History Bytes: Shoes

October 31, 2013
Ad ad for Popple shoes from the 1978 City Directory.

An ad for Popple’s Shoes from the 1978 City Directory.

Shoes have been on the radar screen at the Newport Historical Society as we note the closure of Rhode Island Shoe Repair after 66 years in business. We also celebrate the discovery of a pair of shoes under the floorboards of the Colony House last week. Shoe and boot making has been an enduring industry in Newport often passed down for generations. Readers may recall the George Popple’s Shoe Store at 132 Thames Street, which had an unbroken chain of ownership through three generations of Popples, from Benjamin Marsh, from Marsh & Gould, and from Quaker shoemaker and tailor James Gould (1711-1748). After Popple’s closed, the building was occupied by the House of Scrimshaw and was destroyed by fire in 2007.