Snapshot: Newport

History
Originally Newport was named Grenville after George Grenville who would become Prime Minister of England (1763 - 1765). Under that name Governor Benning Wentworth granted a charter in 1753. When the town was incorporated in 1761 it was renamed Newport in honor of Sir Henry Newport. Settlement of Newport, as with most towns in the western part of New Hampshire, came late due to the rugged terrain and hostilities with Indians.

In 1781, the people of Newport voted to secede from New Hampshire and join Vermont. Thirty-seven other towns located along or near the Connecticut River also voted to join Vermont. New Hampshire people felt they had little in common with the population centers of the far distant cities of Exeter and Portsmouth. It's not clear why this union dissolved less than a year later.

Nineteenth century Newport thrived as textile mills moved in. Sugar River, which runs through the town, provided the needed energy source to run the mills. Even today, the town's second largest employer is Dorr Woolen Company, which originally opened its doors in 1867 under the name Granite State Mills.

Tidbit -- One year following the invention of the telephone and one year before the opening of New Hampshire's first commercial telephone exchange center, carriage maker J.K. Pierce installed a telephone system that ran between his business and his home!

People
Two of Newport's daughters achieved fame with their literary talents. Sadly, like a nova, each would burst forth with her bright light, then all but fade from view. Mary Dwinell Chellis' books and articles published in the latter part of the 1800s put her beautiful part of the state on display and put forth her work in the temperance movement.

Sarah Josepha Hale, writer, poetess, humanitarian, and America's first female magazine editor, was responsible for making Thanksgiving an official national holiday. She campaigned for years until her goal was finally reached in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared a national observance for a day of Thanksgiving.