East Row Historic District
Encyclopedia
Newport, Kentucky
Newport is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers. The population was 15,273 at the 2010 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is part of the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio Metro Area which...
. The East Row was created by joining two of Newport's Historic Neighborhoods; Mansion Hill and Gateway.
General James Taylor Jr. pioneered Newport in the 1790s on 1500 acres (6.1 km²) inherited from his father. His father, James Taylor Sr., bought 2700 acres (10.9 km²) of land in Northern Kentucky from his friend George Muse, which was part of the land Muse had been awarded for his military service in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
.
James Taylor Jr. brought to Newport his wealthy new wife Keturah Moss Leitch.
Well-connected with Washington politics, The Taylor family had two cousins, James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
and Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
, who later become presidents of the United States. The Taylors brought colonial culture to Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky is the name often given to the northernmost counties in Kentucky...
.
Taylor choose a high hill overlooking the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to build a large home (still standing today) in the Greek Revival style. At his death in 1848, James Taylor Jr. was said to be one of the wealthiest men in the state of Kentucky, with an estate valued at more than $4 million.
In the mid-19th century, Newport became a hub for trade, industry and culture. The Victorian era was Newport's most affluent period, as is evident by the East Row's elegant houses, which look much as they did more than 100 years ago. The establishment of the East Row was made possible when, motivated by Newport's rapid growth, the grandson of Gen. James Taylor decided to subdivide the family's estate as Taylor's Row Addition. The area became a favorite of wealthy business owners and merchants in the late 19th century.http://www.eastrow.org/intro.html
East Row Historic District is home to 1,070 homes and is Kentucky's second largest historic district. All buildings in East Row have the distinction of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Early houses, near the western edge of the district, were built in the Italianate style, later homes were built in Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
, the Colonial Revival and American Foursquare
American Foursquare
The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass produced elements of the Victorian and other Revival styles popular throughout the last half of the 19th century, the American Foursquare was...
style.
By the late 1970s the Neighborhood had fallen on hard times, Many of the large homes were cut into many small apartments. Property prices were low and the neighboord became attractive to urban pioneers. The Mansion Hill Neighborhood Association was founded in 1979. Owners started to restore the many beautiful homes and expose the former beauty. The Mansion Hill Tour was begun in 1979, attracting more resident to the Neighborhood. In the early 1980s many of the most active Historic Preservationist lived in the Gateway neighborhood, the two neighborhoods combined forces in the mid 1980s.
Just blocks away from East Row, the city's riverfront and northern business district are undergoing dramatic redevelopment, with Riverboat Row and Newport on the Levee
Newport on the Levee
Newport on the Levee is a lifestyle center located on Third Street in Newport, Kentucky. It is located adjacent to the Purple People Bridge along the Ohio River and has a view of Cincinnati. The Levee is only one block away from the East Row Historic District and the Monmouth Street Historic District...
already a thriving riverfront district of restaurants and clubs. With the World Peace Bell
World Peace Bell
The Newport, Kentucky World Peace Bell is one of more than twenty Peace Bells around the World. It weighs 33,285 kg and is 3.7 m wide. From 2000 until 2006, it was the largest swinging bell in the World...
and the Newport Aquarium
Newport Aquarium
-External links:*...
just steps away from the Historic District.http://www.eastrow.org/intro.html
In mid 2006 the Newport City Commission expanded the Historic District, including the north side of Second Street, The west side of Washington Avenue and the 200 block of East Fourth Street. East Fourth Street has several American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era homes, including some in the Greek Revival style.
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/03/02/loc_loc3kynewport.html
http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/09/07/newport.html
