The Newport station, also known as Missouri-Pacific Depot-Newport, is a historic railroad station at Walnut and Front Streets in Newport, Arkansas. It is a long rectangular single-story brick and stucco topped by a hip roof, whose wide eaves are supported by large Italianate knee brackets. Its roof, originally slate, is now shingled, detracting from its original Mediterranean styling. A telegrapher's bay extends above the roof line on the track side of the building. The building was built in 1904 by the Missouri-Pacific Railroad to handle passenger and freight traffic.[3]
History
Newport station in March 1990
The Missouri-Pacific Railroad ended service on its crack Texas Eagle on April 30, 1971, one day before Amtrak took over passenger services. In March 1974, Amtrak's Inter-American was extended from Fort Worth to St. Louis, restoring passenger service to the Missouri-Pacific Railroad's main line. In June 1974, Amtrak announced that they would test ridership in northeastern Arkansas by implementing a stop in Newport.[4] On September 15, 1974, stops were added at the former Missouri-Pacific stations in Walnut Ridge and Newport.[1] The Inter-American was replaced by the Eagle in 1981, which in turn was renamed as the Texas Eagle in 1988.[1]
