No one knows for sure who built a 28-foot tower in the hear of Newport, Rhode Island. Despite legends of construction by Vikings, Chinese explorers, Portuguese noblemen, the Knights Templar, or R.I. Governor Benedict Arnold, no one has been able to prove the origins of the mysterious tower. At a meeting of the Newport Historical Society last week, Danish researcher Jorgen Siemonsen reports that evidence now shows when the tower was actually constructed.
Boston Globe staff reporter Brian MacQuarrie provides details of the meeting, and Siemonsen's findings in "
Tower's Past a Present Puzzle."