Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The City of Newport is located approximately 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Providence, 21 miles (34 km) south of Fall River, and 74 miles (119 km) south of Boston. It is known as a New England summer resort and famous for its mansions. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and a major United States Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a high number of surviving buildings from the colonial era of the United States.

The city is the county seat of Newport County (which has no governmental functions other than court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries). It was known for being the city of some of the "Summer White Houses" during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 24,027 as of 2013.

Newport was founded in 1639. Its eight founders and first officers were Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull. They left Portsmouth, Rhode Island after a political fallout with Anne Hutchinson and her followers. As part of the agreement, Coddington and his followers took control of the southern side of the island. They were soon joined by Nicholas Easton, who had recently been expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for holding heretical beliefs. The settlement grew to be the largest of the four original settlements of Rhode Island, which also included Providence and Shawomett. Many of the first colonists in Newport became Baptists, and the second Baptist congregation in Rhode Island was formed in 1640 under the leadership of John Clarke. Peace did not last long in Newport, as many did not like Coddington's autocratic style. As a result, a counter-faction was formed by 1650, led by Nicholas Easton, and the Coddington/Easton divide dominated Newport politics for much of the 17th century.

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