Go2Newport

In 1785 Virginia native General James Taylor, Sr. sent his son Hubbard to survey and plat the 1500 acres he had been deeded for military service.  The property was named Newport for the British Explorer Captain Christopher Newport.  Captain Newport sailed with Sir Francis Drake, but was more famous for leading the first English settlement to America at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.  James Taylor, Jr., arrived in May 1793 to settle.

Newport is the oldest city in Northern Kentucky, and was officially incorporated in 1795.  The City was a trading center at the confluence of the Licking and Ohio Rivers.  Key to its development was the Newport Barracks, which served as the region’s principal outpost, supplying soldiers in the War of 1812 and the Civil War.  The barracks equipped soldiers until 1893 when it was moved to Fort Thomas, Kentucky due to repeat flooding in Newport.  During the 1840s-50s, Newport grew and became a trading and industrial center.  Industries included iron, steel, a watchcase factory, sawmills and breweries.  After 1850, there was an influx of Irish and German immigrants. 
The Newport-Cincinnati Bridge (now the L&N) was constructed in the 1870s, and it opened up the city as a bedroom community: businessmen could more easily travel to neighboring areas, and workers could now live in Newport and work in Cincinnati.  The limited capacity of the ferries, in addition to their cost prohibitive ticket prices, had limited the amount of people who could take advantage of this opportunity before the bridge’s construction.

The James Taylor estate was subdivided beginning in the 1870s.  The subdivision was named for the city’s eastern boundary (now Washington Avenue), then known as East Row.  The East Row consists of two neighborhoods:  Mansion Hill was named for James Taylor’s mansion, and Gateway for the tollgate that once stood at the eastern edge of the City between Newport and Bellevue.

With a colorful past of wide-open gambling, shady characters, nightlife and many compelling and often notorious diversions, Newport in the 21st century is a city of many superb virtues, as demonstrated in the historic preservation of its East Row Historic District.  Within its boundaries one finds a rich history of American building styles from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.

The architectural influences are strong and eloquent. Among its styles are Italianate, Queen Anne, and American Foursquare.  East Row Historic District has been called “one of the finest urban historic areas in Kentucky.”  Take a close look and you will see marvelous examples of old-world craftsmanship – elegant stained glass windows, intricately carved window hoods, lacy gingerbread porches and elaborately decorated cornices.  The East Row area is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  Accompanying this honor is a preservation ordinance that protects the character of the district.

A walk through the district’s tree-lined streets can transport you back to the late 19th century.  Perhaps as you stroll through block after block of well-preserved historic homes, you can imagine the faint rustle of long skirts and the clip-clop of horses’ hooves on brick streets.  This was the Newport of the late 1800s – a past that lives today in its remarkable collection of historic buildings.