Ii. Cultural & Historic Resources
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
II. CULTURAL & HISTORIC RESOURCES Middletown, Rhode Island 2014 Comprehensive Community Plan MIDDLETOWN WILL BE KNOWN AS A COMMUNITY THAT PRESERVES ITS PAST AND VALUES CULTURAL ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS. THE TOWN AND ITS RESIDENTS WILL RECOGNIZE CULTURAL AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION AS A KEY COMPONENT TO THE TOWN’S FUTURE GROWTH, ECONOMY, CHARACTER, AND APPEAL OF THE TOWN. II. Cultural & Historic Resources II. Cultural & Historic Resources MIDDLETOWN, RHODE ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY PLAN Supporting Documents Historic and Architectural Resources of Middletown, Rhode Island: A Preliminary Report. Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. 1979. Historic Landscapes of Rhode Island. Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. 2002. Middletown, Rhode Island: Houses, History, Heritage. Middletown Historical Society. 1990. O’Shea, Phillip. Death Comes Once, a Cemetery is Forever: The Search for Middletown’s Lost Graveyards. 1997. Preliminary Survey Report, Town of Middletown: June, 1979. Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. 1979. The Paradise Loop Scenic Highway Stewardship Plan. Rhode Island Scenic Highways Board. 2003. INTRODUCTION The Cultural and Historic Resources Element identifies local historic and cultural resources, describes why they are significant, and looks to provide the policies, recommendations, and tools to plan for the preservation, protection, and enhancement of those resources. There are many great historic and cultural resources within Middletown that offer residents and visitors opportunities to learn about their heritage and the history of the town and nation. It is a priority of the town to protect these historic sites and landscapes and to sustain the quality of life and rural character of the town. CONSIDERATIONS: Pressure on the land to accommodate growth threatens the town's rich cultural heritage. Middletown Comprehensive Community Plan | 2014 II-2 II. Cultural & Historic Resources Several of Middletown’s most important historic resources have no form of recognition or protection. Agriculture has always been one of Middletown's most important activities. Any further reduction in the number of farms in Middletown would alter the essential character of the town as farms themselves are part of the scenic beauty of the area. Recognition and protection of the town’s historic resources can help preserve the character of the town for future generations and serve as an educational resource. Our cultural resources are the underpinnings of the tourism economy and they need to be protected and enhanced if we are to remain economically healthy. Cultural and Historic Vision Statement: Middletown will be known as a community that preserves its past and values cultural enrichment opportunities for its residents and visitors. The town and its residents will recognize cultural and historic preservation as a key component to the town’s future growth, economy, character, and appeal of the town. A preliminary survey of Middletown conducted in 1979 by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission identified seven districts and 105 individual structures and sites of historic interest. THESE CULTURAL RESOURCES REFLECT A BROAD SPECTRUM OF TIME, ARCHITECTURAL TRENDS, AND EVENTS. INCLUDED ARE VERNACULAR FARMHOUSES AND FARM LANDSCAPES, SOME GOOD EXAMPLES OF WHICH ARE SEEN ALONG WEST MAIN ROAD AND MITCHELL LANE; LUXURIOUS MANSIONS, NOTABLY THE WILLIAM VERNON HOUSE, THE HAMILTON HOPPIN HOUSE, THE JACOB CRAM HOUSE, AND WILLIAM REDWOOD’S COUNTRY HOUSE; ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES – PARADISE SCHOOL AND THE PEABODY SCHOOL; THE EXTENSIVE ST. GEORGE’S SCHOOL, WITH ITS OUTSTANDING CHAPEL; WHITEHALL, BISHOP BERKELEY’S COUNTRY PLACE; THE BERKELEY MEMORIAL CHAPEL AND THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS; THE MIDDLETOWN TOWN HALL; A GRANGE HALL; AN EARLY MOTOR COURT; AN AIRPORT; A MILESTONE; WORLD WAR II STRUCTURES; AND SEVERAL NATURAL FEATURES KNOWN AND APPRECIATED FOR CENTURIES – PURGATORY CHASM, HANGING ROCK, AND THE BEACHES. General History of Middletown For slightly more than one hundred years, 1639 to 1743, Middletown existed as the northern portion of Newport which shared the island of Aquidneck, once called Rhode Island, with the town of Portsmouth to the north. By mid-century, the growing population felt increasingly alienated from the urbane, sophisticated merchants of Newport who still dominated the political arena. They petitioned the General Assembly for political independence and, in 1743, Middletown was set off as a separate town. Middletown’s 14.7 square miles reached from Narragansett Bay on the west to the Sakonnet River on the east, bordered by Portsmouth to the north, Newport to the southwest and the Atlantic Ocean Middletown Comprehensive Community Plan |2014 II-3 II. Cultural & Historic Resources to the southeast. Fertile soil encouraged the early settlers and their successors to clear the land for planting, in the process constructing stone walls with the rocky debris to act as fences and boundary markers. In 1748, the first census since incorporation showed 680 persons living within Middletown. Most of the residents were famers and their families plus a few tradesmen and a few wealthy Newport merchants that built their large summer estates here, some of which still exist today. Notable residents included Bishop George Berkeley, the philosopher, who bought a 96-acre tract of Middletown farmland while he waited funding from Parliament for a university he planned to establish in Bermuda. In December 1776 about 9,000 British and Hessian troops came ashore at Weaver's Cove on the west shore of Middletown near the present location of Greene Lane. During the next four years, the boundary between Newport and Middletown became a line of defense, first for the British and then for the colonials and the French. Some of the redoubts and other traces of that fortification are still visible on the landscape of today. During the 19th century, as the landscape of the rest of southern New England was transformed by industrialization, Middletown remained rural. This was partially because many of the new summer colonists looked at the town as a sanctuary from the pressures that affected the industrial cities. Artists and businessmen became neighbors with thriving farmers along Indian Avenue, Paradise Avenue, Miantonomi Avenue and elsewhere. The growth of Newport’s summer colony after the Civil War resulted in an effort, spearheaded by Eugene Sturtevant, to make Middletown the "court end of the island," Roads were built and lots were laid out on a large tract of land along the Sakonnet River. The Indian Avenue area was developed on a small scale, with the first purchases being made by Philadelphia and Hartford families. Several other large summer estates were built along the Sakonnet River. Additionally, a syndicate of Boston investors laid out a compound of six Shingle Style houses, known as the Land Trust Cottages, at the eastern end of Easton’s Beach in 1886-1887 under the guidance of Frederick Law Olmstead, one of America’s outstanding landscape architects. The twentieth century brought the growing importance of the Navy in Middletown, especially during and after World War II. At that time, much of Middletown's Narragansett Bay shoreline came under Navy control. Coddington Cove became a port for a North Atlantic Squadron, and the hills above it were transformed from centuries old farmland into facilities for the Naval Underwater Systems Center. The population growth that accompanied these changes generated further residential and commercial developments, such as the Anchorage, the Naval Gardens and the strip development along lower East and West Main Roads. In the l940s and l950s, Middletown was the fastest growing town in Rhode Island. Between 1950 and 1960, the town’s population grew by 72 percent; to a total of 12,675. Much of the town’s suburban style subdivision development and strip commercial development occurred during this time period, replacing the agricultural use of these properties. When the Cruiser –Destroyer Force, Atlantic, established itself at the Naval Base during the 1960’s, the population of Middletown Middletown Comprehensive Community Plan | 2014 II-4 II. Cultural & Historic Resources reached an all-time high of 29,290 people in 1970. When the Cruiser-Destroyer Force was withdrawn in 1973, the town’s population saw a precipitous drop and by 1980 was 17,216. The decline of fleet activities at Coddington Cove continued in the 1990s, with the last frigate leaving in 1994. Partially filling in the gap the U.S. Coast Guard has assigned several buoy tenders to Coddington Cove. Navy reorganization expanded the facilities at the renamed Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC). During this same period, the town began to enjoy economic prosperity. The expanding tourism industry in Newport led to an increase in hotel and motels in the town. Commercial and residential development continued a steady growth into the 2000’s. As a result of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) 2005 actions, which include consolidation of educational and training activities, Naval Station Newport experienced some growth as training commands were relocated to Newport. The modest residential development that has occurred over the past decade has been dominated by large-lot single-family dwelling development. The Town has adopted conservation subdivision development regulations which promote the preservation of open space, as well as cultural and historic resources by