The community was first known as Bear Hill when L. Hancock founded it in 1872. After a post office opened there in 1878, the name was changed to Newport the following year. Newport is a word created by merging the initial letters of the surnames of seven prominent locals.[2] Newport had 176 residents by 1900. By the middle of the 1920s, it had grown to 280, and it remained there until the mid-1940s, when twelve local enterprises began operations, and into the 1930s. The population had decreased to 85 by the middle of the 1950s, and there were just three companies. 70 people were projected to live in Newport between the 1960s and 2000. By 1990, Newport had grown into Jack County and had only one business listed.[3]
On April 5-6, 1955, an F3 tornado hit the towns of Antelope, Shannon, and Newport, but did not cause any damage.[4]
