Newport (town), Maine

Newport is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,017 at the 2000 census. Newport is situated on Lake Sebasticook.

History

In 1901 a large fire destroyed the Maine Central Railroad freight depot and two mills, and damaged 20 houses. [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D0DE2DB1030E132A2575BC1A9639C946097D6CF]

In 1990 two boys aged 8 and 9 started a fire which burned half of Newport's historic downtown (three buildings more than a century old).

Notable residents

* Lewis O. Barrows, governor
* Merle Crowell, originally from North Newport, was the editor of The American Magazine 1923-1929, which had the second largest circulation of any U.S. publication in the 1920s. A series of magazines under Crowell's control then had the largest aggregate circulation in American publishing. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,787532,00.html]
* Mark Fisher and William Martin, Jr. were local blacksmiths, tool-makers, and inventors who won a Silver Medal at the Great Fair of the American Institute of New York in 1846 for an "improved vice". They also exhibited an anvil and "parallel chain braces". [Redwood Fisher, "Fisher's National Magazine of Industrial Record" (1846), p. 167]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 37.0 square miles (95.8 km²), of which, 29.5 square miles (76.4 km²) of it is land and 7.5 square miles (19.4 km²) of it (20.25%) is water. Situated on Lake Sebasticook, Newport is drained by Martin Stream and the East Branch of the Sebasticook River.Sebasticook Lake is contained all in the town of Newport, and is the largest lake contained in one town in the state of Maine. [http://www.newportmaine.net/site/lake_info.html]

The town is crossed by Interstate 95, U.S. Route 2, and State Routes 7, 11, 100, and 222. It borders the towns of Corinna to the north, Stetson to the east, Plymouth and Etna to the south, and Palmyra to the west.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 3,017 people, 1,269 households, and 846 families residing in the town. The population density was 102.3 people per square mile (39.5/km²). There were 1,574 housing units at an average density of 53.4/sq mi (20.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.28% White, 0.17% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.03% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.43% of the population.

There were 1,269 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $30,056, and the median income for a family was $37,104. Males had a median income of $28,719 versus $19,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,312. About 9.1% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

ite of interest

* [http://boards.ancestry.com.au/topics.organizations.historical/42/mb.ashx Newport Historical Society & Museum]

References

Further reading

* [http://history.rays-place.com/me/newport-me.htm History of Newport, Maine (1886)]
* A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield, "A History and Description of New England", 1859; H. O. Houghton & Company, printers; Cambridge, Massachusetts

External links

* [http://www.newportmaine.org/ Town of Newport, Maine]
* [http://www.ourchamber.org/newport.htm Sebasticook Valley Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://maine.gov/local/penobscot/newport/ Maine.gov -- Newport, Maine]