CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT : The Horseshoe Piazza as it looked in the early years ; crowds watch a match at the Newport Casino in 1890 ; Newport Casino patrons in 1891 . y
TENNIS , ANYONE ?
From its splashy beginnings as the Newport Casino to world status as the International Tennis Hall of Fame , this Bellevue Avenue fixture has always been a playground for the city ’ s elite .
IN 1879 , JAMES GORDON BENNETT JR . BET HIS FRIEND , CAPTAIN HENRY AUGUSTUS CANDY , THAT HE WOULD NOT RIDE his polo horse across the porch of the Newport Reading Room — the notoriously stuffy social club where both were guests . Candy raised the bet , riding his horse not only across the porch , but through the building and right out the back door , disturbing members along the way . Their guest privileges revoked , Bennett resolved to open his own social club , and the Newport Casino was born .
At least , that ’ s the story that ’ s been passed down through the years , likely with a wink and a nod from Bennett himself . In reality , the businessman was already in talks with architectural firm McKim , Mead and White about constructing a new social club when he purchased the parcel on Bellevue Avenue in 1879 . Construction was completed in just six months , and the following year , the Newport Casino opened to the public . Far from the modern concept of a casino as a gambling institution , the Newport Casino was a social venue that included both public outdoor spaces and a private club .
“ They would have concerts , horse shows , flower shows , once the automobile entered , they had car shows . And then there was this little thing of a new sport that had recently hopped over the pond called lawn tennis ,” says Nicole Markham , curator of collections for the International Tennis Hall of Fame . In 1881 , the newly formed United States National Lawn Tennis Association hosted its first men ’ s singles championship on the casino lawn . The event would later move to Forest Hills , New York ( a more accessible venue for the scores of New Yorkers who came to watch and participate ), but for its first thirty-four years , the casino played host to what would eventually become the U . S . Open . On other days , the casino hosted mixed doubles club play , with men and women playing together . White fabrics
such as linen and wool hid perspiration , and women often played in their corsets and long skirts .
“ We ’ ve always had tennis tournaments on this site ,” Markham says . “ Prior to COVID , we would always say that we were the oldest continuously used grass courts in the world .”
In addition to tennis , the club held balls , concerts and social events in the Casino Theatre , later hosting big names like Ray Charles and Charlton Heston . During the Gilded Age , the seats of the theater could be removed for social events , and the public , for a small fee , could purchase tickets to stand in the balcony and observe the elite partying down below .
With the onset of the Great Depression and World War II , the club began to decline in popularity . After a fire in the north wing in the early 1950s , the iconic Bellevue Avenue facade was slated to be torn down and replaced with a strip mall . Jimmy Van Alen , a national tennis champion and member of the Newport Casino , petitioned the United States Lawn Tennis Association to open a hall of fame and tennis museum in the location . The Tennis Hall of Fame opened in 1954 , adding the “ International ” designation in 1975 .
Today , the Hall of Fame records more than 140 years of tennis history while preserving the original Newport Casino site . It also remains an active tennis venue . The property hosts the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in the summer , as well as regular matches for the more than 600 members in its associated tennis club . — L . C .
PHOTOGRAPHY ( THIS PAGE FROM FAR LEFT ): COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME . ( OPPOSITE PAGE FROM LEFT ) ALISON COHEN ROSA / HBO ; COURTESY OF DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ; COURTESY OF THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY .
58 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2023