Newport was first organized as a town on October 25, 1781, but its charter was not issued until October 30, 1802, when it was granted to Nathan Fish and George Duncan under the name Duncansboro. The earliest settlement of Duncansboro began in 1793, when Deacon Martin and Calendar Adams and their wives blazed a trail from St. Johnsbury to the Barton River and then traveled by canoe to the lake. By 1800, the town had 11 families, and this early settlement eventually became the incorporated village of Newport. On November 16, 1816, after a small part of Coventry and Salem was annexed to the territory, the town's name was changed from Duncansboro to Newport. Newport did not hold its first official town meeting until April 30, 1864. During the early 1800's, the area of today's downtown Newport was known as Pickerel Point, a dense, swampy wilderness of pine trees and stumps. In 1820, Captain John Sias of Derby bought the Point for $250, cleared the land, and eight years later sold it to his son-in-law, George W. Smith, who with his wife, Sally Sias, built a log home on the future site of the Memphremagog House.