A Little History of Our Buildings

After several years of neglect, Ron and Claudia Michaels have completely renovated the buildings we are in to bring back some of the Glory days of Downtown Newport. Many local people have very fond memories of Front Street as it was in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. A lot of us have worked in these building as teenagers or young adults. Front Street will never be as it was then, but maybe we can recapture some of our proud past as we move forward to our Bright Future.

The building at 308 Front was occupied by Oklahoma Tire and Supply (OTASCO) during the 60’s. Ray and Becky Dallas were the proprietors. They sold out to Jimmie and Joyce Jones. Ron worked for both owners when he was a young teenager.

There was a fire at 308 Front St that destroyed OTASCO. The building at 306 Front St (The present location of THE BRICKROOM) was then occupied by Paul and Wilma Turner as a fabric store. The fire next door caused extensive smoke damage to the inventory of the fabric store. They moved to the mall. OTASCO then moved into the vacant building at 306 Front. Prior to the fabric store 306 was occupied by Western Auto operated by John and Ruth Jadwin.

The present Location of the Courtyard 304 Front Street was occupied by Fred Arthur and Betty Stuart as Stuart Hardware. The bricks used on the floor are what remain of the Brosh Building that was located on Hazel Street Next to the old Post Office.

The tin ceiling in 306 Front is mostly the original that was installed in 1910 when the building was built. During the restoration we had to replace some of the tiles that had deteriorated beyond repair. You will notice that the pattern does not match, but it was as close as we could find. The brick walls between 306 and 308 are 5 bricks thick and required a lot of effort to cut the hole for the door. We removed 1500 Bricks from that opening. The opening going to the Courtyard yielded 1000 Bricks. These old buildings were built to last as evidenced by their condition at nearly 100 years old.

306 Front Street has a full upstairs. We are currently undecided as to what to do with that space. There has been no grant money used to finance these improvements. It has all been done with private funds. We hope to do a lot more.

Newport’s Bright Future is only beginning.  Ron and Claudia invite you to come in and enjoy the old time atmosphere, relax and dine on the wonderful variety of foods, whether it be Italian, Fried Catfish, Scrumtious Smoky Ribs, a Good Steak, or just Grandma's  home cooking.   And if you wish, we offer several different wines and beers to go with dinner.   Come as you are, we require nothing fancy, just come in relax and enjoy.