Newport Reading Room
Encyclopedia
The Newport Reading Room (also known as The Reading Room), founded in 1854, is a gentlemen's club
located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport
, Rhode Island
, USA
. Its primary building features an actual book reading room. The Spouting Rock Beach Association owns the building and also owns the famed Bailey's Beach
.
, a wealthy China trade merchant, and several other notable Newporters, including Yankee traders and Southern planters who summered in Newport. Several of the managing stock holders were full time Rhode Island residents while others were summer residents. Supposedly, the Newport Casino
, a rival club nearby on Bellevue Avenue was started by a former Reading Room member, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., as described:
The Reading Room has a long history of hosting charitable fundraisers, for example the New York Times reported on the club's 1912 baseball game against the U.S. Navy officers of the Atlantic Fleet to raise funds for Newport Hospital. The Reading Room was one of the centers of Newport social life with other traditional institutions such as the Redwood Library, Newport Country Club
, Trinity Church, Bailey's Beach
, New York Yacht Club
summer clubhouse and the Newport Casino
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...
located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its primary building features an actual book reading room. The Spouting Rock Beach Association owns the building and also owns the famed Bailey's Beach
Bailey's Beach
Bailey's Beach is an elite private beach and club in Newport, Rhode Island.-History:Bailey's Beach in Newport Rhode Island was:...
.
History
The Newport Reading Room was founded in 1854 by William Shepard WetmoreWilliam Shepard Wetmore
William Shepard Wetmore was an Old China Trade merchant and philanthropist from New England.-Early life:He was born on January 26, 1801 to Nancy Shepard and Seth Wetmore in St. Albans, Vermont...
, a wealthy China trade merchant, and several other notable Newporters, including Yankee traders and Southern planters who summered in Newport. Several of the managing stock holders were full time Rhode Island residents while others were summer residents. Supposedly, the Newport Casino
Newport Casino
The Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987.- 1879 - 1900 :The complex was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr...
, a rival club nearby on Bellevue Avenue was started by a former Reading Room member, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., as described:
The Newport Reading Room incident concerns Bennett and one of his polo buddies, Captain Candy, better known as "Sugar Candy." A wager was concocted whereby Sugar Candy would mount his polo pony and ride up the short flight of stairs into the exclusive club located on Bellevue Avenue. Bennett was reprimanded, Sugar Candy supposedly shown the door for the last time. As the story goes (never proven), Bennett started the Newport Casino in response.
The Reading Room has a long history of hosting charitable fundraisers, for example the New York Times reported on the club's 1912 baseball game against the U.S. Navy officers of the Atlantic Fleet to raise funds for Newport Hospital. The Reading Room was one of the centers of Newport social life with other traditional institutions such as the Redwood Library, Newport Country Club
Newport Country Club
Newport Country Club, founded in 1893, is a historic private golf club in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States that hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S...
, Trinity Church, Bailey's Beach
Bailey's Beach
Bailey's Beach is an elite private beach and club in Newport, Rhode Island.-History:Bailey's Beach in Newport Rhode Island was:...
, New York Yacht Club
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
summer clubhouse and the Newport Casino
Newport Casino
The Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987.- 1879 - 1900 :The complex was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr...
Notable members
- George Noble JonesGeorge Noble JonesGeorge Noble Jones was a wealthy southern plantation owner who owned the El Destino Plantation and Chemonie Plantation. In 1839 he hired English architect, Richard Upjohn, to build Kingscote one of the earliest summer "cottages" on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island...
- William Shepard WetmoreWilliam Shepard WetmoreWilliam Shepard Wetmore was an Old China Trade merchant and philanthropist from New England.-Early life:He was born on January 26, 1801 to Nancy Shepard and Seth Wetmore in St. Albans, Vermont...
- Claiborne PellClaiborne PellClaiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.-Early years:Pell...
- James Gordon Bennett, Jr.James Gordon Bennett, Jr.James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father....
See also
- List of American gentlemen's clubs
- Newport CasinoNewport CasinoThe Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987.- 1879 - 1900 :The complex was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr...
- Newport Country ClubNewport Country ClubNewport Country Club, founded in 1893, is a historic private golf club in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States that hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S...