Newport was begun around the year 1849 by Joseph Werner, a German immigrant who had come to America and to Texas while still a young man. He and his brother owned a steamboat, with which they intended to freight goods up the Trinity River to serve as many parts along its banks, but the boat was wrecked in Galveston Bay before it could ever enter into the Trinity trade. After the loss of the boat Werner worked for a time for other riverboat owners, making many trips up and down the river before eventually deciding to settle on the site which was to become Newport. Werner first erected a log cabin there, and eventually replaced it with a larger and better constructed cabin, which in turn gave way to a third and larger house and one and one half stories, containing 8 rooms. All the materials and furnishings for the house except the window glass were made in the community which had by this time grown up around the house. (The Beaumont Enterprise, September 3, 1939, R. Werner, son of Joseph)
Newport was located 4 miles down the river from the present town of Riverside. the river-port sites were generally chosen for their geographic positions, and from the standpoint of beauty, health and safety. The Newport area met these exciting requirements and was located on a high bluff above the banks of the river, yet it provided a good landing place for steamboats. today the only things to be found on the old townsite are an abandoned Negro shack and a cemetery. Among the graves to be found in the cemetery is that of the former founder of the town. The State of Texas erected a marker in 1936 to designate the location of the former town.
At the peak of its growth Newport had a population of 200-300 persons. the town had a post office, 2 large general stores, drug store, warehouses, blacksmith shop, woodworking shop and various other businesses. the woodworking and blacksmith shop were particularly important, for they provided plows, furniture, nails for building, iron tires, horseshoes, and other such articles of great importance to the citizens. the blacksmith was a respected old negro who was a slave prior to the Civil War. there was also a school and a church in newport.
The main purpose of the town; of course, was that of a cotton port. There were two great cotton warehouses, and the farmers of the county and other surrounding areas would bring in their cotton loaded on ox or mule wagons. Newport had a cotton gin, and a typical scene of the old town was the carrying of the bales down to the river to be loaded on the boats by the deckhands. In periods of dry weather, when the water wa low and the steamboats could not navigate the river, the farmers had to make the long and tedious overland trips in their ox wagons to carry their cotton to markets in Houston and Galveston.
Another important business of this town was a freighting concern - West, Werner and Company, operated by Joseph Werner and partner. Deliveries were made by ox wagons to such surrounding settlements as Moscow, Centerline, Peachtree Village, Sumpter, Colito, and Mount Hope. their consignments included casks of bacon, kegs of butter, barrels of ham, barrels of whiskey, kegs of spice, slabs of iron, boxes of snuff, boxes of axle-grease, and boxes of bitters. (Harold Werner, Trinity)
As a general rule the town was a peaceful and law-abiding place, but there were occasional fights, and many of the men carried cap and ball pistols on their belts. There was no established law in Newport for several years after the founding of the town.
The founder of Newport died in 1872, and was thus spared the sight of the decay of the town which had meant so much to him. Newport ended with the end of the riverboat traffic, and by the year 1878 the town had been generally abandoned.