are all doubtless familiar with it — I mean Miantonomi Hill. 
 
 It is a beautiful, wooded hill, easily accessible from every part of the 
 city, afEording woodland and meadow scenery of a charming quality. It 
 is the highest land in Newport, affording opportunity for- broad and im- 
 pressive views over the surrounding country to the north and east, over 
 the city, the harbor, and the open ocean to the southward, and over Nar- 
 ragansett Bay, with Conanicut, Prudence and other islands, to the west 
 and north. Furthermore, on this hilltop was once a fort, which lends added 
 interest and value to the hill as a public holding. For it may be accepted 
 as a good general park policy to preserve as far as possible for the use and 
 enjoyment of the people such landscape features as are of unusual geo- 
 logical or historical interest. 
 I believe this hill should be 
 acquired by the City before 
 the woods are cut, the ruins 
 of the fort destroyed, or 
 other injury wrought to its 
 value as a rural park. 
 
 Another park project 
 with which you are already 
 familiar is the extension of 
 Washington Street as a 
 
 THE SHORE NORTH FROM TRAINING STATION ROAD — SITE OF j_ j- j i 
 
 THE PROPOSED PARKWAY watcrtront parkway to 
 
 Training Station Road, and 
 the construction of a circuit boulevard around Coddington Point. This 
 project has already been urged by many people in Newport and I wish to 
 add my hearty endorsement of the plan. 
 
 If the United States Government will cooperate, Washington Street 
 should be carried along the shore past the Naval Hospital and so to Train- 
 ing Station Road. It will be a beautiful drive in itself, and it will have the 
 further merit of providing for the people of Newport an opportunity to 
 walk or drive along the shore with unobstructed outlook over the water 
 and the shipping in the bay — ■ an opportunity all too seldom provided by 
 the present streets of Newport. If the Government will not cooperate, 
 this Washington Street extension must leave the shore at Cypress Street, 
 circuit the hospital grounds via Cypress and Third streets, cutting the 
 corners to facilitate travel, return to the shore north of the hospital 
 grounds, and continue along the water as before. From here the parkway 
 would continue northward along the shore to Coddington Point. By re- 
 ferring to the general plan (opposite page 31) you will see that I have not 
 
 [ 26 1 
 
suggested taking all of Coddington Point, merely a portion of the shores, the 
 old fort on the hill, and certain other areas to preserve the best views. From 
 here I would retiurn to Maple Street, follow that to Main Road and thence 
 follow a gently curving line along the hillside southward to Bliss Mine 
 Road and thence to Kay Street. Nearly opposite Vernon Avenue, a small 
 extra taking should be made, adjacent to the parkway, to include the ruins 
 of an old fort.^ A branch connection should also be made with East Main 
 Road. 
 
 After this parkway leaves the shore, its value as a scenic recreation 
 area will depend almost entirely on the broad restful views over the valley 
 to the north and east. At present this view is entirely unobstructed and 
 delightful. But in the natural course of events it would eventually become 
 almost wholly hidden by houses, other structures and private plantations 
 abutting the parkway, and the chief value to the community, of this 
 easterly portion of the parkway, would then be lost. I would urge, there- 
 fore, that when this parkway is established there should be obtained, as an 
 essential part of the plan, a permanent public control of the views over the 
 hillside below the drive at a considerable number of points either by ac- 
 quiring portions of the hillside for park purposes, or more economically, by 
 acquiring easements preventing the erection or maintenance, on certain 
 areas of any buildings or other obstacles that would interfere with the views 
 from the drive over the areas in question. 
 
 I would further recommend that those portions of the parkway fol- 
 lowing Maple Street and the hillside south from Main Road — portions 
 that will not have the unobstructed water frontage on one side — should 
 be not less, and preferably more, than 150 feet wide between buildings. 
 A feeling of spaciousness between abutting buildings, and ample opportu- 
 nity for trees, grass, and shrubs are almost essential if the distinctive 
 pleasure-drive character of the parkway is to be maintained. 
 
 As a minor but still important addition to this parkway scheme, I 
 would suggest that Eustis Avenue — which I elsewhere advise improv- 
 ing as a thoroughfare — be treated as a southern arm or extension of 
 the parkway from Kay Street to Bath Road and Easton's Beach. It 
 should be made amply wide for traffic accommodation and for liberal 
 parking. South of Water Works Road I would advise the taking of all the 
 land between Eustis Avenue and the reservoir. After the street has been 
 widened here enough for traffic there will be left a strip only 70 feet wide 
 between it and the water works property; and I am convinced that this 
 land will be of far greater value as a strip of open park, preserving for all 
 time the free outlook across the reservoir, than as a row of shallow lots 
 some day to be covered with small houses. 
 
 1 We understand from Captain Cotton that this fort was secured by W. Watts Sherman when he was Park 
 Commissioner. 
 
 [ 27 1 
 
SKETCH FOR ALMY'S POND PARK 
 
In the southern part of the city is another park opportunity which 
 was called to my attention by your Committee. I mean Almy's Pond. 
 
 With the exception of the precipitous rocky portion of the western 
 shore, the land surrounding Almy's Pond cannot be classed as valuable 
 summer estate property. The class of development already started on the 
 west side of Coggeshall Avenue is certain to occupy, eventually, most of the 
 land around the pond. This is an important consideration, for while large 
 summer estates would not be benefited — might in fact be impaired — by 
 the public control and use of a pond in their midst, the homes of working 
 people as well as the public generally would receive great benefit there- 
 from. There is need for a park in the extreme southern section of the 
 city, and I believe Almy's Pond offers an opportunity that should not be 
 neglected. I would recommend that a strip of irregular width, but always 
 wide enough for a drive, walks, and parking areas, be taken along the east 
 and northwest shores. And these holdings should extend to Ocean 
 Avenue on the south, Ruggles Street on the north, and Carroll Avenue on 
 the west. The whole area between the pond and Ocean Avenue should 
 be secured. On the west, where the shore is rocky and precipitous, I 
 would not advise taking the cliffs, but merely acquiring control up to the 
 foot of the rocks and filling into the pond enough to provide for a public 
 walk along the water's edge. This treatment is indicated by the section 
 on the upper left hand corner of the plan. 
 
 A plan for the abatement of a present serious nuisance, due to the 
 drainage and overflow of sewage into the pond, has been proposed; and it 
 is greatly to be hoped that the plan will soon be carried out. Another, 
 though less serious, nuisance is the fluctuation in water level, due partly to 
 evaporation, but chiefly to the clogging of the outlet at the beach. The 
 outlet once stopped up usually remains so until the water has risen in the 
 pond to a height furnishing sufficient pressure to force out the sand or 
 other wave-driven material from the outlet. The outlet should be put in 
 order, if necessary carried well out into the ocean to prevent clogging by 
 wave action, and should be fitted with gates to regulate the water level in 
 the pond. Without a reasonably stable water level the most satisfactory 
 development of the pond can never be secured. 
 
 29 
 
ISLyiND of I^HODE ISLytND 
 
 ^■gSStit-^v 
 
 [30] 
 
THOROUGHFARES AND CERTAIN SPECIAL 
 
 PROBLEMS 
 
 The problem of thoroughfares, of providing adequate rehef for the 
 already congested traffic on many streets of Newport, is a particularly 
 troublesome one. That adequate provision should be made for the free 
 and economic circulation of surface traffic in a city is a universally 
 accepted truth, in the light of our present day experience; but how great 
 are the needs of traffic and in what ways the accommodation can most 
 
 THE CHARM OF AN OLD-TIME NEWPORT STREET, SMALL IN SCALE, IRREGULAR AS TO HOUSES, WITH FOLIAGE 
 
 BREAKING OUT FROM BETWEEN THEM 
 
 wisely be provided, are problems which must in large measure be worked 
 out anew for each- individual community. In Newport, as in many other 
 New England colonial cities, the thoroughfare problem is made particularly 
 serious and difficult of solution by the very same conditions — the narrow 
 streets, the shallow lots, and the closeness of the bmldings — which are the 
 essential elements of the quaint charm and individuality of the old city. 
 
 [ 31 ] 
 
The expense of widening a street that is lined sohdly with buildings is 
 usually prohibitive. Widening a street by cutting off the fronts of lots 
 already very shallow is so serious an injury to abutting property that the 
 damages incurred are tremendous; and the crippling of private property, 
 even if it is paid for, cannot be recommended as a desirable public policy. 
 Furthermore, the destruction of the picturesque character of the quaint 
 little streets in Newport I feel to be a thoroughly bad and dangerous pro- 
 cedure if it can possibly be avoided. But some generous thoroughfares 
 must be provided now, and more will be needed as the city grows. 
 
 1 have shown on the accompanying map (opposite page 31) a system 
 of thoroughfare lines, in part following existing streets and in part new 
 
 proposals, which I be- 
 lieve, from a more or less 
 careful study of the situa- 
 tion, will provide the 
 necessary main traffic 
 ways through the city. 
 Generally speaking, the 
 lines form direct routes 
 through the city; the 
 gradients are seldom bad, 
 and where any choice was 
 left those routes have 
 been selected which can 
 be developed as thorough- 
 fare lines with the least 
 possible cost to the City 
 and damage to its present character. In this light I have deemed 
 it unwise to recommend any widening of Spring or Thames Street, 
 at least throughout the present built-up districts, although they are now 
 main thoroughfares and seriously congested. The cost of such widening 
 would be prohibitive, but entirely aside from this the picturesque 
 character of these streets is so telling in the quaintness of Newport that I 
 am glad to feel that sufficient provision for north and south traffic can be 
 provided in other ways — chiefly (as discussed below) by a new, wide 
 street which can readily be constructed between Thames Street and the 
 waterfront. 
 
 With the probable exception of the special thoroughfare problems 
 discussed below, it should not be necessary for the City to follow the usual 
 process of immediate and entire widenings by condemnation. The work- 
 ing capital required for such procedure would be a serious burden upon 
 the City: and fortunately the street congestion is not yet so serious that 
 it cannot wait some time for ultimate relief. I would strongly urge, there- 
 
 [ 32 1 
 
 BROADWAY — A THOROUGHFARE FROM SIXTY TO SEVENTY FEET IN 
 WIDTH IS A BARREN SIGHT WITHOUT TREES 
 
fore, after the legal machinery- 
 has been secured for the establish- 
 ment of building lines (as recom- 
 mended earlier in this report), 
 that such lines be fixed on all the 
 thoroughfare routes marked on 
 the map, at sufficient distance 
 back from the present street lines 
 to provide for an adequate ulti- 
 mate widening. 
 
 Probably the most serious 
 example of inadequate provisions 
 for traffic now found in Newport 
 is on Thames Street. The need 
 for relief is felt by every one and 
 requires no reiteration from me. 
 
 I have studied in some detail 
 various schemes for relieving this 
 congestion, and ' there is little 
 doubt that the construction of a 
 new wide thoroughfare between 
 Thames Street and the harbor — 
 a scheme that has been before the 
 public for many years — is the 
 only feasible means of securing 
 complete relief from the present 
 almost intolerable conditions. I 
 have studied the location of such 
 a street with some care and, 
 though I have obtained no esti- 
 mates of the cost of land dam- 
 ages or construction, I am con- 
 vinced not only that the total 
 cost would be much less than the 
 cost for a radical widening of 
 Thames Street, but that the prop- 
 erty damages would be less than 
 the resulting increase in land 
 values, and the construction cost 
 would be a small price to pay for 
 the relief of Thames Street. I 
 believe that the street should not 
 be a waterfront street, as has been 
 
 33 ] 
 
suggested, for it would involve too serious an interference with the shipping 
 and harbor interests of the City. Wharves and other commercial property 
 should be left on the west side of the new street. The property through 
 which this new street would cut is now very largely idle or cheaply de- 
 veloped — storage sheds, stables, cheap houses, and dumps. Some of this 
 property would be utilized for the street, and the remainder, fronting on 
 a busy, generous thoroughfare, would probably become on the one side 
 first class warehouse and wharf property and on the other new business 
 
 LOOKING NORTHWARD ACROSS THE GOVERNMENT LANDING. DASHED LINES SHOW APPROXIMATE LOCATION 
 
 OF PROPOSED HARBOR THOROUGHFARE 
 
 property, such as wholesale and retail stores and office buildings. It is 
 not likely that such a new street would draw much retail business from 
 Thames Street. It would be used mainly for the through traffic of wagons 
 and automobiles which is now so much impeded by the congested condi- 
 tion of Thames Street, and which interferes with and endangers the cus- 
 tomers of the stores and other places on Thames Street without contribut- 
 ing much to the trade of the street. A considerable number of the lots on 
 the west side of Thames Street would extend to the new thoroughfare and 
 so secure a double frontage. Thames Street would probably retain its 
 leadership as the principal retail business street and would actually be im- 
 proved as such by the construction of the new thoroughfare. But the new 
 street, besides affording a great convenience, would undoubtedly develop 
 a certain amount of new business and would greatly increase the value of 
 the back property through which it would run, even for many of the uses 
 to which it is now put. » This street should be not less than 80 feet in width. 
 
 [ 34] 
 

 Adequate connection to the south and southwest section of the city- 
 should be provided from this proposed thoroughfare if it is to fulfill its 
 best service. To this end I would propose the development of Marchant 
 
 Street as shown on the accompanying 
 diagram. 
 
 At Wellington Avenue a diagonal 
 extension should be made to Marchant 
 Street at Simmons. From there to Har- 
 rison Avenue there are few buildings to 
 interfere with the widening of Marchant 
 Street to 80 feet. From there it should 
 be cut through between houses to Old 
 Fort Road and across to Carroll Avenue. 
 Incidentally the northwest corner of 
 Harrison Avenue and Marchant Street 
 should be cut back to facilitate the 
 movement of automobiles from one street 
 to the other. I have also indicated the 
 widening of Narragansett Avenue to 
 Thames Street ^ — a main route to the Bel- 
 levue Avenue district — and the round- 
 ing of the northeast corner at Marchant 
 Street to accommodate fast travel be- 
 tween Wellington Avenue and Narragan- 
 sett. The small park, known, I believe, 
 as King Parkway, would be far more at- 
 tractive were the road removed from the 
 center and combined with Marchant 
 Street, as I have shown. The sweeping 
 line of travel can be maintained at either 
 end and, by moving the planting to the 
 sides as suggested, a very attractive little 
 park area can be secured. 
 
 It is equally important to secure a 
 direct extension northward from this new 
 thoroughfare, above proposed, into the 
 northern sections of the city where active 
 development is now taking place. To 
 accomplish this I see no better way 
 build a new street from Long Wharf to Farewell Street at 
 substantially as shown on the plans on pages 36 and 37. 
 taken is not of high value and the buildings are medio- 
 cre. ±*'rom Walnut Street northward Farewell Street should then be 
 
 [ 35] 
 
 MARCHANT STREET IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 than to 
 Walnut, 
 The land 
 From 
 
widened, probably on the west side where the cemetery is less occupied, 
 and extended through the now open fields to Maple Street and the pro- 
 posed parkway. 
 
 PLAN A — IMPROVEMENTS IN VICINITY OF 
 RAILROAD STATION 
 
 This brings me to the railroad station problem and the Bridge 
 Street grade crossing, and I beg to present two alternative plans, A 
 and B. 
 
 Plan A is in accord with the latest plans of the New York, New 
 Haven and Hartford Railroad Company for their new station; and I un- 
 derstand that they are not willing to consider changing the location of the 
 station unless radical improvements shall be made at once by the City to 
 
 f 36 1 
 
provide a spacious and attractive approach and setting for the station on 
 Its new site. Since the City is not in a position, financially, to guarantee 
 sufficient expenditure of this sort immediately, the Railroad Company has 
 
 PLAN B — IMPROVEMENTS IN VICINITY 
 OF RAILROAD STATION 
 
 
 IS=='J 
 
 proceeded with its plans for a new station on the site of the old one. I 
 have therefore attempted one solution of the station problem along these 
 lines. 
 
 On Plan A I have recommended a widening of Long Wharf, from 
 Washington Square to the new thoroughfare proposed above, in order to 
 secure a generous approach to the station from Washington Square and 
 Broadway. The widening is shown chiefly on the north side, thus leaving 
 
 [ 37 ] 
 
intact the one-time market house, an interesting old building that is 
 worth preserving and is now well located at the foot of the Square. I 
 have suggested, however, that the sidewalk be carried through the building 
 in an arcade. This would be an interesting treatment of the building; and, 
 with a similar development on the opposite side of Long Wharf, a much- 
 to-be-desired visual closing of the end of Washington Square would be 
 secured without interfering with the free flow of travel. The widening of 
 West Marlborough Street is proposed by the Railroad Company, but is 
 unnecessary with the new approach from Washington Square. Bridge 
 Street is widened and carried over the track, curving to the south on 
 the east side of the railroad, and meeting the present level at West 
 Marlborough Street. The Farewell Street connection is shown as rec- 
 ommended above. Considerable opportunity for planting is found in the 
 vicinity of the station, the street connections are good, if not the best, 
 and a minimum interference with the present structures and arrange- 
 ments of the Railroad is required. 
 
 The other scheme — Plan B — involves several more radical changes 
 in the present order of things. First, the new station is located on 
 Long Wharf opposite the City Wharf, and a direct walking connection is 
 provided between the railroad station and the steamer landing; second. 
 Long Wharf is widened on the south, space being secured for shade 
 trees, and the Old Market House is arcaded as before, but is first 
 moved a little southward ; third, the City Wharf and the private 
 landings immediately to the west are cleared of buildings and devel- 
 oped as a small waterfront park, a landing place for excursion and other 
 steamers, floats for small landings, shelters, and a recreation pier ; 
 fourth. Bridge Street is closed, and a diagonal connection is carried 
 over the railroad tracks from Long Wharf and the proposed harbor 
 thoroughfare to Washington Street at Bridge. This plan is merely a 
 development of a scheme once suggested, and with which you are doubt- 
 less familiar, a scheme which seems to me essentially good. The diago- 
 nal connection to Washington Street and the advantages of bringing 
 
 [ 38] 
 
& ' 
 
 ^^^^^^^vlv 
 
 
 k -iMSJ! 
 
 
 i^w^ffg 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MHhI^II 
 
 ■ '^ 
 
 
 ll 
 
 
 
 mj 
 
 H ^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 IIHH 
 
 ^K 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 ^K^^^^H 
 
 
 ^TpH 
 
 1 
 
 ?& i lB^ BMBB^PjI^B 
 
 
 H 
 
 HS-lr 1 
 
 
 k 
 
 asaxs 
 
 a:' 
 
 
 '-* 
 
 
 VtfWS^ 
 
 M 
 
 ^^,^, 
 
 i-wKC^-y-. 
 
 ' >'-y*"iw^^ ^ 
 
 TOURO STREET SHOWING LARGE TREES SAVED BY WIDENING AS 
 
 PROPOSED 
 
 into closer relation the land and water transportation facilities seem pe- 
 culiarly worth while. I still hope that a change of heart on the part of 
 the Railroad Company will make such a development possible. I would 
 
 suggest that anything 
 your Association can do 
 to further this end will be 
 a real benefit to Newport. 
 Another improve-, 
 ment which I feel to be 
 of pressing importance 
 is that of Touro Street. 
 Touro Street is the 
 logical extension of Bel- 
 levue Avenue to Wash- 
 ington Square, and yet 
 throughout most of its 
 length it has but an 
 eighteen-foot roadway, providing room for only two vehicles. But the prob- 
 lem of increasing its capacity without prohibitive expense and the destruc- 
 tion of all trees, and consequently the 
 beauty of the street, is not easy. 
 
 My proposal is to widen the road- 
 way some four or six feet from Mary 
 to Spring Street, by moving the north 
 curb back to the present property line; 
 to take eight or ten feet from the mostly 
 unoccupied fronts of the lots, and to put 
 the sidewalk on this acquired land back 
 of the fine old trees now growing near the 
 property line. This will provide width 
 for three teams abreast — an increase of 
 nearly 50 per cent over the present 
 traffic capacity of the street. Then I 
 would widen Barney Street to the same 
 extent — to a twenty -two or twenty-four 
 foot roadway — and make a diagonal 
 connection back to Touro Street at Whit- 
 field Court, as shown. I would widen 
 Touro Street above Mary, as noted on 
 the plan. I would then remove the old 
 stables and other buildings between Spring, Touro, and Court House 
 streets, and cut off the southwest corner of Spring and Touro streets. 
 Finally I would make Barney and Touro one-way streets between Wash- 
 
 f 39 1 
 
 SHOWING THE TREES ON TOURO STREET. 
 IT IS PROPOSED TO WIDEN BY PLACING 
 THE SIDEWALK BACK OF THE TREES ON 
 THE LEFT AND RETAINING THEM 
 
ington Square and Mary Street — and the traffic problem would be solved 
 without undue expense or destruction of beauty. Even if these widenings 
 cannot be made at once it is especially important to establish the new 
 building lines without delay. 
 
 The widening of Eustis Avenue to eighty feet and its extension to 
 Vernon Avenue and thence to Broadway at One Mile Corner, is an 
 
 THE NORTH END OF BELLEVUE AVENUE. WIDENING ON THE LEFT IS RECOMMENDED IN CONNECTION WITH 
 THE TOURO STREET IMPROVEMENT AND TO MAKE AN EASIER TURN INTO KAY STREET. THE TREES 
 WOULD BE SAVED AND THE SIDEWALK PUT BACK OF THEM 
 
 almost obvious thoroughfare improvement. It is especially important as 
 providing a direct line of approach from the northward to Easton's Beach. 
 
 Another improvement, slight but of great importance both for safety 
 and convenience, is a direct connection between Ocean and Bellevue ave- 
 nues at Bailey's Beach. I have shown this on the accompanying diagram 
 (page 42) and would urge its early execution. On the same diagram I 
 have shown an easement of the sharp corner in Bellevue Avenue, which 
 is urgently needed. 
 
 While speaking of this matter I would call to your attention that 
 there are several sharp and dangerous corners on Ocean Drive, also one at 
 
 [40] 
 
Halidon and Wellington avenues, all of which should be improved. The 
 changes could generally be made at moderate cost. These mpdifications of 
 line are shown by dotted 
 lines on the general map 
 opposite page 31. 
 
 The problem which has 
 occupied a very large pro- 
 portion of my time and 
 attention, during studies in 
 Newport, is that of Bath 
 Road. I have benefited by 
 the suggestions and opinions 
 offered by several members 
 of your Association and by 
 others, while attempting at 
 the same time to reach my 
 own conclusions — the con- 
 clusions of an outsider more 
 or less experienced in such 
 matters, if you will, but 
 reasonably free from the 
 possible bias of local attach- 
 ments or interests. My con- 
 clusions are presented graph- 
 ically in the accompany- 
 ing plans and four typical 
 sections (pp. 43, 44, and 45) . 
 
 Before explaining my 
 recommendations, let me 
 call to your attention that 
 Bath Road, because of its 
 location, is a thoroughfare 
 line, and as such must some 
 day be given adequate 
 width to carry the traffic 
 of a main thoroughfare. 
 And this would be true were 
 there no such thing as 
 Easton's Beach to cause in- 
 termittent but very real 
 
 congestion on the road. Realizing this fact I feel that whatever widening 
 is undertaken it should be a real widening and not a half-hearted sHcing 
 off of frontage — a process that must inevitably be repeated until ade- 
 
 [41 ] 
 
 THE EUSTIS AVENUE THOROUGHFARE 
 
quate thoroughfare width is secured, and repeated at a cost each time 
 scarcely less than that of the whole widening had it been done at 
 first. If the medicine must be taken, it is far better to take it all 
 at once than to nibble at it. 
 
 To provide this at once, therefore — this adequate accommodation 
 for the traffic of a main thoroughfare — I propose in general a double road 
 scheme with a car reservation in the center. I have decided upon this type 
 of street partly because, while large in capacity, it is in appearance like two 
 
 ALMy:y 
 
 DIAGRAM SHOWING EASEMENT OF CORNER ON BELLEVUE AVENUE AND DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN 
 
 BELLEVUE AND OCEAN AVENUES 
 
 small streets and presents less glaring contrast to the small scale of other 
 Newport streets; partly also because I find by careful measurement that, 
 with a street subdivided as shown on the accompanying sections A and B, 
 most of the large trees now existing on the abutting private property can 
 be saved. The widening would be entirely on the north side; and the loca- 
 tion of existing trees that could be saved, east of the Rives property, 
 is indicated by the large tree on section A. Section B shows the treat- 
 ment opposite the Rives property and indicates, in a like manner, a row of 
 horse-chestnuts which could be saved. I cannot emphasize too strongly 
 the value of saving these few old trees ; a wide new street is a barren sight 
 without trees, and it is many years before new trees count for much. You 
 have many excellent examples in Newport of the inestimable value of even 
 a single full-grown tree on a street that is otherwise bare. 
 
 It is only fair to note that this large widening leaves very shallow lots 
 
 [42 ] 
 
SECTION A. SHOWING PROPOSED TREATMENT OF WEST PORTION OF BATH ROAD THOROUGHFARE. 
 
 EXISTING TREES SHOWN LARGE . 
 
 SECTION B. SHOWING PROPOSED TREATMENT OF BATH ROAD OPPOSITE RIVES ESTATE. LARGE TREES 
 
 EXISTING 
 
 f^^^ 
 
 
 
 .«?»-» «>"■' 
 
 
 
 
 SECTION C. SHOWING PROPOSED TREATMENT OF BATH ROAD BETWEEN RHODE ISLAND AVENUE AND 
 
 CLIFF AVENUE 
 
 SECTION D. SHOWING PROPOSED TREATMENT OF BATH ROAD EAST OF GIBBS AVENUE 
 
 [43 1 
 
between Bellevue Avenue and Edgar Court. But they are no shallower 
 than many lots in Newport, and I would recommend that they be restricted 
 so as to permit not more than 60 per cent of the width of any lot to be 
 occupied by building, thus encouraging a picturesque development of side 
 yards and gardens and occasional trees. Any effective widening of Bath 
 Road, even to 80 feet, would cause the serious curtailment of all the lots 
 
 BATH ROAD IMPROVEMENT — BELLEVUE AVENUE TO RHODE ISLAND AVENUE 
 
 and the destruction of all the houses on one side of the street; and the 
 experience of other cities is that nearly the full value of the property is 
 likely to be paid under such circumstances. It is a case where the power 
 of excess condemnation could appropriately be used if it existed in Rhode 
 Island. That method would permit the City to buy the entire lots and, 
 after making the widening, sell off the remnants, under restrictions, for an 
 amount which would be a partial but substantial offset to the cost of ac- 
 quirement. But since that is impossible and the City will have to pay 
 nearly the full value of the lots without any offset, it might as well obtain 
 the suggested easement in the remnants as a means of protecting the 
 appearance of the improvement as a whole. East of Edgar Court on the 
 north side and east of Annandale Road on the south side, the abutting 
 property is deep and free from buildings, and a continuous. building set- 
 back of 25 feet could reasonably be secured. 
 
 From Rhode Island Avenue to Gibbs Avenue, Bath Road is shaded 
 by fine overhanging trees on the abutting estates. I believe that any widen- 
 ing in this section, which would destroy these trees and radically alter the 
 character of the street before it is absolutely necessary, would be a mistake 
 from the point of view of the City — a very unfortunate "improvement." 
 I am glad to say that careful measurements have shown that a 12 to 15- 
 
 [44] 
 
foot sidewalk on the. south side and a 38-foot roadway can be secured at 
 this point by merely building vertical walls in place of the present steep 
 banks, and by taking a very small strip of land and only a few trees from 
 the property on the northern side of the road. This widening wotild pro- 
 vide a clear driveway wide enough for one line of vehicles on each side 
 of a double car track. And there is no reason for permitting vehicles 
 to stand against the curb in this locality, for local access is not needed 
 
 BATH ROAD IMPROVEMENT — RHODE ISLAND AVENUE TO EASTON's BEACH 
 
 to abutting property which is held in large estates and stands so high above 
 the street. Under these conditions the driveway proposed would be suffi- 
 cient to carry, without 
 danger or serious conges- 
 tion, the rush hour traffic 
 of the most crowded Sun- 
 day afternoon. At other 
 times it would be more 
 than sufficient. It is true 
 that to drive on a road- 
 way which has car tracks 
 on it is not as agreeable 
 as to drive on a roadway 
 free from them. But I 
 am strongly of the opinion 
 that this added pleasure, 
 obtained by placing the 
 car tracks in a central 
 reservation and providing 
 two independent roadways, would be more than offset by the loss of pic- 
 turesque quality, eminently characteristic of Newport, that would result 
 
 [ 45 ] 
 
 BATH ROAD EAST OF CLIFF AVENUE, WITH OUTLOOK UNOBSTRUCTED 
 BY STREET TREES, BUT FLANKED WITH TREES ON PRIVATE PROPERTY 
 
BATH ROAD NEAR BELLEVUE AVENUE. THE FINE OLD TREES ARE SAVED IN THE PROPOSED SCHEME FOR 
 
 WIDENING 
 
 BATH ROAD NEAR FREEBODY STREET. THE PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT WOULD SCREEN THE BUILDINGS ON 
 THE RIGHT WITH TREES, AND REMOVE THOSE ON THE LEFT 
 
 f 46 1 
 
from changing the single road, with its overhanging trees, to a bald, bare, 
 double-barrelled bovilevard. Trees planted within such a boulevard would 
 be many years in taking off its new and comtnonplace aspect, and when 
 
 FROM RHODE ISLAND AVENUE TO GIBBS AVENUE, BATH ROAD IS SHADED BY FINE OVERHANGING TREES 
 
 grown they would tend to obstruct the pleasant glimpse down Bath Road 
 to the Beach. However, in view of a possible large increase in the 
 
 'ilL 
 
 
 
 \y" 
 
 i^ 
 
 %' 
 
 '£J 
 
 
 LEVIN STREET WIDENED 
 
 TYPICAL SECTION SHOWING PROPOSED LEVIN STREET IMPROVEMENT 
 
 JOHN STREET 
 
 amount of travel and in anticipation of a possible change of charac- 
 ter in the abutting property, I would advise the establishment of a build- 
 ing line to provide for the ultimate continuation of the 113-foot double 
 way street with 25-foot building set-backs. 
 
 [ 47 ] 
 
From Gibbs Avenue to the Beach I would advise a similar widening, 
 though the present taking might well extend to 80 feet, so that shade trees 
 could be planted in a position that would fit into the possible ultimate 
 double street scheme proposed above. Sections C and D show the proposed 
 development from Rhode Island Avenue to the Beach. 
 
 This brings me to the subject of Easton's Beach. As bearing somewhat 
 on this problem I present the following record of traffic on Bath Road 
 going to the Beach on a normal Sunday. This record was taken under 
 the supervision of Captain Cotton and shows roughly the amount of Beach 
 patronage which comes from out of town. 
 
 East-Bound Traffic on Bath Road, July 28, 1913. 
 
 Hours 
 
 Cars 
 
 Motors 
 
 Carriages 
 
 On Foot 
 No. 
 
 No. 
 
 Pas'ng'rs 
 
 No. 
 
 Pas'ng'rs 
 
 No. 
 
 Pas'ng'rs 
 
 9-10 
 
 10— II 
 
 II— 12 
 
 12— I 
 
 1-2 
 
 2-3 
 
 3-4 
 
 4-5 
 5-6 
 
 10 
 
 14 
 18 
 20 
 17 
 17 
 19 
 17 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 42 
 
 75 
 80 
 81 
 88 
 III 
 
 79 
 69 
 
 60 
 133 
 19s 
 282 
 288 
 340 
 450 
 291 
 
 234 
 
 II 
 
 20 
 41 
 31 
 46 
 37 
 45 
 SO 
 60 
 
 22 
 
 54 
 209 
 230 
 298 
 130 
 
 173 
 123 
 
 134 
 
 204 
 
 587 
 704 
 
 857 
 
 923 
 
 1,282 
 
 1,462 
 
 6s8 
 290 
 
 Totals 
 
 149 
 
 6,70s 
 
 645^ 
 
 2,273 
 
 341 
 
 1,373 
 
 6,967 
 
 This table, together with supplementary counts taken at the same time 
 of Beach transfers from Fall River and Providence and of excursionists 
 arriving by train and boat, shows the following distribution of Beach 
 patronage: 
 
 Estimate of Attendance at Easton's Beach, July 28, 1913, Previous to 
 
 Six O'clock P.M. 
 
 Attendance 
 
 By Provi- 
 dence and 
 Fall River 
 Cars 
 
 By Excur- 
 sion Boats 
 
 By Ex- 
 cursion 
 Train 
 
 By Auto- 
 mobile 
 
 Total 
 
 Percent- 
 age of 
 Total 
 
 From Out of Town .... 
 From Newport and James- 
 town 
 
 2,090 
 
 2,350 
 
 300 
 
 1,000 
 
 5>74o 
 
 11,260 
 17,000^ 
 
 335 
 
 66| 
 100 
 
 Total to Beach 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' About one-half estimated to be from out of town. 
 
 " The total count, 17,318, minus 318 drivers assumed not to have entered Beach. 
 
 [48] 
 
The counters noted that the attendance of sailors and soldiers in uni- 
 form was abnormally small, which was attributed in part to the attraction 
 of two ball games taking place the same afternoon. 
 
 In spite of the unavoidable incompleteness of the methods employed, 
 the estimate is probably not far wrong in its indication that a very large 
 
 LOOKING WESTWARD ON LEVIN STREET. PROPERTY REQUIRED FOR WIDENING ON RIGHT, IN CONTINUATION 
 OF BATH ROAD, IS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE. THE NEW THOROUGHFARE WILL PROVIDE A FINE 
 VIEW OF THE HARBOR 
 
 majority of the attendance at the Beach, perhaps about two-thirds, is of 
 local people. This is interesting and satisfactory in view of the fear, con- 
 veyed to me by some members of your Association, that Easton's Beach 
 was being exploited mainly for the pleasure of the people of Fall River and 
 Providence and other distant places, and for the commercial benefit of the 
 few people catering to these excursionists. That a city of less than thirty 
 thousand people should turn out a local attendance approximating 
 eleven thousand at the Beach, even with the aid of a few people from James- 
 
 [ 49] 
 
town and a considerable detachment from the naval and military stations, is 
 strong evidence of the popularity of the sort of recreation which the Beach 
 affords. I believe it is bound to be always a popular resort and a place where 
 the people will demand those forms of gregarious amusement that are apt 
 to be found at popular beaches. The instincts which they seek thus 
 to gratify are in the main normal and healthy ones, and Easton's 
 Beach is a good place to satisfy them. All this makes it of the utmost 
 importance that the control of the amusements, and of the conduct of 
 the crowds, should be managed with the utmost discretion and pains- 
 taking skill, always and solely for the benefit of the public and not for 
 
 BATH ROAD AND THE REARS OF BUILDINGS AT EASTON S BEACH 
 
 their commercial exploitation. In spite of this, a popular beach resort can 
 properly be made largely or wholly self-supporting. It is equally important 
 that, as fast as the revenue of the Beach and the resources of the City at 
 large permit, the structures at the Beach should be made less cheap and 
 parasitical in appearance, more worthy of a worthy purpose. The 
 question of any radical improvements in the structures at Easton's Beach 
 will not be a live issue until the present lease nears its expiration, and I 
 have not attempted seriously to study the lines on which to plan such 
 improvements. 
 
 Closely related to the Beach, however, is the road behind it — the 
 continuation eastward of Bath Road and Old Beach Road. Here I do not 
 hesitate to recommend a double road plan, one for service to the rear 
 entrances of Beach buildings and for the storage of vehicles, the other 
 for through traffic — mostly pleasure driving — past the Beach. This 
 latter road should be built next the reservoir by filling up to the level 
 of the embankment. A drive at this level would afford pleasing views 
 over the reservoir and at least occasional glimpses between buildings 
 across the beach to the ocean. I would also advise planting trees along 
 this road, especially behind the Beach pavilions. 
 
 f 50] 
 
The Bath Road widening pro- 
 posed extends westward only to Bel- 
 levue Avenue. How is the traffic to be 
 accommodated between Bellevue Ave- 
 nue and Thames Street, the proposed 
 new thoroughfare and the harbor? 
 
 Again I beheve that a radical 
 widening is the only satisfactory pro- 
 cedure. I would propose, therefore, to 
 take about half the block (determined 
 largely by the rear lot lines) between 
 Levin and John streets and the same 
 between Cannon and Fair streets, and 
 to widen Levin and Cannon streets by 
 the amount taken. I would advise this 
 particular widening in preference 
 to William, John or Prospect Hill 
 streets, partly because it provides a 
 thoroughfare line in direct continua- 
 tion of Bath Road, and partly because 
 only a few old trees would be sacri- 
 ficed and the property that would be 
 taken seems less valuable than that 
 in the other locations. I would then 
 extend Cannon Street, from Thames 
 to the proposed harbor thoroughfare, 
 along the north side of the old stone 
 building on Thames Street. In addi- 
 tion to this widening I would lower 
 the grade of a wide roadway and the 
 new north sidewalk of Levin Street 
 enough so that they would run on a 
 straight and easy gradient from Spring 
 Street practically up to Bellevue 
 Avenue; and I would leave the pres- 
 ent sidewalk and a narrow roadway, 
 with possibly space for trees, on the 
 present grade along the south side of 
 the street to serve the properties 
 fronting there and to give access to 
 Thomas Street. The accompanying 
 section illustrates the arrangement 
 clearly ; and the above photograph 
 
 f 51 1 
 
 DIAGRAM SHOW- 
 ING WIDENING OF 
 LEVIN AND CANNON 
 STREETS. — PRO- 
 POSED EXTENSION 
 OF THE BATH ROAD 
 THOROUGHFARE TO 
 THE HARBOR 
 
suggests what a fine view of the harbor would be obtained along the new 
 street. 
 
 By these radical widenings proposed for Cannon Street, Levin 
 Street, and Bath Road, a generous cross-town thoroughfare may be 
 secured that will furnish great relief to the street congestion in this 
 district for all time. 
 
 52 
 
SUMMARY 
 
 The more important suggestions of the report may be summarized 
 under three heads : — 
 
 I. Building Lines. A building Hne law ought to be secured and 
 building lines systematically laid out to prevent the erection of new build- 
 ings between these lines and the street, both along thoroughfares which 
 are likely to need widening in the future and along residence streets where 
 the erection of new buildings close to the street would be a serious damage 
 to the neighboring property or to the City as a whole. Even before the 
 passage of a building line law the City may be able to secure building line 
 easements by agreement in certain cases. It is especially worth the effort 
 in the cases of the easterly part of Bath Road, Touro Street, the junction 
 of Touro Street with Bellevue Avenue, and Eustis Avenue. This method 
 is not economically applicable to the proposed widening of Bath Road 
 west of Annandale Road, of Levin Street and of Cannon Street; but it is 
 applicable to any of the other proposed widenings which it may be inex- 
 pedient to undertake promptly. 
 
 IL New Thoroughfares, Extensions and Special Widen- 
 ings. These may be grouped as follows: i. In connection with the pro- 
 posed new station; (a) a new approach should at once be provided from 
 Washington Square by widening Long Wharf, and (6) at the same time a 
 bridge should be built over the tracks to connect with Washington Street, 
 (c) a new street should be opened from Long Wharf to Wellington Avenue, 
 {d) this new street should then be extended south by widening Marchant 
 Street and continuing it to Old Fort Road and Carroll Avenue, and (e) it 
 should ultimately be extended north to the comer of Walnut and Farewell 
 streets, and along the line of the latter into the north part of the city. 
 2. The extension of Eustis Avenue northward to Broadway, at a width of 
 not less than 80 feet should be definitely planned, and, at least so far as it 
 runs through land now offered or about to be offered for sale in lots, it 
 should be laid out immediately. No new obstacle should be allowed to 
 interpose itself against the final completion of Eustis Avenue as a thor- 
 oughfare from the Beach to Broadway, as described. 3. The Touro Street 
 thoroughfare from Washington Square to Bellevue Avenue, and so to the 
 southeast, ought to be improved at a comparatively early date. 4. (a) Bath 
 
 [ 53 ] 
 
Road ought to be widened from Bellevue Avenue to Easton's Beach as a 
 single operation as soon as it can be managed, and (&) Levin Street and 
 Cannon Street should be widened and extended to the new thoroughfare 
 west of Thames Street. 5. The dangerous corners on the Ocean Drive cir- 
 cuit ought to be improved. 
 
 III. Park Acquirements, i. Additional playground areas should 
 be secured. 2. Almy's Pond should be acquired and improved as a park. 
 3. Washington Street should be extended as a parkway along the shore to 
 Training Station Road and ultimately to Coddington Point. 4. Mianto- 
 nomi Hill should be reserved for park purposes at some date before it is cut 
 up into building lots. 5. A circuit parkway should be secured from Cod- 
 dington Point around the north side of Miantonomi Hill connecting with 
 Kay Street. 
 
 I submit the above as a program of improvements which I believe to 
 be a reasonable and wise one for the City of Newport to set before itself. 
 Some are of pressing importance as indicated and others may more reason- 
 ably be delayed; but the prosperity of the City will best be conserved, 
 in my opinion, by arranging systematically for the ultimate execution of 
 them all. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Frederick Law Olmsted. 
 
 54