Newport County, Rhode Island Genealogy

United States

Rhode Island

Newport County

Guide to Newport County, Rhode Island ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Newport County, Rhode Island
Map
Location in the state of Rhode Island
Facts
Founded	June 16, 1729
County Seat
Courthouse

County Courthouse

Newport County Courthouse
8 Washington Square
Newport, RI 02840-7199
Phone: 401.841.8350

Formerly Rhode Island Co. Name changed to Newport 16 Jun 1729. 1746-7 eastern boundary adjusted under decree of the King of England) (City and Tpwn Clerks have birth, marriage, death and burial records

Family and Superior Courts have divorce records;
Probate Courth has probate records from 1784,
District Court has court records; Recorder Deeds has land records from 1780
Newport Historical Society, 82 Truro Street,
Newport, RI has early church, land and probate records)
(Five towns & one city in Newport County
Towns Organized Before 1800; Jamestown 1678,
Little Compton 1746-7, Middletown 1743, New Shoreham 1672,
Portsmouth 1638, Tiverton 1746-7

There is no county government. The government is located at town and state levels.

Quick Facts

22 June 1703: Formed as Rhode Island County

16 June 1729: Renamed Newport County. Named for Town of Newport, Pembrokeshire, Wales. (Welsh:Trefdraeth)

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Rhode Island County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Rhode Island County Boundary Maps" (1643-1963) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places / Localities

Modern towns and cities in Newport County, Rhode Island. Click map to go to each respective town page.

City

• Newport

Towns

• Jamestown
• Little Compton
• Middletown
• Portsmouth
• Tiverton

Villages

Adamsville Briggs Point Bristol Ferry Castle Hill Cedar Island Cedar Point Coasters Harbor Coddington Common Fence Conanicut Corey Lane Despair Island Dutch Island Dyer Island

Eagleville Easton Point Fogland Fort Adams Forty Steps Freebody Hill Goat Island Gould Island Grayville Hog Island Homestead Hope Island Hummocks Island Park

Melville Nannaquaket Newport East Melville North Tiverton Ochre Point Patience Prudence Quaker Hill Rose Island Sachueset Sakonnet Tiverton Four Corners Tonomy Tunipus

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
RIGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
RIGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
EPodunk
Billion Graves
See Rhode Island Cemeteries for more information.

• Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission

Census

For tips on accessing Newport County, Rhode Island Genealogy census records online, see: Rhode Island Census.

• 1905 - Rhode Island State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1907-1991 - Rhode Island Naturalization Records 1907-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate

Online Probate Records

• 1582 – 1932 Rhode Island Wills and Probate Records 1582-1932 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Vital Records

See also How to order Rhode Island Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Rhode Island Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Births

• 1630 - 1945 - Rhode Island Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1630-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Rhode Island Births, 1636-1930 Ancestry ($)

Marriages

• Genealogy Trails
• Rhode Island Marriages, 1636-1930 Ancestry ($)

• 1522-1989 - Rhode Island, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1630 - 1945 - Rhode Island Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1630-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

• 1630 - 1945 - Rhode Island Town Clerk Vital and Town Records 1630-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies, Libraries and Museums

• Rhode Island Genealogical Society,
  P.O. Box 433,
  Greenville Public Library,
  573 Putnam Pike,
  Greenville, RI 02828
• Rhode Island Historical Society,
  110 Benevolent St,
  Providence 02906-3103

Libraries

• Rhode Island State Library,
  State House, 2nd floor,
  Providence, RI 02903
  Phone: (401) 222-2473
• Rhode Island Historical Society Library,
  121 Hope Street,
  Providence, RI 02906
  TEL: (401) 273-8107
• East Greenwich Free Library,
  82 Pierce Street East,
  Greenwich, RI 02818
  
• Lincoln Public Library,
  Old River Road,
  Lincoln, RI 02865,
  Phone: (401) 333-2422
• Louttit Memorial Library,
  274 Victory Highway,
  West Greenwich, RI 02817
  Phone: (401) 397-3434
• Robert H Champlin Library,
  1043 Main Street,
  West Warwick, RI 02893,
  Phone: (401) 828-3750
• Warwick Public Library,
  600 Sandy Lane,
  Warwick, RI 02886

Family History Centers

Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.

Websites

• Newport County, RI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Rhode Island Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Rhode Island Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• The Newport County RIGenWeb Project, an member of The RIGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• The USGenWeb Archives Project for Newport County.
• FamilySearch.org FamilySearch Catalog for Newport County
• Newport County RI Genealogy