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NEWTON,
TEXASNewton
County Seat, East
Texas
Hwys 190 & 87
15 miles E of Jasper
13 miles W of Louisiana
Population: 2,459 (2000) 1,885 (1990) |
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Newton,
Texas by
Archie P. McDonald
It
is strange how my life has intertwined with Newton County, the long, slender eastern
twin of Jasper County located in southeast Texas just north of Orange
and Beaumont, Texas.
First, summertime visits to home of the Russell family in Burkeville early
in the 1940s introduced this city boy to outdoor toilets, sliding on the sawdust
pile at the lumber mill, and Vacation Bible School—at the churches of three different
but evidently cooperating denominations. The Russells included my great aunt and
uncle Thelma and Bill Russell, and their six offspring.
Then, after the
Barrett's let me have their Judy for a wife, I helped B.L. and Edna Barrett build
a house near the Sabine River at Bon Wier, and in time, helped operate the place
for a while. Throughout, though, I never knew much about the county. Here's what
I have learned lately:
Newton County, a heavily timbered, sandy land
place, began its brush with civilization as part of Lorenzo de Zavalla's land
grant from Mexico, then got dragged along with the rest of Texas
to a condition of independence during the Texas Revolution.
The State
of Texas separated Newton
from Jasper County in 1846 and named it to honor John Newton, a veteran of
the American Revolutionary War. Burkeville, and a place called Quicksand Creek
served as the county seat until 1853, when the town of Newton, located near the
center of the county, became the seat of local government, which it remains, despite
early efforts to return it to Burkeville.
Formal education began with
the founding of a male and female academy by W.H. Ford in 1889. A few mercantile
shops operated in Newton around the courthouse
square, with a sawmill, gristmill, and a turpentine mill provided some industry.
In 1906 the Northwestern Railway connected Newton to Orange,
Texas, but I mostly remember riding a bus operated by a member of the Ford
family between Burkeville and Newton during World
War II.
That war drafted local youths to Army and Navy assignments
and other fellows to shipyards and munitions plants located on the Gulf Coast.
The timber industry changed, too, and in time tourism linked to the Toledo
Bend Reservoir became an important aspect of Newton County's economic schema.
And this: Newton County is the wettest county in Texas—from
precipitation, measuring nearly 55 inches per year.
©
Archie P. McDonald
All
Things Historical
September 24, 2007 column |
The
County was named for American Revolutionary Hero Sgt. John Newton
Newton
Attractions Newton
County CourthouseThe
First Roadside Park in Texas
"Newton County's pioneer park was more than just a few picnic tables beside
the highway. It also included a bath house on Cow Creek, a favorite swimming hole
in Newton County."
Three miles southeast of Newton. Wild
Azalea Canyons Trail - Rock cliffs and wild Azaelas in an area few people
know about.
Horse
Sugar Nature Trail
- Four miles SE of town on Hwy 190. Formerly known as the Sylvan Nature Trail,
"renamed because it is now famous for its state champion Common Sweetleaf,
also known as Horse Sugar."Newton
County Historical Commission History Center & Museum - (409) 379-2109
105 Court Street P.O. Drawer 1550 Newton, Texas 75988
Newton
Area Hotels - Book Here & Save
Jasper
Hotels
More
Hotels
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Newton
Chronicles
A
Pioneer Hotel
by Bob Bowman (From All Things Historical) -
"... While the W.H. Ford
Academy/Powell Hotel doesn't rent rooms today, it offers the next best thing.
Each Tuesday at noon, you can sit down in the hotel's old dining room and enjoy
a generous meal of homemade soup and cornbread, along with a helping of hotel
history.Jasper
and Newton Counties, Beyond the SabineThe
log gym
In the
1940s, Newton had a gymnasium made of logs--probably the last such structure of
its kind in East Texas. Those who remember the gym say it was cold during the
winters and hot as blazes during the summers. The building was torn down and replaced
in the mid-fifties, but the gym’s floor, which had a beautiful Eagle painted in
the center of the court, was installed in the new gym.
(From Roaming
Around East Texas by Bob Bowman) |
Newton History "...
Official settlement of the heavily timbered region was authorized in 1829, when
Mexican authorities granted Lorenzo Manuel de Zavalaqv an empresarioqv contract
that included much of Southeast Texas. In 1846 the Texas legislature gave the
eastern half of Jasper County independent jurisdiction, and the newly organized
Newton County was named in honor of John Newton, an American Revolutionary War
veteran...." From Handbook of Texas Online
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/NN/hjn5.html
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Newton
County Tourist Information Newton
County Chamber of Commerce - (409) 379-5527
P. O. Box 66 Newton, Texas 75966
http://www.newton-texas.com/
Newton
Area Hotels - Book Here & Save
Jasper
Hotels |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us.
Mayflower,
Texas Area Hotels
Jasper
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