Newport Barracks

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Newport Barracks site is an early-to-late-nineteenth-century military installation located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers in Newport. The United States Deparment of War built the barracks from 1803 to 1809 on land owned by James Taylor, an early resident of Campbell County. Historic documents and maps show that several renovation and reconstruction episodes occurred there in the 1830s, 1850s, and 1880s. 

Initially, the barracks served as a recruitment and supply station for Issac Shelby and his Kentuckians. They stayed at the site on their way to fight American Indian and British forces during the War of 1812.  

After the Battle of the Thames and the defeat of Tecumseh’s Indian Confederation on October 3, 1813, the Newport Barracks served as a prisoner-of-war camp. It housed British soldiers from the 41st Regiment of Foot. Over 400 enlisted men and noncommissioned officers were imprisoned in the Barracks at that time. 

Following the War of 1812, the barracks served as an ordnance depot (a place weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies were securely stored). In 1819, 300 barrels of gunpowder were stored in the barracks' powder magazine. During the Civil War, the barracks again served as a recruitment station, as well as a prison and a hospital.

In the early and mid-1880s, several severe floods decimated the barracks, leading to its abandonment in 1894. Shortly thereafter, the Army gave the property to the City of Newport.  Subsequent construction of the floodwall and a housing project disturbed much of the property.  Fortunately, about one-quarter of the site became part of General James Taylor Park.  

For a long time, most people thought little remained of the buildings associated with the barracks. A 2024 study conducted by the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and ArcheoSpatial Analytics, LLC, assisted by volunteers from Northern Kentucky University, found the remains of several structures as well as demolition debris and trash deposits. This work was carried out at the request of the City of Newport so that the City could better manage the park property.

English-Made Ceramics

Some of the earliest refined ceramics, called stoneware, were made in England and Germany. By the mid-1600s, potters in both countries had learned how to mass produce stoneware ceramics.

Stonewares were made into the late-1700s and exported around the world.  Among the most prominent types were brown and red stoneware. Archaeologists recovered examples of both from the Newport Barracks site.   ​Since these ceramics were primarily made during the 1700s, they are rarely found in Kentucky.

American officers stationed at the Newport Barracks may have used and discarded both kinds of stoneware vessels. Perhaps British soldiers imprisoned there in 1813 used them, too​.