In Newport, the motor vehicle both altered and saved the local economy. In 1903 businessman W. H. Gantt owned one of the first automobiles in the borough. By 1925 the livery stables and carriage manufacturers in Newport were out of business, and the town square water fountain for horses was removed in 1929. The borough had five automobile dealerships in 1931. U.S. Route 22 opened in 1929 on the Howe Township side of the Juniata River, linking Newport by a paved motor way to the Susquehanna River and the state capital. U.S. Routes 22/322, a four-lane limited access roadway, was constructed in the 1960s and simplified commuting to the Harrisburg area. In 2015, an estimated 70% of Perry County workers drove to employment outside the county. As services and commerce grew at the U.S. Routes 22/322 Howe Township exit, borough population declined and businesses closed in Newport. From its beginning, Newport shipped farm, timber, and later industrial products to distant markets, first on the river, then the canal, later the railroads, and eventually a four-lane limited access highway. The factories and heavy industry are gone, the river is used for recreation, the railroad moves mostly freight, and automobiles carry most workers to jobs outside the county. Newport retains a rich industrial and architectural heritage, including one of the greatest ensembles of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture in Central Pennsylvania, and this assemblage has been listed as a National Register Historic District since 1998.