Newton County, Mississippi

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

County Seat: Decatur
Year Organized: 1836
Square Miles: 578

Court House:

P.O. Box 68
County Courthouse
Decatur, MS 39327-0068

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Newton is named for scientist Isaac Newton.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Newton County is a part of the original territory ceded to the United States by the Choctaws through the treaty of Dancing Rabbit concluded in 1830. It was established February 25 1836. Newton County was named for Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), the English mathematician, who was knighted by Queen Anne in 1705 and who is celebrated for his discoveries in the field of optics and for his formulations of the laws of motion and gravity. Newton County, Mississippi, is the only American county named for Sir Isaac Newton. (If the county had been formed and named in 1833, at the same time as Jasper County, there would be reason to believe that it was named for Sergeant John Newton rather than for Sir Isaac Newton. The town of Newton, in Newton County, sometimes is said to have been named for Newton Dolittle, who donated the land for the town.

The county has a land area of 568 square miles. In shape it is a square, containing sixteen townships. It was formed from the lower half of Neshoba County.

Speaking of the old town of Pinkney, he says: “The name Pinkney dates as far back in the history of Newton County, as any other name in it. It is not known from what the town derived its name; the probabilities are it was settled as early as 1837, probably earlier, and was a place of some importance and trade. Lane & Boyd, merchants of that place, are reported to have had a stock of goods of $10,000, who issued a fractional currency called ‘shin-plasters,’ and were correspondents of the Decatur bank, and when the bank failed it naturally carried the business of Lane & Boyd with it. The name of Pinkney gave way to Stamper,” and Stamper has given way to the little village of Stratton. The county seat is the old town of Decatur.

This region, long the home of the Choctaw Indians, received a considerable influx of settlers early in the last century. By the year 1837 there were in the county 1,506 whites and 426 slaves, and by 1850 the popu1ation had increased to 4,465; in 1870, to 10,067; 1890, to 16,625; 1920 to 20,727.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 580 square miles (1,501 km²), of which, 578 square miles (1,497 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.27%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Neshoba County (north)
Lauderdale County (east)
Jasper County (south)
Scott County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Chunky	town	Incorporated Area
- Decatur (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Hickory	town	Incorporated Area
- Newton	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."