Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 418 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1840.
Newport dates its founding to 1804 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newport is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Newport’s 2,579 sits above most of its state (100% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 418 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Newport.
Newport was originally known as Reider's Ferry—later Reidersville—as it was the site of an early ferry on the Juniata River operated by Paul Jr., Daniel, and John Reider until 1851. The trio had also originally laid down 54 plots and several streets. When the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal was finished in 1829, the town was officially renamed Newport.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 2,009 in 1910; 1,485 people lived here in 2020.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Newport’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Newport, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Newport Presbyterian Church. When the first Presbyterian meetings were held in Newport is not recorded, but the Presbyterian people were, in connection with the Lutherans and the Reformed people, the builders of Newport's first church, the old Union church. The Reformed people sold their interest, in 1868, to the Lutherans and Presbyterians, and the Presbyterians eventually purchased the interests of the Lutherans, and thus the building became theirs.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Newport was laid out as a village of Juniata township in 1814, by DanielReider. It was called Reiderville until the formation of Perry county in 1820, when sanguine hopes were entertained that it would be the county seat; hence its name was changed to New Port, which has since been conveniently modified to Newport.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
That part of the William Penn Highway directly opposite Newport occupies the old roadway which was often the cause of trouble. The original road led from Greenwood Township, over the turnpike across the hill, and by Red Hill Church, to Newport. An act of the legislature was passed March 21, 1865, authorizing the county commissioners to pay $500 to aid Howe Township in making a road recently laid out, from the east end of the Newport bridge to a point on the Harrisburg and Millerstown turnpike, at the foot
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
County, while ten miles north from the Blue Hills would be in the vicinity of Wheatfield or Miller Township, in Perry County. Wright’s History places Starr’s settlement “probably near the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge over Buffalo Creek,” above Newport, and those of Lycon and others “probably in Pfoutz’s Valley,” while the records of the land office show them to have been in Walker Township, Juniata County. In the letter to James Hamilton, dated July 2, 1750, is this clause, which locates the place in the vicinity of Thompsontown: “About the year 1740 or 1741, one
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Pennsylvania - Perry County - ED 50-12, E…
Born hereW. Paris Chambers is born here
In the archiveNewport, Perry County, Pennsylvania, 1895
In the archiveHistoric highways of America (Volume 13) - Frontispiece
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereBilly Cox is born here
In the archiveBridge in Newport Borough4 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Newport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Newport.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Newport’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1804, according to Wikidata. Newport’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1840 counted 423 people here.
Newport is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
One place: the Newport Historic District (listed 1999).
78% of Newport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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