Newport Casino

Newport Casino
Newport Casino in 2008
Newport Casino is located in Rhode Island
Newport Casino
Newport Casino is located in the United States
Newport Casino
LocationNewport, Rhode Island, U.S.
Coordinates41°28′56″N 71°18′27″W / 41.48222°N 71.30750°W / 41.48222; -71.30750
Arealess than one acre
Built1879
ArchitectMcKim, Mead & White
Architectural styleShingle Style
Part ofBellevue Avenue Historic District
Bellevue Avenue/Casino Historic District (ID72000023
72000024)
NRHP reference No.70000083
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 2, 1970[1]
Designated NHLFebruary 27, 1987[2]
Designated NHLDCPDecember 8, 1972
Designated CPDecember 8, 1972

The Newport Casino is an athletic complex and recreation center located at 180–200 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island in the Bellevue Avenue/Casino Historic District. Built in 1879–1881 by New York Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr., it was designed in the Shingle style by the newly formed firm of McKim, Mead & White. The Newport Casino was the firm's first major commission and helped to establish the firm's national reputation. Built as a social club, it included courts for both lawn tennis and court tennis, facilities for other games, such as squash and lawn bowling, club rooms for reading, socializing, card-playing, and billiards, shops, and a convertible theater and ballroom. It became a center of Newport's social life during the Gilded Age through the 1920s.[3][4]

The casino was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The complex, which was the site of the earliest American lawn tennis championships, now houses the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Newport Casino also hosted the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ "Newport Casino". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on August 12, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
  3. ^ Newport Casino NRHP nomination form
  4. ^ Interpretive sign on site