Memories of the Isles of Rhode Island

02/10/2026

12/07/2025

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On This Day in Postal History 📨
As we commemorate the establishment of the U.S. Postal Service on July 26, 1775, we also look back to a bit of Portsmouth’s own postal past.

In 1902, the “Melville Station, Newport” post office opened at the corner of Clearview Avenue and East Main Road to serve the growing community in South Portsmouth. Its longtime postmaster, Abner Anthony, served for an impressive 43 years, delivering mail first by bicycle, then by horse and wagon.

Local historian John Pierce recounted that when the post office closed in 1918, Abner bought a Model T Ford and traded his wagon to Frank Fortner, the Newtown Village mail carrier—in exchange for 12 chickens.

That same wagon is now proudly preserved in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society.

Photo from John Pierce Collection.

10/22/2025

October 17, 1824, in Rhode Island’s 1st race riot, a white mob of 100 tore down at least 20 homes of Black & Indigenous people living in the community known as Hard-Scrabble in Providence. It began because a Black man had refused to make way on the sidewalk for 2 white men.

04/23/2025

The Nantucket Lightship was one of the most storied and important lightships in U.S. maritime history, stationed off the treacherous Nantucket Shoals in Massachusetts. Though technically outside Rhode Island waters, it played a critical role in guiding transatlantic shipping traffic bound for New York and New England.

Rhode Island had several lightships. These vessels served as mobile lighthouses in locations where constructing a permanent structure was impractical. Key stations included:

1. Brenton Reef Lightship (LV 79/612): Anchored off Newport, this lightship marked the hazardous Brenton Reef at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It operated from the early 20th century until 1962, when it was replaced by a Texas Tower-style structure. The lightship was later decommissioned and reportedly scrapped.

2. Cornfield Shoals Lightship (LV 78): Stationed near Fishers Island (near the RI-CT border), it marked the treacherous Cornfield Shoals. Though technically in Connecticut waters, it safeguarded shipping routes near Rhode Island.

3. Block Island/Point Judith Area: While fixed lighthouses (e.g., Point Judith Light) eventually served here, lightships may have supplemented navigation aids in earlier years or during emergencies.

4. Hog Island Shoal (near Hog Island in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island) was indeed marked by a lightship before the current lighthouse was built. Here’s the key information:

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# # # Hog Island Shoal Lightship (LV-14)
- Service Period: A lightship was stationed at Hog Island Shoal from 1886 to 1901 to warn mariners of the hazardous shallow waters southwest of Hog Island.
- Purpose: The shoal posed a significant danger to ships entering Narragansett Bay, particularly along the busy shipping route to Providence.
- Transition to Lighthouse: In 1901, the lightship was replaced by the Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse, a cast-iron "sparkplug" style structure that still stands today. The lighthouse automated in 1960 and remains an active aid to navigation.

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# # # Why a Lightship First?
Building a permanent lighthouse on the shoal was challenging due to shifting sands and strong currents. The lightship served as a temporary solution until engineering techniques advanced enough to construct the lighthouse. The LV-14 was likely reassigned or retired after 1901, though detailed records of its later history are sparse.

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# # # Legacy
- The Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- No preserved remnants of the original lightship survive, but its role in safeguarding Narragansett Bay’s shipping lanes is part of Rhode Island’s maritime heritage.

If you’re boating near Hog Island today, the lighthouse stands as a testament to the era when lightships like LV-14 braved storms and isolation to protect sailors.

01/06/2025

Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age
Americans’ relationship with animals transformed during the Gilded Age (1870-1914). With a focus on Newport history, the exhibition explores how this exciting, tumultuous period shaped the role of animals in our modern world.

Wild Imagination brings together a menagerie of animal-themed artworks and other objects, from paintings, sculptures, photographs and fashions to fancy dog collars and sea creatures blown in glass. These pieces reflect profound and lasting changes in human-animal relations. They also reveal the individual stories of wondrous creatures that continue to capture our imagination.

Rosecliff
548 Bellevue Ave
Newport, RI 02840
August 30, 2024 – January 12, 2025
9:00am – 3:00pm
Exhibition is included with your admission to Rosecliff.

In addition to items from the Newport Mansions collections, objects in this exhibition are generously loaned by the following institutions:

Brown University
Castle Hill Inn
Columbus Museum of Art
Harvard University
Historic New England
Maryhill Museum of Art
The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home
Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
Mystic Seaport Museum
National Museum of American Illustration
Newport Historical Society
Newport Restoration Foundation
New-York Historical Society
New York University
Trinity College

Several of the many items in the exibition…

12/21/2024

Ministering angels of Rhode Island / W.T. Peters, delineator, 36 Regt. N.Y.S.V.
Summary; Drawing shows nurses caring for wounded soldiers of the 36th New York Infantry Regiment in a hospital tent at the U.S. Army hospital at Portsmouth Grove, Rhode Island, known as Portsmith Grove Hospital and Lovell General Hospital.
Names

Peters, William Thompson, Jr., 1828-1898, artist
Created / Published

[1862]
Headings

- Portsmouth Grove Hospital (Portsmouth, R.I.)--1860-1870
- United States.--Army.--New York Infantry Regiment, 36th (1861-1863)--People
- Military hospitals--Rhode Island--Portsmouth--1860-1870
- Soldiers--Union--1860-1870
- Nurses--Union--1860-1870
- War casualties--Union--1860-1870
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Medical aspects--Union
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Women
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military personnel--Union
Headings

Graphite drawings--1860-1870.
Pencil works--1860-1870.
Genre

Pencil works--1860-1870
Graphite drawings--1860-1870
Notes

- Title devised by Library staff.
- Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2018; (DLC/PP-2017:171-2, formerly deposit D074)
- Purchased from: Chris Foard, The Foard Collection of Civil War Nursing, June 2018.
- Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
- pp/liljpaper
Medium

1 drawing : graphite ; visible image 20 x 27 cm, mat 26 x 35 cm.
Call Number/Physical Location

LOT 14043-33, no. 1 [P&P]
Source Collection

Liljenquist Family collection (Library of Congress)
Repository

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id

ppmsca 72372 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.72372
Library of Congress Control Number

2021640355
Reproduction Number

LC-DIG-ppmsca-72372 (digital file from original)
Rights Advisory

No known restrictions on publication.
Online Format

image
LCCN Permalink

https://lccn.loc.gov/2021640355
Additional Metadata Formats

MARCXML Record
MODS Record
Dublin Core Record
Part of
Lot 14043 (1,838)
Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (7,923)
Civil War (20,521)
Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress) (949,554)
Prints and Photographs Division (1,082,714)
Library of Congress Online Catalog (1,592,361)
Format
Photo, Print, Drawing
Contributor
Peters, William Thompson
Peters, William Thompson, Jr.
Dates
1862
Location
Portsmouth
Rhode Island
United States
Language
English
Subject
Army
Civil War
Graphite Drawings
History
Medical Aspects
Military Hospitals
Military Personnel
New York Infantry Regiment, 36th
Nurses
Pencil Works
People
Portsmouth
Portsmouth Grove Hospital (Portsmouth, R.I.)
Rhode Island
Soldiers
Union
United States
War Casualties
Women
Rights & Access