The Sunshine Town, Newport, NH is a small friendly town nestled in the hills of western New Hampshire, in the scenic upper Connecticut River Valley. The Sunshine Town
By Dan O'Neill, Town Manager (former)
The Sunshine Town, Newport, NH is a small friendly town nestled in the hills of western New Hampshire, in the scenic upper Connecticut River Valley. It is conveniently located between Interstates 89 and 91. A rural community, populated of approximately 6,500 citizens, the town is managed by a five member Board of Selectmen and a Town Manager, and is the location of the County Seat of Sullivan County. Newport’s citizens are employed in a variety of manufacturing, professional and commercial businesses within a 40 mile radius of the town. Newport’s largest employer is Sturm Ruger & Co., a manufacturing concern with branches in Southport CT, and Prescott, AZ.
In this historic part of New England, skilled labor proudly brings its Yankee ingenuity and hard work ethic to the job each day. We have access to a highly-developed educational system that includes several colleges, an Ivy League college and its business, engineering and medical graduate schools, a state technical college, two new regional vocational technical schools; affordable energy, modern telecommunications and utilities; a pro-business state government; and no state income or sales tax. Hanover’s Dartmouth College, also a significant cultural center, is just a 30 minute drive from Newport.
Success in business requires access to many key resources; skilled, affordable labor; intellectual capital to utilize and create new technologies; financial capital to grow; transportation and easy access to national and international markets; affordable and available housing; and communities that value and support business partners. Today, success may also include finding a personal balance between providing a better quality of life and balancing the increasing demands of business.

The Newport community has retained the best of its Yankee heritage — its rural New England charm, small villages, rugged independence — and combined it with the finest recreational opportunities, offering an unparalleled lifestyle. Located in the heart of a four-season-recreational area, opportunities for skiing, skating, golfing, boating, fishing, swimming, hiking, biking, hunting, jogging, and horse-back riding abound. The ski areas of Mt. Sunapee, Whaleback Mountain, and Vermont’s Mt. Ascutney are all close by. Lake Sunapee also provides opportunities to enjoy water-related activities. Among its numerous parks is Newport’s Town Common, one of the largest in the State, providing space for many year-round activities and events. Throughout the summer, Farmers’ Markets are held on Fridays, flea markets and crafts fairs on Saturdays, and each Sunday evening the village green fills with people listening to outdoor concerts played on its New England bandstand. In the Winter, the Town Common has been a popular place to ice skate for the better part of this century.
A Town-owned outdoor recreational complex consists of a track, baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, basketball court, tennis courts, ski jumps, ice rinks and parks. In Autumn, the foliage season provides spectacular views, which can be enjoyed at Corbin Covered Bridge over the north branch of the Sugar River or with a walk through the Town Forest trail system. At the beginning of each year, Newport celebrates the winter season by holding a Winter Carnival, dating back to 1916, the oldest town winter carnival in the country.