Newport Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. As of

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, the population was 4,444. Newport is located on the outskirts of Nanticoke City.

History

Establishment

Newport was incorporated as a

in 1790. It is one of the original townships in Luzerne County. The municipality derives its name from

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. The first settlement in modern-day Newport Township was established by Major Prince Alden in 1772. A few years later, his sons (Mason and John) erected a forge on

Nanticoke Creek Nanticoke Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Hanover Township and Nanticoke. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek ...

. One of the first stores in the territory was established by Jacob Ramback; it was constructed on a road between Wanamie and Nanticoke. Due to the growing

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

industry in the

Wyoming Valley The Wyoming Valley is a historic industrialized region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The region is historically notable for its influence in helping fuel the American Industrial Revolution with its many anthracite coal mines. As a metropolitan ar ...

(in the 19th century), farmers were selling large tracts of land to the coal companies. Even

sawmills A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimens ...

and gristmills were replaced by coal mines.

Alden Alden may refer to: Places United States *Alden, California, a former settlement * Alden, Illinois *Alden, Iowa * Alden, Kansas * Alden, Michigan * Alden, Minnesota * Alden, Oklahoma * Alden, Pennsylvania * Alden, New York ** Alden (village), New ...

Glen Lyon Glen Lyon () is a glen in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland. It is the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and runs for from Loch Lyon in the west to the village of Fortingall in the east. This glen was also known as ''An Crom Ghleann' ...

, and Wanamie were just a few of the mining villages in the township. Mine shafts and collieries were constructed throughout the territory.

Boom and bust

At the beginning of the 20th century, Luzerne County was in the midst of an economic boom. Industry, which included

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

and coal mining, drew thousands of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

(mostly from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

) to the region. By the mid-20th century, anthracite production was declining at a fairly steady rate. Consumers were gradually switching from coal to other forms of energy (e.g., oil, gas, and electricity).Healey, Richard (2005) ''"The Breakers of the Northern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania", 'Vol. 1, Major breakers prior to 1902'.'' Dept of Geography, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth. quote=''"Northern Anthracite Coalfield of Pennsylvania" There also are Central and Southern Anthracite Coalfields of Pennsylvania, the one around Hazelton and the other around Pottsville.Sevon, W. D., compiler, 2000, , Pennsylvania Geological Survey of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Map 13, scale 1:2,000,000. The Knox Mine Disaster was the final blow to the industry. On January 22, 1959, the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

broke through the River Slope Mine in Port Griffith, Jenkins Township. The incident claimed twelve lives. In the following months, two of the area's largest coal companies announced a full withdrawal from the anthracite business. Thousands of jobs were lost and the mining industry never recovered in Luzerne County.

Contemporary history

St. Stanislaus Institute, also known as St. Stanislaus Orphanage and Holy Child Church, was built between 1918 and 1939. The facility served as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

until it closed in 1972. St. Stanislaus was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2008. The building is now occupied by apartments. Holy Child closed in 2010. A nursing home was built nearby. In 1986, State Correctional Institute at Retreat opened in northwestern Newport Township, replacing the mental hospital. SCI Retreat closed in June 2020. It was a medium security

correctional facility In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agency, government agencies, and involving the punishment, ...

for men.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.49%, is water. Most of the township is forested. It is drained by the

(which forms its northern boundary). The northern and southern portions are mountainous. The elevation of

Penobscot Mountain Penobscot Knob, also Penobscot Mountain, is a summit that is located in the western fringe of the Poconos nearest to Mountain Top, Pennsylvania. The Solomon Gap pass below it contains an important multi-modal transportation corridor. History an ...

reaches above sea level along the township's southern border with Slocum Township. Most of the people live in the basin of

Newport Creek Newport Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is in length. Named tributaries of the creek include South Branch Newport Creek. The entire watershed of Newport Creek is considered ...

, which flows northeast from

to the Susquehanna River (in Nanticoke). Newport Township consists of the communities of Alden Station,

, Lee, Newport Center, Sheatown, and Wanamie. The State Correctional Institute at Retreat is in a remote area of the municipality (along the Susquehanna River). The facility can only be accessed by a bridge over the river from

U.S. Route 11 U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway extending across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refu ...

or by helicopter.

Neighboring municipalities

* Nanticoke (northeast) * Hanover Township (east) * Nuangola (southeast) * Slocum Township (south) * Conyngham Township (west) * Union Township (northwest) * Hunlock Township (north) * Plymouth Township (north)

Government officials

* Township manager: Joseph Hillan * Commissioners: ** John Zyla — President of Board of Commissioners/Police Dept. ** Michael Roke — Fire Dept. ** John Vishnefski — Parks and Recreation Dept. ** Deborah Forgach Zaleski — Code Enforcement Dept. *Police chief: Jeremy Blank *Fire chief: James Hoffman

Public safety

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

: The Newport Township Police Department provides full time police coverage to township residents. *

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

: Fire suppression is provided by the Newport Township Fire Department (Luzerne County Station 163). The department is a combination department with a paid apparatus operator (who is supplemented by volunteer staff). The department also provides

mutual aid Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This ...

responses to surrounding communities. * EMS: Ambulance service is provided by the Nanticoke Community Ambulance Association (Medic 25/Ambulance 558), which is located in Nanticoke City. Nanticoke EMS provides residents with both

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

(Advanced Life Support) and BLS (Basic Life Support) levels of pre-hospital care.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 5,006 people, 1,789 households, and 1,118 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,166 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 90.17%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.57%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.12% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.54% from other races, and 0.30% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.30% of the population. There were 1,789 households, out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.87. In the township the population was spread out, with 16.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 127.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 129.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $32,073, and the median income for a family was $40,987. Males had a median income of $28,466 versus $22,035 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $16,930. About 9.3% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Bob Duliba, baseball player * John S. Fine, governor of Pennsylvania

Gallery

Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania.jpg,

Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania (8482401238).jpg, Glen Lyon Glen Lyon, Pennsylvania (8482402492).jpg, Glen Lyon Wanamie, Pennsylvania streetscape.jpg, Wanamie St Stan LuzCo PA 2.JPG, St. Stanislaus Institute’s

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

St Stan LuzCo PA 3.JPG, St. Stanislaus Institute's

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

building

References

External links

* {{Coord, 41, 10, 30, N, 75, 59, 58, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Populated places established in 1772 Townships in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania