Newton County, Arkansas: History and Information

Newton County, Arkansas

Newton County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Jasper
Year Organized: 1842
Square Miles: 823

Court House:

101 East Court Street
Court House
Jasper, AR 72641-0435

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Newton is named for Thomas W. Newton, a state senator. Thomas Willoughby Newton (18 January 1804 – 22 September 1853) was a Whig member of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Arkansas.

Demographics:

History

Created in 1842 and named after Thomas W. Newton, an Arkansas congressman, in which the Choctaw Indians once lived in the hill country. The landscapes of Newton County are the rugged and mountainous Ozark Mountains. Travel writers have selected scenic Highway 7 as one of the top 10 scenic drives in the country. The elevation ranges from 700 feet to 2,561 feet. The Ozark National Forest provides wilderness hiking, backpacking, camping, and hunting. The Buffalo National River, the nation's first federally protected river, is one of the last free-flowing streams in mid-America and offers clear blue water for fishing and canoeing along the towering limestone bluffs. The county seat is Jasper where the county courthouse is located. The courthouse building is unique. The old county courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1938, and the present building reflects a determination that this kind of disaster would never happen again. Not only is the entire building fireproof, but also every room is a fireproof vault. The outside walls and the cross walls are granite quarried from the bed of the Little Buffalo River and the floors are cement. The cornerstone of the building carries a reminder of the post-depression years: "USA - 1939 - WPA."

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Boone County

East: Searcy County

Southeast: Pope County

Southwest: Johnson County

West: Madison County

Northwest: Carroll County

Cities and Towns:

- Jasper (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Western Grove

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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