THE NEWPORT NEWS OF THE 19TH CENTURY
The first thirty years
| 1802 Upon the death of Paul Rider his plot of
ground which Newport stands was given to his son, John., while his other
sons, Abraham, Paul, Daniel and Ephraim were given an equal portion of
land. In 1802 some of the property was plotted into 54 lots with streets and alleys. At
this time Newport was known as Ridersville. Paul Rider, great
grandfather of the Riders and the Demarees, conducted the first store
near Little Buffalo Creek, here also the Raider mansion house [first
house built] stood. The
second house was built on the corner of Market and Water [Front]
Streets. Paul Rider's son, David moved the business here to be near
the ferry. The river was
the only means of transportaion. Wheat, lumber, also pig iron from
Juniata Furnace, was laoded upon arks and keel boats at the mouths of
Buffalo Creeks. The arks were carried down stream never to return. The
keel boats were carried down stream and brought back by being poled up
river.
1820 Perry County Established: First warehouse built. About this time the first warehouse was built by Abraham Demaree [Kough warehouse] on Water [Front] Street. A house on the corner of the alley above the warehouse was built which was later enlarged and used as Demaree's home and general store. |
1807 Turnpike
Built A turnpike was built on the east side of
the Juniata. The following year the first public passenger and
freight service was inaugurated by stage coach and Conestoga wagons,
requiring the Rider's Ferry. This was an important point for military
dispatch bearers and post riders from Washington D.C. by way of
Carlisle, Sulphur Springs across Middle Ridge into Rider's Ferry and
thence across to the to the National Pike. During the French and Indian
Wars, army and army supplies for General Braddock and Col. Armstrong
were moved westward by crossing at Rider's Ferry. The ferry was is use
until 1850 when the first bridge across the Juniata was constructed.
1810 More Roads Built. A road [2nd St], starting at market St followed the west bank of the river to near the Little Buffalo Creek, forded the creek between the Episcopal Church and Snyder's Mill [then John Kibler's Mill] and then passed between the house and barn [now owned by Wertz, and continued over a small elevation and joined the present road [RT 34], which was the main valley road to New Bloomfield [which did not exist at the time] and on to Carlisle. |
| 1825 First Hotel Built. The first hotel ["Turnbaugh Place"] was built
by Ephraim Bosserman and was kept by Samuel Sipe. It was located near
the present railroad bridge.
The second hotel was the Huggins House on the north-west corner of 2nd
and Market. Elsewhere in A
Sesquicentennial Commemorative Book is stated "The first hotel on
the 'Newporter' site was built by a man named Collar, but later kept
by Sipe. This was partly destroyed by fire, then later rebuilt as the
Gantt House, under which name it was totally destroyed by fire in
1874."
1826 Tate jumps on the canal band wagon. Henry Tate built the boat yard along the canal near Little Buffalo Creek. For many years this was one of the town's most important industries. Many canal boats were built and repaired here. |
1825 Public School comes to
town. There was an early school building in Newport
known as "The Old Mansion" where the children of Reidersville were
taught. The first public school house was built along the banks of the
Little Buffalo Creek. It was a small one story house belonging to John
Reider. The history of the Newport schools is very vague.
1826 First Graveyard in Reidersville In 1826 John Rider gave a portion of ground, which is located at the extreme south end of 5th Street as the first community burial ground. The graveyard was cared for by the community and it was the custom each spring for men, women and children to clean up the property. |
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1826-1830 "Canal Days Gave Newport Its Name" In 1826 the state was bonded for 40 million dollars for canals, thus providing for the construction of a canal through Riderville. The canal was completed in 1829 [or1830]. One could say that it was built by hand, with picks and shovels. It was one of the great engineering feats of its day. In June or July, water was first let into the canal it leaked so badly that it had to be taken out and the canal repaired. It was not filled again until September. Major Jacob Loy was the first man to sail his boat, "Juniata", with the first flour from Perry County to Philadelphia. It took four weeks to get there! "The story of the naming of Newport goes thus: Back in 1830 a canal boat slowly came to a stop just at dusk at one of the camps established by the boat crews along the newly completed Juniata River section of the Pennsylvania Canal. As he moored the craft for the night one of the boatman called to the group ashore: "We’ve found a new port!" The boatman proceeded to explain his discovery of a spot below that was admirably suited for camp purposes at a settlement known as Ridertown. The camp was moved to the new spite and the early settlers referred to it as 'the new port'. Thus Ridertown became known as Newport. |
1830
Sipe brings booze to Newport! No whiskey sold between Duncan’s Island and
Lewistown until John Sipe opened a tavern in 1830 on the site of "Turnbaugh Place. . .a snorting business was carried on in the
sale of rum to the large force of Irishmen employed on the canal".
pictures of Aqueduct
Aqueduct on the Juniata Division at Newport.. When frozen the aquesduct provided ice skating, (courtesy of William H. Shank, P.E., The Amazing Pa. Canals)
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