Newport Asylum
| Newport Asylum and Poor House | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Construction Began | 1819 |
| Opened | 1822 |
| Closed | 1883 |
| Current Status | Closed |
| Building Style | Pre-1854 Plans |
| Architect(s) | Benjamin Chase |
| Location | Newport, RI |
| Alternate Names |
|
History[edit]
In 1819 the citizens of Newport recognized the need for a poor house and asylum for those deemed less fortunate. Construction on the Newport Asylum and Poor House began a few months later on Coasters Island, a location chosen because of its seclusion as there was no bridge linking the mainland to the island at the time. A bridge would not be built until later in the 1850s. In the 18th century, Coasters Island was home to a quarantine station and smallpox hospital. The island was also the site of where 26 pirates were hanged together in 1723 after they were caught on a British ship.
The Newport Asylum and Poor House opened in 1822. Residents included the indigent, mentally ill, and those struggling with addiction. Some residents were born into poverty and had no means of supporting themselves, some were orphaned children, while others were petty criminals. A report published in 1851 listed the following as reasons for admission: “disagreement with husband,” “insanity,” “blindness,” “drunkenness,” “insane due to fall from horse,” “old age and destitution,” “imbecility of mind,” “loss of industrious husband.”
Residents were given work to perform, including cleaning, farming, weaving, and sewing. Children were educated at a school on the property. The asylum set designated times for work, meals, washing, and worship. Contact between male and female residents was strictly prohibited. Inmates who failed to comply to the rules were punished, the most severe punishment included incarceration in a small cage. It has been recorded that the asylum overseer would sometimes lock those declared insane in these solitary confinement cages permanently.
In the 1850s, the asylum’s population began to decline as residents were moved to Rhode Island State Hospital in Cranston or to a larger jail outside of Newport. Though the asylum continued to house the poor until 1883 when the asylum closed and the building was sold to the U.S. Navy to serve as the US Naval War College, a training college for naval officers.
The asylum building currently serves as Naval War College Museum and is open to the public.
Images of Newport Asylum[edit]
Early drawing of Newport Asylum and Poor House
US Naval War College, 1885
Newport Asylum renovated and reopened as the US Naval War College on Coasters Island, late 19th century.
