Founding
city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States
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Newport is a home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States. It is at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers across from Cincinnati. The population was 14,150 at the 2020 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is an urban center of Northern Kentucky and is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
Newport was settled c. 1791 by James Taylor Jr. on land purchased by his father James Sr. from George Muse, who received it as a grant. Taylor's brother, Hubbard Taylor, had been mapping the land twenty years prior. It was not named for its position on the river but for Christopher Newport, the commander of the first ship to reach Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. Newport was established as a town on December 14, 1795, and incorporated as a city on February 24, 1834. In 1803, the Ft. Washington military post was moved from Cincinnati to become the Newport Barracks. A bridge first connected Newport to Covington in 1853, and the first bridge spanning the Ohio River to Cincinnati, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, opened in 1866. Newport experienced large German immigration in the 1880-90s.
By 1900, Newport was the third largest city in Kentucky, after Covington and Louisville, although Newport and Covington were rightly considered satellites of Cincinnati.
Prohibition under the Volstead Act of 1919 resulted in a widespread illegal sale of alcohol. Many gangsters began to smuggle alcohol into the city to supply citizens and businesses. Speakeasies, bribery, and corruption became a norm in Newport. A well known Newport crime boss was gambler and National Crime Syndicate member Ed Levinson.
In 1921, Newport was rocked by a steel mill strike of +2,000 workers, following the end of WW1 and steel industry downturn. The strike involved one in five of the town's workers and was over recognition for the three unskilled union locals that made up the four locals within the union. During it, following unrest and the company arming the mill with machine guns, state militia companies and later tanks were stationed in the town, withdrawn in late 1922. The strike was partially broken by the end of 1922 with some steelworkers leaving the town and others finding separate jobs in Newport. However, the strike did not formally end until seven years later in 1928, without union recognition for the three locals.
Newport's worst natural disaster occurred in 1937, when a flood covered a great part of the city. A flood wall was completed in 1948, and remains a significant part of Newport's landscape.
Newport once had the reputation of "Sin City" due to its upscale gambling casinos on Monmouth street. Monmouth also had many men's stores, restaurants, and ice cream parlors. Investigations for racketeering pushed out the casinos, which were replaced by peep shows and adult strip clubs. Many of the old businesses disappeared when parking became difficult on Monmouth Street and the commercial district opened on the hill of south Newport.
A garage at 938 John Street manufacturing illegal fireworks exploded without warning in 1981, leaving severe damage up to a six-block radius.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Newport made plans to develop its riverfront and core to focus primarily on "family friendly" tourism, instead of the "Sin City" tourism of the past. In May 1999 the $40-million Newport Aquarium opened, and the historic Posey Flats apartments were leveled in favor of the Newport on the Levee entertainment complex, which opened the following year.
In 1997 plans for a 1,015-foot (309 m) structure called the "Millennium Tower" were revealed. The tower's main selling point was that building it would be financed by private money, as opposed to taxpayer money. The tower was expected to be completed by 2003, but investors later pulled out and no construction was done. Today the site for the tower is a parking lot next to the World Peace Bell.
In the 21st century, Newport has experienced development with the entertainment industry.
Newport is a county seat of Campbell County, and was previously a county seat from 1797 until 1823, and again from 1824 until 1840. In the 19th century, the overwhelming majority of the population lived in Newport and the surrounding cities. Many citizens did not like traveling south to Alexandria to conduct county business, as southern Campbell County was primarily undeveloped.
In 1883, Newport successfully lobbied the state legislature for an exception to state law, which both required that a county seat be located in the center of the county, and that certain county business only be conducted at the county seat. Frankfort passed a special law, creating the Newport Court House District, and within that district, the Newport Courthouse Commission which functioned as a special taxing district, so that an additional courthouse could be built, and business could take place in Newport, in addition to Alexandria. In 2008, the Kentucky General Assembly removed the taxing authority from the Courthouse Commission, but left the District and Commission intact.
In 2009, a court ruled that Alexandria is the only county seat, and Newport is not a county seat. On November 24, 2010, the Kentucky Court of Appeals disagreed, and granted Newport equal status as a county seat. On August 25, 2011, the Supreme Court of Kentucky denied review of the appellate decision.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.0 square miles (7.8 km2), of which 2.7 square miles (7.0 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) (8.42%) is water.
Newport is located within the Bluegrass region found in the Upland South of the United States of America. Newport is also commonly referred to as being located in the Midwest. Either description of Upland South or Midwest is acceptable, as Newport is located at the boundary between those regions.
Newport is located within a transition zone and is proximal to the extreme northern limit of the humid subtropical climate of the Southeastern United States.
As of the 2020 census, Newport had a population of 14,150. The median age was 36.6 years. 17.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 105.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 106.5 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 6,445 households in Newport, of which 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 26.8% were married-couple households, 29.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 43.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.98, and the average family size was 2.82.
There were 7,361 housing units, of which 12.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%. The population density was 5,136.12 people per square mile (1,982.99/km2).
According to the U.S. Census American Community Survey, for the period 2016-2020 the estimated median annual income for a household in the city was $44,095, and the median income for a family was $89,115. About 23.2% of the population were living below the poverty line, including 33.8% of those under age 18 and 34.4% of those age 65 or over. About 54.0% of the population were employed, and 35.6% had a bachelor's degree or higher.
As of the census of 2010, there were 15,273 people, 6,194 households, and 3,273 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,267.8 inhabitants per square mile (2,420.0/km2). There were 7,828 housing units at an average density of 2,878.0 per square mile (1,111.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.3% White, 7.6% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, less than 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.8% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population.
There were 6,194 households, out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.7% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.2% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the city the population was spread out, with 22.2% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,451, and the median income for a family was $32,858. Males had a median income of $29,337 versus $22,723 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,207. About 20.7% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.1% of those under age 18 and 16.3% of those age 65 or over.
Newport is home to Newport on the Levee, a dining and entertainment complex located on Third Street, which includes Newport Aquarium.
Newport Public Schools are part of the Newport Independent Schools School District. The district has one elementary school, one intermediate school, one middle school, and one high school. Newport is also home to a Catholic private high school; Newport Central Catholic is a coed private Catholic school in central Newport which has been operating for over 100 years.
Newport has a public library, a branch of the Campbell County Public Library.
A pivotal scene (in which the autistic character Raymond Babbitt counts the toothpicks) in the 1988 film Rain Man was filmed in Newport at Pompilio's Italian restaurant. Scenes from the Netflix original movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) were filmed in Newport. The scenes from Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) showcase parts of Monmouth Street, Pepper Pod, and Newport's historic court house. A scene from the 2011 political thriller The Ides of March was shot in Newport. The scene (in which Molly Stearns overdoses) was shot at the Comfort Inn located at 420 Riverboat Row facing downtown Cincinnati across the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge in Kentucky.
The Cincinnati area's Fox affiliate, WXIX-TV (channel 19) is allocated and licensed to Newport, though its actual operations and transmitter has always been across the river in Hamilton County, Ohio.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Newport, Kentucky”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.