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Augustus Lucas House

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1721. c. 1745–1750, enlarged. 40 Division St. (southeast corner of Mary St.)
  • Augustus Lucas House (Richard W. Longstreth)

Two stairs in different styles, one behind the other, confirm the back-to-front enlargement of this house, as does the anomaly of two chimneys, also one behind the other. Boxed stairs in three short runs with scroll-cut balusters indicate that the older section was in the rear. The front stairs have twisted balusters, popular in the mid-eighteenth century. The gable-on-hip roof may also result from the modification of a small gable into something grander. Augustus Lucas first appears in The Newport Mercury announcing a consignment of African and Indian slaves for sale. An orchard on his property and Lucas's reputation as an expert in grafting fruit trees remind us that a number of properties in this now crowded area had sizable gardens through the eighteenth century. A grandson, Augustus Johnson, was appointed stamp master in 1765, just in time to be swept up in the riots of that year. This house was a major target, and its owner was driven from Newport.

Writing Credits

Author: 
William H. Jordy et al.
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Data

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Citation

William H. Jordy et al., "Augustus Lucas House", [Newport, Rhode Island], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/RI-01-NE75.

Print Source

Buildings of Rhode Island, William H. Jordy, with Ronald J. Onorato and William McKenzie Woodward. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, 539-540.

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