Newport Tower (Rhode Island)

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The Newport Tower.

The Newport Tower (also known as: Round Tower, Touro Tower, Newport Stone Tower, Old Stone Mill, OSM and Mystery Tower) is a round stone tower located in Touro Park in Newport, Rhode Island (USA).

The accepted explanation of its origin is that it was a mill built in the mid 17th century. However, some historians, as well as amateur researchers, have claimed that it is several centuries older, thus being evidence of a pre-Columbian settlement in New England.

1 Description
2 Arnoldist theory
3 Alternative explanations
- 3.1 Early Norse theory
- 3.2 Other theories
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Description

The tower is located on Mill Street, surrounded by a historical residential neighborhood on the hill above the waterfront tourist district. Often missed by passing tourists, it is not marked by a sign or historical plaque of any kind. The hill itself once furnished a view of the harbor and would have been visible to passing mariners in Narragansett Bay, but recent tree growth now obscures the view of the harbor from the top of the tower.

The tower has a height of 28 feet and an exterior width of 24 feet. It is supported by eight cylindrical columns that form stone arches, two of which are slightly broader than the other six. Above the arches and inside the tower is a floor that supports an interior chamber. The walls are approximately 3 feet thick, and the diameter of the inner chamber is approximately 18 feet.

The chamber is penetrated by a window. Directly opposite the window is a fireplace backed with grey stone and flanked by nooks. The direction of the window is WSW across Narragansett Bay towards Pettaquamscutt Rock on the west side of the bay.

A representation of the tower is featured prominently on the Seal and unit patch of the former US Navy vessel, USS Newport.

[edit] Arnoldist theory

The prevailing explanation among historians for the origin of the structure is the "Arnoldist" explanation, namely that the tower was a mill constructed "from the ground up" in the middle or late 17th century by Rhode Island colonial governor Benedict Arnold, great-grandfather of the patriot-traitor. It is known that Arnold, who moved into the area in 1661, once owned the land on which the tower stands.

A 1675 account of King Philip's War by M. Church stated that an Indian advised a captain to lead his men out of danger "to the windmill on Rhode Island." Two years later, in 1677 Arnold mentions the structure in his will as "my stone build Wind Mill."

During the American Revolution, the tower was known to have been used by the Americans as a lookout, and by the British to store munitions.

The mill theory is supported by its similarity in appearance to Chesterton Windmill, a 17th century mill designed by Inigo Jones in Leamington, England. No other seventeenth century stone windmills are known to survive in North America, but this does not preclude the possiblity of others having existed, nor does it militate against the Newport Tower having been built as a windmill.

In the 1940s, archaeological digs in the vicinity of the tower produced artifacts dating from the Colonial period. In 1990, radiocarbon dating tests of the tower's mortar supported a construction date between 1635 and 1698.

[edit] Alternative explanations

The tower has been the subject of much investigation concerning its true origin, some of which falls within established scholarship and some of which is more speculative.

The controversy is fueled somewhat by questions about the design features of the tower, in particular the presence and location of the fireplace and window; these features are claimed by adherents of the non-mill theories to lend support to the idea that the tower was designed as a signaling beacon rather than as a mill, although fireplaces are not uncommon in English windmills despite the alleged fire risks. ^[1]

Supporters of the alternate explanations generally cite the following in support of their cause:

The archaeological excavations are claimed to be inconclusive and prove only that the tower was used in the 17th century and not necessarily constructed at that time.
The radiocarbon dating is inconclusive because the mortar could have been added at a date much later than the tower's construction.
The area of New England in the vicinity of the tower contains numerous controversial archaeological sites which could support the theory of Pre-Columbian visitation to the area by Europeans, including Dighton Rock, Follins Pond, and America's Stonehenge. Also, see the articles on the Westford Knight and The Skeleton in Armor.
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano reported that in 1524 he found a European structure in the Narragansett Bay which he named the Norman Villa. ^[2]
Pre-Columbus maps by Gerardus Mercator and others are claimed by some to mark the tower's location.^[3] This last must be considered particularly dubious as Mercator was born in 1512, his maps are not "pre-Columbus." Therefore the Mercator maps are not evidence that the tower is pre-Columbian, but they are evidence that it is pre-colonial.

[edit] Early Norse theory

The most popular alternate explanation for the existence of the tower, and the only that has been seriously entertained by professional archaeologists, is that it was built by Viking explorers in the 10th or 11th centuries. This hypothesis is predicated on the uncertainty of the southward extent of the early Norse explorations of North America, particularly in regard to the actual location of Vinland.

The theory for a Norse origin of the tower was first proposed in 1837 by Danish archaeologist Carl Christian Rafn in his book Antiquitates Americanæ, which was partly based on his research of the inscriptions on the Dighton Rock near the mouth of the Taunton River. Rafn's popularization of the theory led to a flurry of interest and "proofs" of Norse settlement in the area [1].

The Norse theory was also advocated by Phillip Answorth Means, an archaeologist with a speciality in Latin America, in his exhaustive 1942 book The Newport Tower. Means attempted to compile all known evidence surrounding the tower to date and dismissed the theory that Arnold built the tower "from the ground up." Much of the evidence Means used to dismiss the Arnold / windmill theory has, however, since been shown to be mistaken. In particular, he was dismissive of the similarities with the Chesterton windmill in England because his correspondent, the English mill authority Rex Wailes, believed Chesterton to have been built as an observatory and only converted to a windmill long after Arnold's time. In fact, Chesterton is now known to have been built as a windmill in 1632. Also, Means' assertions about the unlikelihood of a fireplace being present in a windmill can be disproved by examining numerous windmills in England and continental Europe.

The city of Newport finally gave permission for a scientific investigation of the site by the Society for American Archaeology in 1948. The investigation was directed by Hugh Henken of Harvard University, with the field work headed by William S. Godfrey. As part of the investigation, a one-metre wide trench was dug from the tower's exterior through the interior. The result, published in Godfrey's 1951 Ph.D. dissertation, concluded that all the artifacts discovered were from the 17th century, thus supporting the Arnoldist camp. The counter argument is simply that we know colonials had a large settlement at the location over many years and it is natural that there would be many artifacts as there are artifacts of more recent settlements around all ancient sites. Evidence that colonials dug around the tower in an effort to reinforce it is not evidence that they built it. The lack of any artefact, at all, earlier than the colonial period must, however, cast considerable doubt on claims of a pre-seventeenth century date for the structure. Part of the mystery of the Newport Tower though, is that there is considerable doubt on all claims of when and by whom and for what purpose it was built.

As of 2005, no evidence supporting any of the "alternative" explanations has been found.

[edit] Other theories

During the early 20th century, Edmund Delabarre's investigations of the Dighton rock led him to propose that the tower was constructed as a signaling beacon by Portuguese navigator Miguel Corte-Real, who Delabarre claims was shipwrecked in 1501 or 1502 while searching for his lost brother Gaspar in Narragansett Bay.
Another speculative theory holds that it was constructed by the Scottish earl Henry Sinclair who is claimed by some to have visited Nova Scotia and New England in the year 1398 with a fleet under the command of Antonio Zeno. Believers in this theory often cite the Westford Knight as further evidence. But the tower was not hastily thrown up. It was the product of design and specialized knowledge and skill. It is hard to believe that that the Sinclair expedition set sail with the skilled masons and equipment and tools that would have been needed with the intent of building such an elaborate structure.
Gavin Menzies, author of 1421: The Year China Discovered America argues that the tower was built by the Chinese navigator Zheng He in 1421. See: 1421 theory
From October 15, 2006 to November 15, 2006 the Chronognostic Foundation, an Arizona based research firm will lead an archaeological excavation of sites discovered in Touro Park during their geophysical studies of the past three years. Possible building foundations and a rocky area near the Tower will be investigated. This event will mark the first time in nearly 60 years that an archaeological excavation will take place in Touro Park. The primary goal of this research project is to answer the question: Who built the Newport Tower? Press reports following the dig suggest that nothing earlier than the 1600s was found and that there was also no evidence supporting the colonial theory found either. It is speculated that the taking of topsoil from the area which was known to have been done removed artifacts. Also, it is possible that the builders did not have a settlement in the area and removed tools and materials to "cleanse" the site for religious reasons.

[edit] See also

Hvalsey Church (Greenland), mediaval European structure located closest to the Newport Tower
Pseudoarchaeology
Oak Island

[edit] References

^ Derek Ogden, "Fireplaces Are Common in Tower Windmills," 'Newport Daily News', 23-24 March 1996.
^ Earl Siggurson, "The Newport Tower." American-Scandanavian Review. James Whittal Archive, Newport Tower file, 1971-1980.
^ Arlington Mallery, The American Anthropologist, 60, (1958), pp. 149-150. See also the James Whittal Archive, Newport Tower file articles by Magnus Hrolf, 1991-2000 file and Frank Glynn, 1961-1970 file.