Newport, Tennessee was established first as "The New Port" in 1797 on the banks of the Scenic French Broad River as the County Seat of Cocke County, TN. It was first moved two miles west to Clifton to be closer to the Norfolk/Southern Railroad, built in 1867. In 1884 it was moved to the south side of the Pigeon river bank to the current Newport Police Building. In 2006 City Hall moved to the refurbished and former Newport Utilities Building. Newport is the largest city in Cocke County and is the County Seat.

New City Hall
view our Photo Gallery

Points of Interest:

• The historic former City Hall building was built in 1868 as the Click family home. In 1934 it was remodeled and the stone veneer was added (See Photo Gallery). It is the currently the home of the Newport Police Department and located one block east of the new City Hall shown to the right.
• Newport has a Quaint Downtown with several buildings on the National Historic Register Listing;
• Newport Grammar School was originally built in 1898 and a new $6 million addition was built in 2000;
• Newport is located on Scenic Highway #321 between Gatlinburg, TN and upper East Tennessee. It passes through Parrottville, the third oldest city in TN;
• Highway 25/70 crosses the Pigeon River at the East Port Bridge and continues to Hot Springs, NC and Asheville, NC;
• The Pigeon River and The Norfolk/Southern Railroad parallel Newport's Main Street;
• The Scenic French Broad River flows on the border of Newport and joins the Pigeon and Nolichucky Rivers West of Newport to form Douglas Lake;
• Cocke County contains the East Entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and has the most direct route to Cosby Campground and Gatlinburg, TN;
• Cosby Campground is the second largest campground in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park;
• The Art and Craft Guild of the Smokies is a very active group of artisans living in the area;
• Newport Theater Guild is a very active amateur thespian group in Newport;
• Newport hosts the Annual Harvest Festival the first weekend in October;
• The Annual Street Rod Festival is hosted in the Newport City Park in June.