Posted on January 20, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
WOMEN OF WESTPORT POINT Ruth Cadman (1762 –1845) Teacher 2032 Main Road, Westport Point Ruth was born in Newport, RI., the daughter of Christopher Cadman and Hannah Seabury. Ruth never married. Her older sister May married the wealthy merchant and whaler, Isaac Cory, Sr. in 1769 but many of the Cadman family kept their ties […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 20, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
WOMEN OF WESTPORT POINT Clara Buffum (1873-1938) Bookbinder 21 Cape Bial Lane, Westport Point Noted craftsman in the art of fine bookbinding, Clara Buffum bound many famous and valuable books including a first edition of Chaucer. Like a true craftsman, she scorned modern shortcuts in bookbindery and revived the ancient method of using the […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 20, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
WOMEN OF WESTPORT POINT Mary Elizabeth Hicks Brown (1894 – 1990) Artist and historian 1603 Main Road, 2001 Main Road, Westport Point Mary Hicks Brown could trace her Westport familial roots back to the 1700s. Born in 1894, she was the child of William B. Hicks and Caroline Davis Hicks. Mary attended Moses Brown School […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 20, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
WOMEN OF WESTPORT POINT Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923) Botanical artist, illustrator 1936 Main Road, Westport Point A reference in Jeanie Stewart Hall’s description of the Point revealed the surprising presence of an accomplished but long-forgotten artist: “Now we have gotten to Captain Manchester’s, Upper Manchesters… The sweet little house which used to be sheltered […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 20, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
WOMEN OF WESTPORT POINT Mary Howe Baker (1900 – 1965) Harvard Observatory women astronomical computers 39 Cape Bial Lane, Westport Point Mary Howe, the daughter of Louis McHenry Howe and Grace Hartley, was born in Fall River, Ma. on June 4, 1900. Her parents were close friends with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 20, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
WOMEN OF WESTPORT POINT Christina B. Allen (1823-1909) “always giving thanks” 2031 Main Road, Westport Point Christina was the daughter of William Allen and Phebe Tripp and was born in Westport. She had 8 siblings who married local people so she had many cousins, nieces and nephews. She was deeply religious and very tied to […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 17, 2025 by Jenny ONeill
This exquisite model of the Kate Cory was recently donated to the Westport Historical Society. Learn more about it from the modelmaker Tom Schmitt in this short video:
Continue ReadingPosted on December 6, 2024 by Jenny ONeill
Two Rivers of Resistance By David C. Cole[1] During the Revolutionary War the South Coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island were largely controlled by the British Navy which had local headquarters in Newport and patrolled the length of Buzzards Bay. The British assault on Dartmouth in September 1778, that included raids on settlements and […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 6, 2024 by Jenny ONeill
Next time you drive along John Reed Road to the beach, listen for the rumbling echoes of the agitated voices of Westporters from the 1890s who felt “swindled” by the man after whom the road is named, John M. Reed. The layout of John Reed Road (originally known as Horse Neck or […]
Continue ReadingPosted on November 18, 2024 by Jenny ONeill
A collection of images of Westport Point, late 1800s, showing dredging of the Harbor, Main Road, the old Point bridge and the bridge to Masquasatch.
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