Newport is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,364 at the 2020 census.
History
Newport was officially chartered in 1866. Although the crossroads community on the Newport River was known by that name decades earlier, the area was also known as Bell's Corner and Shepardsville in earlier years. It was the location of the Newport Barracks, a Union camp during the American Civil War.
It was also called Shepardsville, in the early 18th century, for Shepard, a local landowner. The naming of "Newport" can be traced to two prevalent theories: the town was called "New Port" to distinguish it from the "Old Port " of Beaufort, N.C.; and the early influx of Quakers from Rhode Island called the town "Newport" in honor of their native Newport, R.I..
Early industry included agriculture, logging, and naval stores, including turpentine production. During the town's early history, the Newport River was navigable all the way to Old Topsail Inlet, now known as Beaufort Inlet, which opens to the Atlantic Ocean. The town was home to one of the earliest organized churches in Carteret County, the Newport River Primitive Baptist Church, established 1778. The structure was burned near the end of the Civil War but was soon rebuilt on the corner of Haskett Street and New Bern Street and remains active today.
In 1858, the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad was completed when the final stretch of rail from Goldsboro through Newport to Beaufort was laid. The community is also the site of numerous Civil War battlefields, forts, and strategic locations. Newport was occupied by Union forces for much of the war.
Part of the town's residential area known as the "housing project" was originally developed as housing for civil service employees and military serving at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
Newport today
The town government operates as a council–manager government form with a mayor, a town manager, and a five-member town council. Members serve staggered terms.
The town is protected by a paid fire department with an active volunteer force, founded in the 1940s by Leon Mann, Jr. The department also provides emergency medical and ambulance services.
Public schools in Newport include the Carteret Pre-K Center, Newport Elementary School, and Newport Middle School. Newport Consolidated School, a first-through-12th-grade school established in 1926, was demolished in 1966 after the county completed construction of a new consolidated high school, West Carteret High in nearby Morehead City. Members of the Newport Consolidated School Alumni Association operate a small school museum in a depot warehouse owned by the North Carolina Railroad in Newport.
Geography
Newport is located in west-central Carteret County. U.S. Route 70, a four-lane highway, passes through the town west of the center; it leads southeast to Morehead City and north to Havelock. New Bern is to the north up US-70.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Newport has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.85%, is water.
Climate
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Newport had a population of 4,364. The median age was 42.9 years. 17.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.9 males age 18 and over.
91.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 8.6% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,718 households in Newport, of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. There were 1,161 families residing in the town. Of all households, 43.7% were married-couple households, 19.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)
| 3,281
| 75.18%
|-
!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
| 453
| 10.38%
|-
!scope="row"| Native American
| 28
| 0.64%
|-
!scope="row"| Asian
| 117
| 2.68%
|-
!scope="row"| Pacific Islander
| 11
| 0.25%
|-
!scope="row"| Other/Mixed
| 281
| 6.44%
|-
!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino
| 193
| 4.42%
|}
2000 census
As of the census