Forty Steps (Newport, Rhode Island)

 panoramic view, place with historical importance, scenic lookout, interesting place

"Where Narragansett Avenue begins at the Cliff Walk is the wild and picturesque spot known as the "Forty Steps", so called from an iron stairway which leads from the road to
the precipitous rocks below. In stormy weather, the spectacle of the angry waves dashing over the "Forty Steps" is awe-inspiring..."

(1919 Guide to Newport - www.archive.org/stream/guidetonewportrh00weis/guidetone...

Originally built sometime in the early 1800's, the 40 Steps were restored in the early 1990's, the new granite steps are courtesy of the Forty Steps Restoration Fund and bear the names of donors who spent $3000 each for their step.

"The Forty Steps, on the Cliff Walk, was once a natural stairway of stone, leading to the ocean's edge. The stone steps wore away and a stairway of wood was built. At the head of the steps is a square cement landing, where the townspeople and servants of the estates dance in the summer evenings to the strains of fiddles and guitars."

www.archive.org/stream/rhodeislandguide00federich/rhode...