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History · West Newton Township

West Newton Township’s post office opened in 1862, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Alexander Harkin Store. Below: maps from 1964 on.

1862first post office
1on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How West Newton Township began

When was West Newton Township founded?

1862

The West Newton Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, West Newton (1862) and Saint George (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 423164 years
Founding year: the first West Newton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about West Newton Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of West Newton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of West Newton Township’s homes were built before 1940.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s West Newton Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Newton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Newton Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How West Newton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of West Newton Township.

Read it all →

West Newton was named in part to honor James Newton, an early settler who emigrated from Kentucky, and partly to honor the steamboat West Newton, which was built in 1852 and sank at Alma, Wisconsin, in September 1853. The community had a post office from 1862 until 1910. Harkin's General Store is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

West Newton
1862–1910
Saint George
1894–1904
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint George
Gone or out of use
Saint George Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside West Newton Township
Saint George CatholicWest Newton

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

West Newton Township, 1862 to 1964

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1862Post officeThe West Newton post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Saint George post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Post officeThe Saint George post office closes
  6. 1910Post officeThe West Newton post office closes
  7. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

West Newton Township on the map, 1964 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Newton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

West Newton Township on the 1964 USGS mapWest Newton Township on the 1986 USGS mapWest Newton Township on the 1991 USGS map1964St George sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Newton Township.

On the National Register

1 historic place in West Newton Township

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Alexander Harkin Store
Alexander Harkin Store
Buildings
All 1 listings
Alexander Harkin StoreBuilding · listed 1973

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to West Newton Township

Nobody well known was born in West Newton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Tippi HedrenAmerican actress, model and activist · b. 1930
Wanda GágAmerican artist and children's writer · b. 1893
Kathryn Adams DotyActress, psychologist, writer · b. 1920
Brad FinstadAmerican politician · b. 1976
Lenore UlricAmerican actress · b. 1892
David RysdahlAmerican actor · b. 1960
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Milford Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRidgely Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSeverance TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLafayette TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCairo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about West Newton Township’s history

What year was West Newton Township founded?

The West Newton Township post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in West Newton Township?

One place: the Alexander Harkin Store (listed 1973).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.