Museum Collections

The museum collection contains over 10,000 objects and more than 500 paintings, prints, and maps. Object collections inlcude articles from daily life over 300 years of Newport history including furniture, textiles and clothing, musical and scientific instruments.

Photographic Collections

At the heart of the Newport Historical Society stands its rich and extensive photographic collections. They are of international importance, measured by their intrinsic value as sources of information about the past and by their use by patrons from around the world, and they reflect all aspects of Newport County's fascinating history. Collections include all historic photographic formats from daugerrotypes forward.

Library and Special Collections

Our research library contains approximately 12,000 volumes, and our special collections consist of 1,500 shelf feet of manuscript and archival material.

The collections illuminate the history of the region, the country, and even the development of the Atlantic World, especially in the 18th century. Because they document so much of Newport County's and our country's heritage, the Society's collections are, in fact, a national treasure.