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History of Newton County
Constant Change: Snapshots of Newton
County's History
by Erik Oliver As a county we have opportunities and challenges to face now and
in the future as a county. But to understand where we are
and where we might go, it is useful to be familiar with our
history.
The relevance of history is
that every decision and every change affects each of us in some
way or another. Slow change can give us a sense of
timelessness and comfort. Dramatic, fast change can be
alarming or exciting. Change itself is inevitable.
The following are a few "snapshots" of Newton County's
history, intended to encourage you to learn more on your own.
-
 The
land from which Newton County and its neighboring
jurisdictions were formed was once a part of the Creek
Indian Nation. Newton County, named after a
Revolutionary War hero, was established on December 24, 1821
- shaped from pieces of Henry, Jasper and Walton counties.
Newton then included much of what is now Rockdale County.
(See historic map on the right of Newton County circa 1860)
-
The "hub" of activity at the time was a general store
and stagecoach shop that still stands near the junction of
Hwy. 11 and Hwy. 278 and is commonly called "Brick Store." Newtonsborough was founded as the county seat on April 15,
1822. In December of the same year, the name was
changed to Covington in honor of a hero of The War of 1812.
-
The Newton County area attracted settlers with its
abundance of resources, namely timber for construction, good
soil for cultivation and three major rivers to power
industry and support agriculture. (Factory Shoals, for
example, is so named for the water-powered industries that
once stood there.). Agriculture was the chief form of
economic development in Newton County until recently.
Products included grains, vegetables, cotton, timber, dairy
and livestock.
-
To encourage Newton County's future prosperity through
transportation of goods and people, a group of county
leaders organized the railroad in 1836. In the same
year, the Methodist Church founded Emory College and then
the City of Oxford to support it in 1838.
-
Union soldiers rode into Newton County in July 1864 to
destroy railroad and wagon bridges over the Yellow and
Alcovy (then called the Ulcofachachee) Rivers. General
Sherman and his army rode through Covington on November
18-19, 1864.
-
Until the 1870s, there was no public education in Newton
County, or in Georgia for that matter, because education
generally was not viewed as a responsibility of the
government. The Newton County Board of Education was
organized in 1871. Covington organized a parallel City
School Commission in 1889. The school systems joined
in 1947.
-
In 1912, there were 26 schools for whites
(1,890 pupils) and 27 schools for blacks (1,492 pupils).
Because the state only provided support through 7 grades,
there was no high school.
-
Completion of a rail line from Gordon to Covington
encouraged a group of businessmen to found Mansfield in
1903.
-
Jackson Lake was formed by the construction of a
hydroelectric dam funded by the Central of Georgia Power
Company (Georgia Power) in 1911.
-
Porterdale, originally called Cedar Shoals, was
incorporated in 1917, though there were water-powered mills
there as early as the 1830s.
-
Though Newborn was incorporated in 1898, the area was
settled around 1819 and was called Sandtown or Cross Road.
-
The Covington interchange on Interstate 20 (exit 90) was
completed in 1964.
-
Today there are five municipalities in Newton County,
but there are many unincorporated communities,
such as: Almon, Bethany, Brick Store, Dixie, Flat Rock,
Harristown, Hayston, Midway (North Covington), Pine Grove,
Salem, Starsville, and others.
-
Newton County's population was nearly 17,000 in 1900 and
by 1980 was only 34,489 (The population actually dropped by
4,390 people between 1920 and 1930). By comparison,
our county population has increased roughly 26,000 people
since 2000.
Most of the information in this
article was taken from
History of Newton County, 1988, Newton County Historical
Society.
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