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FROM TOP : A match in Newport in the late 1880s ; early tailgaters at a polo match in Newport .

Today ’ s coaching traditions offer a glimpse into a popular Gilded Age pastime .

Alfred G . Vanderbilt and company in a horse-drawn coach .

Learn how Newport ’ s favorite tailgate spot has its roots in the first polo club in America .

It all started in 1876 , when New York Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett Jr . ( the same Bennett who founded the Newport Casino ) invited a group of high-society sportsmen for a polo demonstration at his estate . By the end of the night , a railcar of horses had arrived for the match , and the newfound polo devotees were hooked . The group founded the Westchester Polo Club and based their playing season in Newport , where most had summer residences . The club originally played at Morton Park on Coggeshall

Avenue , later establishing formal polo grounds off Ocean Drive .

“ It was very much part of the social and sporting scene during the Gilded Age ,” says Agnes Keating , general manager of Newport Polo . “ Eventually , the game started to catch on in other cities along the Eastern Seaboard . The Westchester Polo Club was the first and became a founding member of the United States Polo Association .”

The club lasted for several generations , but the world wars and intervening Depression eventually took their toll . Like many of the island ’ s traditions , polo relied on a highearning upper class whose influence began to wane with the introduction of the personal income tax . The club ceased to be active after 1929 .

Fast forward to 1992 , when a Boston real estate developer named Dan Keating — future Newport Polo president and Agnes ’ husband — resurrected the club using the original Westchester Polo Club name . For its polo grounds , the club adopted Glen Farm , a historic homestead with its own Gilded Age roots . In 1882 , New York businessman Henry Taylor began purchasing Colonial parcels and combined them into a 700-acre farm , including a manor house and grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmsted . Today , the farm hosts the Newport International Polo Series as well as other equestrian and sporting activities on land formally owned by the town of Portsmouth .

“ We ’ re really proud to be able to carry on that legacy ,” Agnes Keating says . — L . C .

“ In that period , the railroads were coming into prominence and taking the place of the coach ,” explains Walter Eayrs , a Burrillville resident and member of the Coaching Club , which traces its roots to the 1870s . “ Putting together a coaching party was a wonderful way to get together members of your family but also your friends .”

Today , the tradition lives on in A Weekend of Coaching , hosted every three years by the Preservation Society of Newport County . Next slated to take place in 2025 , the event gathers coaching enthusiasts from around the world , bringing a touch of old-world nostalgia as riders parade about the leafy boulevards of Newport in period carriages . For the coach drivers — called “ whips ” — and their guests , the weekend includes elaborate social events , and members of the public are invited to a Saturday morning exhibition on the lawn at the Elms .

“ There are very few ways to make history come alive ,” says Eayrs , who has participated in the event since the 1990s . “ Something about those coaches going down Bellevue and driving along Ocean Drive , it ’ s a really magical experience .” — L . C .

PHOTOGRAPHY : ( THIS PAGE FROM FAR LEFT ) COURTESY OF NEWPORT POLO AND THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF POLO AND HALL OF FAME ARCHIVE ; NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY . ( OPPOSITE PAGE FROM LEFT ) HERRESHOFF MARINE MUSEUM ; NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY ; THE PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS .

60 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2023