Though contemporary Newport is famous for the massive Gilded Age mansions, euphemistically called 'cottages', that were left behind by families like the Astors, Vanderbilts, and Wideners, its long standing relationship with the daring and bountiful nature of the sea continues to make this small city of less than 25,000 one of the world's most interesting places to live. Founded on Aquidneck Island by Puritan dissenters in 1639, Newport was already a bustling port by the 1720s, during which time its inhabitants were known for their open embrace of piracy. After transitioning toward a legal mercantile shipping economy throughout the 18th Century, Newport's many taverns and trading houses became a hotbed for agitation against the British government and, during the Revolutionary War, the city served as a major assembly area for both the Continental Army and Navy. Even today, Newport is considered to have the highest concentration of authentic colonial buildings in the nation. Though a picturesque trademark of its seaside districts, these homes were soon to be eclipsed in terms of both size and extravagance by the stately manors that were increasingly raised as summer retreats after the 1850s, however. Peaking in opulence at the turn of the century, many of these so-called 'cottages' were designed by the noted architect Richard Morris Hunt and were used to host some of the most glamorous social events in the nation's history, including the wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy. Used as a 'summer White House' by both Dwight Eisenhower and Kennedy, Newport has continued to support a rarefied social climate up to the present day. Likewise, due to the presence of the Naval War College and Naval Undersea Warfare Center, this cornerstone of Rhode Island's diverse economy still maintains its close relationship with the sea, albeit yachtsmen have largely replaced the privateers of old.