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Relive Newport's Sin City Days With the Behringer-Crawford Museum Wednesday

Local historian Richard Challis will share stories of growing up in Newport's gambling and gangsters heyday.

Mar 21, 2023 at 5:12 pm

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Photo: Provided by the Behringer-Crawford Museum

Newport once hosted celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope and even a young Frank Sinatra, who performed there.

You may know Las Vegas as “Sin City,” but before that desert town took up the moniker, Newport, Kentucky, was the Sin City. Nicknamed "Hollywood East," Newport hosted celebrities like Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and a young Frank Sinatra. Slot machines, brothels, live entertainment and restaurants lit up the streets and made the city a desirable – if somewhat sketchy – place to be.

If you want to learn firsthand what Newport was like in its gangster and gambling heyday, local historian Richard Challis is your guy. Challis is joining Covington’s Behringer-Crawford Museum for their virtual NKY History Hour Wednesday, March 22, to talk about his experiences growing up there.

The History Hour is free and begins at 6:30 p.m. You can register here to receive the Zoom link, or you can join via the museum’s Facebook page, where it will be streamed live.

The Behringer-Crawford Museum hosts NKY History Hours every other Wednesday evening. The program is currently free, but the museum says it may become open to members only in the future.

Behringer-Crawford Museum, 1600 Montague Road, Covington. More information: bcmuseum.org.

Tags:

Things To Do Newport gambling and gangsters Sin City Behringer-Crawford Museum Devou Park NKY History Hour Northern Kentucky history

About The Author

Katherine Barrier

Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she oversees the digital and social media strategies, edits web and print content and writes for the dining and arts...