Cliff Walk - Newport, RI - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

In Newport, off Memorial Blvd., is the entrance to the Cliff Walk, which is listed in the American Guide Series volume for Rhode Island.

The text for this entry in the volume is a follows:

75. Cliff Walk, reached from Bath Rd., off Bellevue Ave., is a footpath of unusual beauty, extending south from Bath Road for about 3 miles. The walk runs over a broken wall of rock that overhangs or retreats from its base, but always rises high above the water. Masses of fallen rock lie below along the shore with the sea seething and foaming over them. The Cliff Walk follows the ocean-shore at the foot of velvety green lawns belonging to the sumptuous estates, and offers beautiful views at every point. A sheet of water, known as Easton's Pond, mirroring the surroundings in its glassy depths, is a distinguishing feature of the landscape.

The walk was at first a fisherman's trail, but the wealthy estate owners begrudged the use of it by natives and erected barriers and iron gateways to bar them. This action outraged the Newporters, who went to court about it; the court decided that the fishermen's shore rights entitled them to an unobstructed way around the island. The 'cottagers' made the best of it by opening the gates, removing the barriers they had erected, and laying out this beautiful path.

- American Guide Series: Rhode Island - A Guide to the Smallest State, p. 239.

The Cliff Walk still exists, though, since the printing of the book, it has gone through at least two rebuilds due to weather events. The walkway is accessible from several points. The southern/western most point is at the southern/western end of Bellevue Avenue. The Northern/Eastern most point is off of modern Memorial Blvd. Bath Road does not exist today. A web site with two photos reference Bath Road near Bellevue Avenue - one even states that Bath Road is now Memorial Blvd. Thus, the waymark is by Memorial Blvd. Much of the walkway has been rebuilt - even improved to prevent further erosion. The walk passes by some of the most well known mansions in Newport, including the Breakers and the Marble House. There are great vistas from the path out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Source:

Providence Library Digital Collection: Visit Visit

Book: Rhode Island Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 239 Year Originally Published: 1937

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