Newport, Delaware
Encyclopedia
Newport is a town in New Castle County
New Castle County, Delaware
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 its population was 538,479, an increase of 7.6% over the previous decade. The county seat is Wilmington. The center of population of Delaware is located in New Castle County, in the town of...

, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located on the Christina River
Christina River
The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth the river flows past downtown Wilmington, Delaware,...

. It is best known for being the home of colonial inventor Oliver Evans
Oliver Evans
Oliver Evans was an American inventor. Evans was born in Newport, Delaware to a family of Welsh settlers. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a wheelwright....

. The population was 1,055 at the 2010 census
United States Census, 2010
The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...

. Four limited access highways, I-95, I-295
Interstate 295 (Delaware-New Jersey)
Interstate 295 in New Jersey and Delaware is an auxiliary Interstate Highway, designated as a bypass around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The route begins at a junction with Interstate 95 south of Wilmington, Delaware, and runs to another junction with I-95 north of Trenton, New Jersey...

, I-495
Interstate 495 (Delaware)
Interstate 495 in Delaware is a six-lane bypass of Interstate 95 around the city of Wilmington, Delaware. Built in the mid-1970s and opened as the "Wilmington Bypass", the highway became, between 1978 and 1982, the route of I-95 around Wilmington, while the original highway through the city,...

, and Delaware Route 141
Delaware Route 141
Delaware Route 141 is a bypass around the western suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware. Its northern terminus is an interchange with U.S. Route 202 and Delaware Route 261 in Fairfax, and its southern terminus is at Delaware Route 9 and Delaware Route 273 in New Castle...

 intersect within one mile (1.6 km) of the town.

Geography

Newport is located at 39°42′48"N 75°36′29"W (39.713312, -75.608002).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 0.4 mi2, of which 2.22% is water.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,122 people, 456 households, and 290 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 2554 PD/sqmi. There were 490 housing units at an average density of 1115.4 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 75.76% White, 10.61% African American, 0.80% Native American, 1.69% Asian, 5.08% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 6.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.55% of the population.

There were 456 households out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 17.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 36.5% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $38,864, and the median income for a family was $41,771. Males had a median income of $32,917 versus $26,420 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $19,590. About 9.9% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

History

Prior to European settlement, the Minquas or Susquehannock
Susquehannock
The Susquehannock people were Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries from the southern part of what is now New York, through Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Susquehanna in Maryland at the north end of the Chesapeake Bay...

 peoples, lived in and around modern-day Newport. This heritage is reflected in the name of the Miquas Fire Company, Newport's volunteer fire company
Volunteer fire department
See also the Firefighter article and its respective sections regarding VFDs in other countries.A volunteer fire department is a fire department composed of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction.The first organized force of...

.

The first land grant for the area were awarded to the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...

 in 1641. In 1731, longtime area resident and businessman John Justis purchased 100 acre (0.404686 km²) and several years later the streets of a town called Newport-Ayre were laid out. According to Newport histories, Justis saw the area's potential as a commercial crossroads and a port.

George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 passed through during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 during preparations for the Battle of the Brandywine in 1777. The town dropped "Ayre" from its name by the time what would become the U.S. Postal Service opened a branch office there in 1793.

Newport became a center of commerce in the early 19th century, as Conestoga wagon
Conestoga wagon
The Conestoga wagon is a heavy, broad-wheeled covered wagon that was used extensively during the late 18th century and the 19th century in the United States and sometimes in Canada as well. It was large enough to transport loads up to 8 tons , and was drawn by horses, mules or oxen...

s transported farm products from as far away as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...

 to Newport's docks on the Christina River
Christina River
The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near its mouth the river flows past downtown Wilmington, Delaware,...

, where the supplies were loaded on ships bound for Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The town's important role in trade ebbed as new roads favored the larger town of Wilmington and the railroad reached the area in 1837.

Newport incorporated in 1873 and became a manufacturing center, boasting chemical works, glue factory and iron works in 1900. Henrik J. Krebs
Henrik J. Krebs
Henrik Johannes Krebs , sometimes called Henry J. Krebs, was an immigrant from Denmark who started the Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company to manufacture the pigment lithopone.-Biography:...

, founder of Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company
Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company
Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company was founded in 1902 by Henrik J. Krebs and was a manufacturer of lithopone and titanium dioxide.-History:The company was founded in 1902 by Henrik J. Krebs in Newport, Delaware...

, built a plant in town in 1908.Town of Newport History, Newport website, Retrieved October 27, 2011 The facility was purchased by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in 1929 and later sold to it to Ciba-Geigy in 1984.

Economy

Newport has several several small industries within it borders, including a Ciba Corporation
Ciba Specialty Chemicals
Ciba was a chemical company based in and near Basel, Switzerland. "Ciba" stood for "Chemische Industrie Basel" . It was formed as the non-pharmaceuticals elements of Novartis were spun out in 1997, following the merger in the previous year of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz that created Novartis.In 2008,...

 pigment manufacturing plant.

The General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 Wilmington Assembly
Wilmington Assembly
Wilmington Assembly was a General Motors automobile factory in Wilmington, Delaware. The factory opened in 1947, closing its assembly line in 2009. Its final product was the GM Kappa platform sports cars. Production of the Saturn L-Series halted on June 17, 2004. In the 1950s and 1960s...

 automobile manufacturing facility was located on Boxwood Road just north of the town and operated from 1947 to 2009. In October 2009, Fisker Automotive
Fisker Automotive
Fisker Automotive is an American automaker based in Anaheim, California. The company's first product, the Fisker Karma is among the world's first true electric vehicles with extended range...

 announced it would begin manufacturing electric automobiles at the Boxwood Road location.

Education

Newport is served by the Red Clay Consolidated School District
Red Clay Consolidated School District
Red Clay Consolidated School District is a public school district in northern New Castle County, Delaware. Founded in 1981, Red Clay serves a portion of the city of Wilmington, its northern suburbs, and the Brandywine Creek and Pike Creek Valley areas.-High schools:*Alexis I...

.

The Delaware Military Academy
Delaware Military Academy
The Delaware Military Academy is a publicly funded charter high school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is unique in that all students are required to participate in the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, or NJROTC. Because of this, many consider the school to be a "military school," although...

, a magnet
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

 high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 is located just outside of the town.

Sports

The Stanton-Newport Little League Girls Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

 team were Little League Senior League Softball Champions in 1999.

Notable residents

  • Oliver Evans
    Oliver Evans
    Oliver Evans was an American inventor. Evans was born in Newport, Delaware to a family of Welsh settlers. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a wheelwright....

    , inventor
  • Dallas Green
    Dallas Green
    George Dallas Green is a former pitcher, manager, and executive in Major League Baseball. After playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and two other teams, he went on to manage the Phillies, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets, and managed the Phillies when they won their first World Series...

    , Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

     pitcher
    Pitcher
    In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

     and manager
    Manager (baseball)
    In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

     of the 1980 World Series
    1980 World Series
    -Game 1:Tuesday, October 14, 1980 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Royals jumped on Philly rookie starter Bob Walk early with a pair of two run bombs—one by Amos Otis in the second and another by Willie Aikens in the third...

     champion Philadelphia Phillies
    Philadelphia Phillies
    The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

  • Henry Latimer
    Henry Latimer (senator)
    Dr. Henry Latimer was an American physician and politician from Newport, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was elected to the Continental Congress from Delaware, and was a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as U.S. Representative from Delaware, and U.S...

    , United States Representative and Senator
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