The Newport post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gorman's Depot (1868), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 281 in 18702020 census: 6,868224 years
How historic is Newport?
B+
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Newport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Newport’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newport is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #27 of 177 in Tennessee. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Newport’s overall grade.
Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Newport’s 10.2 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
What stands out about Newport’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1887Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Newport’s post office has been open since 1802. Another post office, Gorman's Depot, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Newport
1802–today
Gorman's Depot
1868–1873
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClevengerJaybirdJimtownNorthportWest End
Gone or out of use
Cave SchoolschoolFair Ground SchoolschoolLindsey ChurchchurchNorthport SchoolschoolWest End Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Newport
HearstUnion
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Great Indian Warpath passed through what is now Newport en route to the ancient Cherokee hunting grounds of northeastern Tennessee. The Warpath crossed the Pigeon River at a point approximately 0.2 miles (0.3 km) east of the McSween Memorial Bridge (US-321), in an area where the river is normally low enough to walk across. The first European traders to the area, arriving in the mid-18th century, called this point along the Pigeon River the "War Ford".
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Newport post office opened in 1802, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Newport rank for history?
Newport is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #27 of 177 in Tennessee. 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.
What is on the National Register in Newport?
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the O'Dell House (listed 1975, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Newport?
11% of Newport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (1), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
