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 Newport, Washington Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 48° 10.793 W 117° 02.634
11U E 496736 N 5336294
Built in 1913, 10 years after the town was established, this was Newport's first substantial city hall. Given that it is still the city hall, it must, indeed, have been very substantially built.
Waymark Code: WMTK4M
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 12/02/2016
Views: 3
It's funny how things like towns come to be located where they are. Newport began as a little ferry crossing on the western (left) bank of the Pend d'Oreille River as Newport, Idaho. As more settlers arrived in the area, the majority settled on the Washington side of the border, as a 40 acre townsite had been laid out there in 1895. When the population of Newport, Washington outstripped that of Newport, Idaho the post office decreed that it should be in Newport, Washington, though it was already in Newport, Idaho. The closing of the Newport, Idaho post office effectively eliminated the town of Newport, Idaho, though it remains today as Old Town, Idaho.
Following is a bit of the section on Newport, Washington from the American Guide Series book, Washington: A guide to the Evergreen State, while further below is a short history of the town.
NEWPORT, 0.5 m. (alt. 2,124; pop. 1,174, currently 1,985), seat of Pend Oreille County, is laid out on the gentle curve
of a hill that slopes northeast down to the sweeping arc of the Pend Oreille River. Rising in the rugged Bitter Root and Rocky Mountains, this stream drains westward into Washington, and then, bending abruptly northward, flows into British Columbia, only to loop back to join the Columbia River almost directly upon the Canadian Boundary Line. In spring the river, fed by the rapidly melting snows of the mountains, rises rapidly, and the swollen waters creep dangerously near the top of the banks, sometimes overflowing them in places and flooding lowland areas. The danger of floods has been greatly increased by careless methods of logging and by the destructive fires that have swept over the logged-off areas and killed the protective covering of humus and vegetation of the watershed.
Newport began in the eighties as a village on the Idaho side of the river... In 1890 a boat was put into this service from Lake Pend Oreille, and landings were constructed on the Washington side of the river... By 1892 the Great Northern Railway had laid its rails into New Port, and within a year the town was linked with the rapidly growing city of Spokane some 50 miles to the south. Expansion followed quickly; in a few years a substantial business district had been built along the river front and the residential area was beginning to creep up the hillside. Putting an end to the rivalry that existed between the towns on both sides of the river, the United States Government officially wiped Newport, Idaho, off the map, retaining only Newport, Washington. The report reads: “Newport, Idaho, moved 3,175 feet to Newport, Washington.”
From Washington: A guide to the Evergreen State
Below is a bit of the history of Newport and its neighbour, Oldtown, Idaho, the original centre of activity in the area, and the town from which Newport stole the post office.
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Newport, Washington City Hall |
About Newport, Washington
Newport, Washington became the Pend Oreille County seat in 1911. The county is situated in the northeastern corner of Washington and was originally part of Stevens County. Newport is the largest city in Pend Oreille County and is nestled along the Pend Oreille River at the Washington-Idaho border approximately 40 miles north-east of Spokane.
Around the late 1880s and early 1890s a small community began to emerge east of the present city of Newport. By 1892 this settlement was known as Newport, Idaho (later Oldtown). Its namesake denoted its purpose—a port for river and overland travel. Supplies from this port to the settlers in the Pend Oreille Valley were transported from Newport, Rathdrum and Sandpoint, Idaho. The “new port” of Idaho had a restaurant, general store with a post office, small hotel and a saloon.
In 1892 the Great Northern Railroad ran a line to Newport and further growth in the area occurred.
In 1895 the Talmadge brothers, Charles and Warren, acquired 40 acres of land and formed the "Newport, Washington Land Company" and platted the townsite of Newport, Washington. From its early inception, a controversy began over the location of the post office, then located in Newport, Idaho. By 1901 the town of Newport, Washington had a population of over 200. Because the majority of the population was on the Washington side, the United States Postmaster General issued an order requiring the post office to be moved from the Idaho to the Washington side of Newport. This action officially eliminated the town of Newport, Idaho, and established the town of Newport, Washington. Newport, Idaho remained on the maps as an unincorporated village until April 1947, when the town was incorporated and the name Oldtown was officially adopted.
From the City of Newport
Book: Washington
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 415
Year Originally Published: 1941
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