Newport - by John R Tschirch (Hardcover)

About the Book

The first book to focus on the urban development of Newport, Rhode Island, this is an extensively illustrated, multi-layered view of the city as both an urban entity and a cultural site of national significance.

Book Synopsis

As one of the most historically intact cities in North
America, Newport, Rhode Island, has a cultural
and architectural heritage of national significance.
Each of the city's districts has its own distinct
character with street plans and buildings revealing
the political, religious, commercial, and artistic
forces that have shaped Newport through the ages.
Stately Colonial squares and bustling wharves,
picturesque Victorian villas, and scenic drives,
opulent Gilded Age palaces for the few and electric
streetcars for the many, preservation movements
to honor the past, and modernist schemes for a
metropolis of the future all tell stories of urban
beauty and controversy, of eras of lavish building,
urban decay, and extraordinary revival.

The Artful City is a richly illustrated portrait
of the city from colonial times to the present,
documented and celebrated in the maps, paintings,
photographs, poetry, and prose of renowned
artists and writers. This work is a highly readable
illustrated history of one of America's most
important physical and cultural entities.

Review Quotes

"A cavalcade of imagery sure to enthrall even the most knowledgeable history buff"--Fred Albert, Newport Life Magazine

About the Author

John R. Tschirch is the Newport Historical Society's architectural historian and visiting curator of Urban History, He is the author of Gods and Girls: Tales of Art, Seduction and Obsession (2019) and A Walking History of Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island (Walking History of America) (2013). John is presently an instructor in design history for Rhode Island School of Design CE, which presented him with the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award, and he is adjunct faculty in art history at Bristol Community College, where his students provide endless inspiration and amusement. He is also the creator and author of a monthly design history blog called John Stories: Confessions of the Globetrekking Architectural Historian, John Tschirch, featuring his photographs and commentary on historic places.