The story
Read it all →How Newtown came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Newtown.
Newtown was platted in 1829. The Newtown post office was established in 1831.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Newtown
Newtown dates to 1829, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1920.
1829founded
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Newtown began
When was Newtown founded?
1829
Newtown dates its founding to 1829 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
First census: 329 in 19202020 census: 217197 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1831.The full story ↓
What stands out about Newtown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Newtown’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Newtown’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Newtown, 1829 to 1962
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1829FoundingNewtown is established
- 1831Post officeThe Newtown post office opens
- 20th century
- 1962
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
From the old history books
What they wrote about Newtown in 1881
Passages that mention Newtown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Fountain County1881 · page 220Read the page →
Read the text
Amos Webster. Samuel Newer kept the first saloon, grocer}-, or doggery, as they were called in those days. The first saw-mill was built by a Mr. Yeazle, in 1826 or 1827, on Coal creek, three miles southwest of Newtown, and a saw-mill is still there. Peter Shnltz, Samuel Low, Eichard Hicks, and Hawkins, built the first flouring-mill, in 1S30, just above the Yeazle mill on Coal creek, and the only one ever built in the township except the Boggs mill, four miles south of Newtown on Dry Run, which has just been taken down and removed to Jack-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fountain County1881 · page 223Read the page →
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Noah Insley and Ambrose KitI' were hauling lumber. In crossing- Little Shawnee, four miles west of Newtown, the fore-wheel of the wagon dropped otf the frozen bank into the creek, Kiff fell off, and the hind-wheel, with COO feet of green walnut lumber on the wagon, ran over his head. Insley, finding he was not killed, unhitched his team of three yoke of oxen, turned them all loose but one, got Kiff on that one and held him on till he got him to Newtown. He recovered.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Newtown, decade by decade
2020
2020
2020On the map
Newtown on the map, 1962 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Newtown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Mellott sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Newtown.
People over time
Newtown, census by census
Between 162 and 329 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Newtown’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Newtown’s history
What year was Newtown founded?
In 1829, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Newtown’s post office opened in 1831, and the census of 1920 counted 329 people here.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.