The Early Years of Newport by Dr. Doug Martin

The Giles County Historical Society invites you to its quarterly meeting on Sunday, March 18th at the Palisades Restaurant in Eggleston. Newport native Dr. Doug Martin will talk about the early years of Newport, when the village was a bustling hub of commerce and transportation on the main east-west road through the county. Both members and non-members are welcome to this free presentation, and they may also enjoy an optional High Tea offered by the restaurant for an additional cost.

To set the stage, Dr. Martin offers the following vignette:

“The year was 1872. In the southwest Virginia county of Giles, the village of Newport was recovering from a War that involved many of the local citizenry and other individuals who had witnessed and participated first-hand in battles and skirmishes between North and South. Many
soldiers did not return and others brought back with them injuries, experiences and memories that required a time of healing. Yet this village, with the vestiges of pre-history Native Americans and European settlement prior to the Civil War, was determined to re-establish its autonomy and structure consistent with its founders’ vision. There was an optimism as nearby railroads became connecting points, and the Great Wagon Road westward assured a steady stream of visitors, as stagecoaches rumbled through Newport on their way to hot springs resorts, and as returning soldiers sought to re-establish their definition of the good life.

“Efforts were made to make Newport the first incorporated town in Giles County and those
efforts reached fruition through General Assembly action in 1872.

“For Newport, Chapter 129, Acts of the Assembly, 1872, titled “An ACT to Incorporate the Town of Newport, in County of Giles, In Force March 4, 1872 provided the following:

“‘Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That the village known as the town of Newport, in the County of Giles, laid off within the following boundaries, beginning at the white oak tree, at corner of David B. Price’s and John P. Martin’s lands, marked with four chops; thence running south thirty three degrees west one hundred and fifty poles, crossing the turnpike leading from Newport to Blacksburg, to an apple tree near a line between Gustavus A. Butler and William H. Martin’s lands;’ – an so on.

“The act appointed George W. Hines as mayor, and David B. Price, William R. Gitt, William Keister, Flayle P. Payne, J. Addison Logan and Christopher C. Wingo as councilmen. These men – returning veterans, a medical doctor, ministers and local citizenry – worked in concert to add to the colorful history of the Village of Newport.”