Newport: The Sin City Years

Images of America: Kentucky

by Robin Caraway

Located in Northern Kentucky, Newport is a small, historic river town bustling with business in a respectful and developing community. While it is now known for its charm, Newport once had a dark and sinister past known as its “Sin City years.” Newport earned its reputation for vice, crime, political corruption, bootlegging, casinos, brothels, and bookie joints early in the city’s history. During the Civil War, soldiers stationed at the Newport Barracks were offered entertainment from various saloons and bordellos located in the city. At the turn of the 20th century, John Thompson, a Newport native, invented the Thompson Machine Gun. The “tommy gun” was made infamous by gangsters during Prohibition. Citizens of Newport, fed up with the city’s sordid reputation, eventually banded together to drive out the vice and reclaim their city. After a long struggle, Newport is now a pleasant and enchanting community.

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 2009

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Newport has clear, concise writing and could be labelled "spare" if those few sentences didn't carry so much weight. The pictures are incredibly detailed and sharp while maintaining their sepia film cinematic authenticity of the age.
I'm not from Newport but I know people who are and this book sparked crazy hilarious conversations with them I won't soon forget. Very well done.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed the unique history presented in this book of a city I called home to for a number of years, the book amounted to not much more than a picture book with detailed captions.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book after taking The Newport Gangster Tour. It's wild to think all this happened just across the river from Cincinnati.