Newport

Newport, also known as Newport Settlement, is a historical ghost town in Walker County, Texas. It was a short-lived river port community that flourished briefly in the mid-19th century before declining and being abandoned.

Location:
Newport was situated on the west bank of the Trinity River, approximately 4 to 6 miles downriver and east of the present-day community of Riverside in Walker County. The site was chosen for its high bluff overlooking the river, which provided a safe and advantageous landing spot for steamboats, as well as its scenic beauty and relative health benefits. It was about 15 miles northeast of Huntsville, the Walker County seat, and southwest of Groveton. Today, the former townsite is on private property off Newport Village Road, with much of the area now submerged or affected by Lake Livingston, a reservoir created in the late 1960s. Remnants include ruins such as old fireplaces, an abandoned shack, and the Werner Cemetery. The site is not publicly accessible.

Founding and Early Development:
The settlement was founded by Joseph Werner (born 1820), a German immigrant from Frankfurt, Prussia (then part of Germany), who arrived in Texas as a young man. Werner and his brother initially owned a steamboat for freighting goods up the Trinity River, but it wrecked in Galveston Bay before use. After working for other riverboat operators, Werner established the site, starting with a log cabin that he later expanded into a larger home. Sources vary on the exact founding year: the 1936 Texas Centennial Marker lists 1846, but some historical accounts and family descendants suggest the Werners may not have arrived in Walker County until 1852 or 1853. In 1868, Werner purchased adjoining land to expand the property. Newport primarily functioned as a cotton shipping port and steamboat stop, with farmers from Walker County and surrounding areas transporting cotton by ox or mule wagons for loading onto boats. During low-water seasons, cotton had to be hauled overland to Houston or Galveston. The community grew to include facilities like two large cotton warehouses, a cotton gin, a post office (operating from 1855 to 1872), a school, a church, two general stores, a drug store, a tannery, a woodworking shop, and a blacksmith shop. The blacksmith, a respected former slave, produced items like plows, nails, iron tires, and horseshoes, while the woodworking shop made furniture. Werner also ran a freighting business, West, Werner and Company, delivering goods such as bacon, butter, ham, whiskey, spices, snuff, axle grease, and iron to nearby settlements like Moscow, Centerline, Peachtree Village, Sumpter, Colito, and Mount Hope.

Peak and Daily Life:
At its height in the late 1850s, just before the Civil War, Newport had a population of 200 to 300 residents. The town was generally peaceful and law-abiding, though occasional fights occurred, and many men carried cap-and-ball pistols for protection. There was no formal law enforcement in the early years. The community relied heavily on river trade for its economy.

Decline and Abandonment:
The town's prosperity ended with the decline of riverboat traffic following the arrival of the railroad in 1872, which shifted commerce to the nearby Riverside railroad junction. Joseph Werner died on January 2, 1872, and received a Masonic burial in the local cemetery. The post office was relocated to Riverside that same year. By 1878, Newport was largely abandoned, and it vanished from regional maps by the mid-1880s. It is listed among Walker County's five ghost towns, alongside Cincinnati, Carolina, Tuscaloosa, and Elmina.

Historical Recognition and Remnants:
In 1936, a Texas Centennial granite marker was placed at the Werner Cemetery to commemorate the town, inscribed: "Founded in 1846 by Joseph Werner, a German emigrant – abandoned with the decline of Trinity River navigation.".  The Werner Cemetery, dating back to at least 1846, holds the graves of Joseph Werner and other early residents; it remains on private land. Newport Landing, the river docking area, is also noted historically. The town appeared on a 1907 postal map of Walker County but has no modern presence. No significant archaeological or preservation efforts are documented beyond the marker and cemetery.

Joseph Werner
Joseph Werner was born in 1820 in Frankfurt, Prussia (modern-day Germany), and immigrated to the United States as a young man. He arrived in Texas by at least 1852 and founded the town of Newport in Walker County around that time (though some sources, including a 1936 Texas Centennial Marker, cite 1846 as the founding year). Werner purchased adjoining land in 1868 and developed Newport as a river port on the Trinity River, several miles east of Riverside. He died on January 2, 1872, at age 51, in Walker County, Texas, and received a Masonic burial in Newport Cemetery (now on private property near Lake Livingston). As captain, he is credited with establishing the community's infrastructure, which supported its brief heyday as a trading hub.

R. Werner
Limited information is available on an "R. Werner" directly tied to Newport, Texas. However, Robert Edward Lee Werner (born May 8, 1862; died March 31, 1931) is buried in Newport Cemetery, Riverside, Walker County, Texas. He is likely a son or close relative of Joseph Werner, given the contextual mentions in family records around Newport's founding circa 1850. No other details on his life or role in the town were found. Other Robert Werners (e.g., Robert R. Werner, a 1950 West Point graduate and civil engineer in Texas, or Robert Rehm Werner, who died in 2014) appear unrelated to Newport's history.

Steamboat Port Operations in Newport, Texas
Newport, Texas, was established as a steamboat landing and port on the Trinity River, serving as a key hub for trade in Walker County during the mid-19th century. Its economy relied heavily on river navigation, with steamboats transporting goods upriver from Galveston and Houston, including groceries and dry goods, while carrying downstream exports like cotton, sugar, hides, and lumber. The town's heyday was in the late 1850s, when it had a population of about 200, a post office, school, general store, tannery, wood shop, and blacksmith shop. Operations declined post-Civil War due to railroads supplanting river traffic, leading to the town's abandonment by the early 20th century. Today, the site is largely submerged under Lake Livingston, with remnants like the Newport Landing and Werner Cemetery on private land.Specific steamboat details for the Trinity River (including Newport's role):Navigation began around 1836, with packet boats like the Mary Clifton (operating in 1854, capable of carrying 2,550 bales of cotton but limited by size on upper reaches).
Boats traveled from Galveston up to points like Magnolia Landing, Wallisville, and even attempts to Dallas, using locks and dams for navigability.
Newport functioned as one of several landings, facilitating trade in a "commerce superhighway" before railroads. Challenges included low water levels, snags, and seasonal flooding, which often restricted larger vessels.

No specific operational logs or company names tied exclusively to Newport were found, but it was part of broader Trinity River steamboat routes that connected East Texas plantations to coastal markets.

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.

Texas Escapes
http://www.texasescapes.com/EastTexasTowns/Newport-Texas.htm

East Texas History
https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/175

Captain Joseph Werner family
https://easttexashistory.org/files/show/1847

Study the Past
https://studythepast.com/ghostwebsite/walkercountyghosttowns.htm

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport,_Texas