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is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers. The population was 17,048 at the 2000 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is part of the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio Metro Area which comprises over 2 million inhabitants. . Today, Newport is becoming the entertainment community of the fast-growing Northern Kentucky area while its neighboring cities--Bellevue and Covington--become the business centers.
Settled about 1791, on land granted to George Muse, purchased by James Taylor Sr. and settled by his son James Taylor, Jr.. Newport was incorporated as a town in 1795 and in 1850 Newport received a city charter. In 1803 the Ft. Washington military post was moved from Cincinnati to become the Newport Barracks. In 1900, 28,301 people lived in Newport, Kentucky; in 1910, 30,309; in 1920, 29,317; and in 1940, 30,631.
Newport once had the reputation of "Sin City" due to its upscale gambling casinos on Monmouth street. Monmouth also had many men's stores, nice restaurants, and ice cream parlors. Investigations for racketeering pushed out the casinos, which were replaced by peep shows and adult strip clubs. Many of the old businesses disappeared when parking became difficult on Monmouth street and the commercial district opened on the hill of south Newport.
In the 1980s and 1990s Newport made plans to develop its riverfront and core to focus primarily on "family friendly" tourism, instead of the "Sin City" tourism of the past. In May of 1999 the $40-million Newport Aquarium opened, and the historic Posey Flats apartments were leveled in favor of the Newport on the Levee entertainment complex, which opened the following year.
In 1997 plans were announced for a 1,015-foot structure called the "Millennium Tower" were revealed. The tower's main selling point was that building it would be financed by private money, as opposed to tax-payer money. The tower was expected to be completed by 2003, but investors later pulled out and no construction was done. Today the site for the tower is a parking lot next to the World Peace Bell.