Old Brick Market
|
Brick Market
|
|
South profile and front elevation, 2008
|
|
 
|
|
| Location | Newport, RI |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°29′23″N 71°18′58″W / 41.48972°N 71.31611°WCoordinates: 41°29′23″N 71°18′58″W / 41.48972°N 71.31611°W |
| Built | 1762 |
| Architect | Harrison, Peter |
| Architectural style | Georgian architecture |
| Part of | Newport Historic District (#68000001) |
| NRHP reference # | 66000019 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960 |
| Designated NHLDCP | November 24, 1968 |
The Museum of Newport History is a history museum in the Old Brick Market building in the heart of Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It is owned and operated by the Newport Historical Society at 127 Thames Street on Washington Square. The building, designed by noted 18th-century American architect Peter Harrison and built in the 1760s, is a National Historic Landmark.
The Brick Market is a three-story brick structure with a low hip roof. Its ground floor has round-arch openings, which were historically open but have mostly been glassed over. The upper level bays are separated by large pilasters with Ionic capitals, with a dentillated cornice below the roof. The second floor windows are rectangular sash, topped by alternating gable and segmented-arch pedimemnts. The third floor windows are square, with a simpler molded surround. The interior has been extensively altered over time, with little historic material surviving.
The Brick Market was designed by Peter Harrison, a major architect working in the British colonies during the 18th century. Harrison based the Georgian design on a part of the 17th century design of Somerset House by Inigo Jones, altering the building material from stone to brick, and replacing Jones' Corinthian capitals with those of the Ionic order.
Construction of the building was authorized by the city in 1761 and begun in 1762, but the merchant proprietors ran out of money after finishing just the first level, and the city took the project over, roofing that level. The building was not completed until 1772. As a traditional British style market house (like Boston's Faneuil Hall), the building's first level was an open-air arcade that served as a marketplace for various goods. Profits from the building went into a city fund for the establishment of a granary.
...
Wikipedia