Newport Tower

The Newport Tower is a round stone tower approximately 28 feet high, located in Touro Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Its origin has remained an elusive mystery that defies easy historical analysis.

The tower is Medieval in appearance, located on a hill and easily visible to mariners. It is supported by eight cylindrical columns that form stone arches, two of which are slightly broader than the other six. None of the arches is supported by a keystone. There is a floor supported above the arches, with two windows and fireplace. A fireplace is considered unusual for a mill of that period and was possibly meant to serve as beacon for ships at sea. The outer diameter of the tower is approximately 24 feet in diameter. The walls are approximately three feet thick, meaning that the inner chamber is approximtely 18 feet in diameter.

Table of contents

1 The Mill Explanation
2 Alternate Explanations
3 External references
4 See Also

The Mill Explanation

The prevailing explanation for the origin of the structure is that it was mill constructed in the middle or late 1600's by Rhode Island colony governor Benedict Arnold (not to be confused with the later patriot-traitor General Benedict Arnold), who once owned the land on which the tower stands and who moved into the area in 1661.

A 1675 account of King Philip's War by M. Church stated that an Indian advised a captain to lead his men out of danger "to the windmill on Rhode Island." Two years later, in 1677 Arnold mentions the structure in his will as "my stone build Wind Mill."

During the American Revolution, the tower was known to have been used by the Americans a lookout, and by British to store munitions.

The mill theory is supported by its similarity in appearance to a mill designed by Inigo Jones in Leamington,England.

In 1990, Radiocarbon dating tests of the tower's mortar supported a construction date between 1635 and 1698.

Alternate Explanations

Another speculative theory holds that it was constructed by the Scottish earl Henry Sinclair who is believed by some to have visited Nova Scotia and New England in the year 1398 with a fleet under the command of Antonio Zeno.

Supporters of the alternate explanations generally cite the following in support of their cause:

The radiocarbon dating is inconclusive because the mortar could have been added at a date much later than the tower's construction
The tower possibly appears on a map by Giovanni da Verrazano made during his voyage to North America in 1524.
There is possible corroborating archelogical evidence to support the idea that a Scottish nobleman visited New England in the late 14th Century (see Westford Knight and the Fall River Knight).