Inside Newport’s Connection to ‘A Visit From Saint Nicholas’
The famous poem's author frequently summered in the City By the Sea.
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Photography by Dana Laverty
With its famous opening lines — “’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse” — Clement C. Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas” tells the story of Santa and his reindeer delivering gifts on Christmas Eve. Not so famous is the story behind Moore’s connection to Newport: The wealthy scholar and author built a summer home on Catherine Street and frequented it until his death — in the home — on July 10, 1863. It now belongs to Mary de Pinho, who purchased it with her late husband, Manny, in 1976, as a rental property. (Sometime after 1850 the home was turned into seven apartments.) The poem is largely responsible for shaping Santa into the jolly old soul we know and love today: In 1881, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew an image of Santa Claus based on Moore’s poem in Harper’s Weekly, and a twinkling-eyed, pot-bellied Christmas legend was born. In 1997, Manny commissioned a plaque that pays homage to Moore’s ownership of the house. It now hangs near the front door, where folks visit all throughout the year — not just in December — to take a selfie. “People stop here all the time,” Mary says. “They stop the car, run out, take a picture with the plaque and run back to the car.” The big guy himself would be pleased with Moore’s summer home, Mary thinks, with its many pitched gables and eaves. “There are a lot of roofs for Santa to land on,” she says.
Photography by Dana Laverty
