unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. The community is located within Berlin Charter Township. As an unincorporated community, Newport has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own but does have its own post office with the 48166 ZIP Code.
Geography
Newport sits at an elevation of above sea level. The community is centered along Swan Creek Road just east of
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...
, and Newport is accessible via exit 21 (Swan Creek Road). Interstate 275 has its southern terminus to the southwest and runs just to the west of the community.
The community is located about north of the city of
Monroe
Monroe or Monroes may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Monroe (surname)
* Monroe (given name)
* James Monroe, 5th President of the United States
* Marilyn Monroe, actress and model
Places United States
* Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...
in the northeast portion of Monroe County. Other nearby communities include the village of Estral Beach to the east, South Rockwood to the northeast, and Carleton to the northwest. The unincorporated community of Oldport is located to the east along Swan Creek Road at the intersection with North Dixie Highway. While Oldport itself is recognized by the
GNIS
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the associated states of the Marshal ...
as a distinct location, the entire area is now generally referred to as Newport. Swan Creek runs though the center of the community and flows for about to the east into
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...
. Its tributary, Little Swan Creek, runs just south of the community. Yoas Drain also drains into Swan Creek near the center of the community.
The current Newport post office is located at 8463 Swan Creek Road. The post office uses the 48166 ZIP Code, which serves a much larger area that includes the southern portion of Berlin Charter Township, as well as the northeastern portion of Frenchtown Charter Township and a very small southeastern portion of Ash Township. The census-designated place of Stony Point and the village of Estral Beach also use the 48166 ZIP Code, as does the
Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station
The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately . All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and ...
Pointe Mouillee State Game Area
Pointe Mouillee State Game Area (; or ) is a state game area in the U.S. state of Michigan. It encompasses of hunting, recreational, and protected wildlife and wetland areas at the mouth of the Huron River at Lake Erie, as well as smaller ...
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...
as early as 1830 by the French, who named it Rivière aux Signes (Swan Creek). By 1836, several sawmills were built along the creek, and the name Newport came about due to its location near Lake Erie. In 1837 after the territory received statehood, the community became part of the newly organized Ash Township. In 1867, the eastern portion of Ash Township and Newport were reorganized into Berlin Township.
Newport is the location of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, which was established in 1882 from an earlier church mission that was formed as early as 1838. The current church is located at 8125 Swan Creek Road at the intersection with North Dixie Highway. St. Charles Cemetery is located in Newport, and it consists of two separate cemeteries. The "old" St. Charles Cemetery was established in 1851, although it contains a grave dating back to 1802. This small cemetery is no longer active, while the current St. Charles Cemetery is located slightly north along North Dixie Highway.
The community of Newport received its first post office on August 16, 1836. The post office was discontinued on July 1, 1841 but reestablished soon after on August 16, 1842. The current Newport post office was opened on January 15, 1904 and remains in operation. In the early 1970s, the post office became a branch of the
Monroe
Monroe or Monroes may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Monroe (surname)
* Monroe (given name)
* James Monroe, 5th President of the United States
* Marilyn Monroe, actress and model
Places United States
* Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...
postal service.
Newport once contained its own railroad station. The station was used by
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinoi ...
,
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally chartered in 1832 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in th ...
, and
Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad
The Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan.
The Pleasant Bay Railway was incorporated in Michigan in March 1898 and purchased the Toledo and Ottawa Beach Railwa ...
. While Newport no longer contains an active station, there are two railroad lines that run through the community: a single line operated by
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
and a dual line operated by
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
. The original station was moved and restored, and it is currently used as educational building for the nearby Newport Community Church.
Images
File:Newport Station, Michigan (2021).jpg,
File:St Charles Borromeo Catholic Church (Newport, MI).jpg,
File:Old St Charles Cemetery (Newport, MI).jpg,
File:St Charles Cemetery (Newport, MI).jpg,