Map/Chart > Maine & New England

Plan of the Town of Newport (coloured)

This beautifully hand-coloured plan is striking for its fine detail showing the town, land and sea as it was in 1781.

Description

This beautiful chart includes page number '14*' engraved on the top right corner and is a later state of the chart published by J.F.W Des Barres as part of the Atlantic Neptune folio. It is a recurring theme of many published charts of this time to depict, through the use of shadows, the Sun's position as being approximately South East.

The land on this chart is hatched to show contours and includes shade on the ground under the trees with the sun in that position. The town is tinted red, typical of charts of the time, in order to highlight important settlements. The off-set border drawn around the key to the Wharfs, Buildings and Streets of the town is tinted yellow. Features of the town at that time depicted here and worth noting include the rope walks (a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material were laid before being twisted into rope), the gardens (note the trend at the time for gardens laid-out in the shape of what may be taken to be a Union flag), the number of Churches including 3 Baptist Chapels reflective of the time when approximately 58% of the Narragansett and Rhode Island church-going population was Baptist, and finally the number of Windmills.