The History of Newtown Community
The Newtown Community is one of several early settlements on land that was once part of the Cherokee Nation. Settlers came to the area on the hopes of acquiring the land in a lottery established to distribute the land formerly occupied by the Cherokees. Newtown is designated on a map of the Roswell area as early as the War Between the States. (The Official Atlas of the Civil War, Georgia Archives)

According to old-timers, the community of Newtown can be defined as an area of about 4 miles from corner to corner. That was about as far as you could walk or go in a horse and buggy in those days. You stayed in your own community, you just didn't go visit the other communities like Ocee or Shakerag or Warsaw.

Each community had a "heart" usually at a crossroads. The heart of Newtown was at the intersection of Haynes Bridge and Old Alabama and extended out in about a 2-mile radius. Old Alabama Road was once a trail used by the Cherokee Indians to travel to Alabama. Homes, churches and schools servedas the social centers of life in Newtown. In the 1830's, people. would open their homes to all to come over and sing with and without instruments. Popular songbooks were the Perennial Songs, Crown and Vocalist and the Christian Harmony according to the author of the book, The Cotton Renter's Son.

There was a Methodist Church and a Baptist Church in Newtown. The churches served as a place of worship as well as public meeting houses and community centers. There were no courts other than the justice of the peace so the churches "laid down the rules" and saw to it they were observed. A person falling from grace was was "excluded" from "the hand of fellowship." (Roswell: A Pictorial History) When the Newtown Community Building was completed in the 1950's, Mt. Pisgah Church asked the group to deed the land at the church back to them since court activities were being handled at the new Community Building.

Mrs. Violet Webb was one of the first students at the Newtown School when it was opened in 1929. Now Mrs. Webb recounts the old days for students in a local school. She shows them what the students would have carried to school for lunch in the old days which consisted of a sweet potato, a biscuit with butter and sugar, school. She shows them what the students would have carried to school for lunch in the old days which consisted of a sweet potato, a biscuit with butter & sugar, and a biscuit with sorghum syrup all wrapped in sheet of paper or sometimes a lard bucket. An earlier one-room schoolhouse was located where the Jenkins cemetery is today (the one with the iron fence across from Mt. Pisgah Church).

In 1836, most of the people who lived in the Newtown area were farmers. Some owned the land and some were tenants who "rented" the land to work it. Cotton was the money crop. Other crops such as corn and wheat were grown for people to eat with any parts left over to feed the animals. Some people operated mills for grinding corn and flour.A story in the book, Cotton Renter's Son, tells how the tenant farmer planted a secret bunch of water-melon vines in between the rows for personal use. Peanuts were a treat and were grown for snacks. It was understood that to have meat meant to have pork. A hog could be butchered when it turned cool and then preserved. Not much beef was eaten until the REA brought electricity to the area in 1938 and refrigeration was available.

Chamblee, Fouts, Allen, Scott, Brumbelow, Hawkins, Thomasons, Reeves (Eaves Road), Nesbit, Burks, and Dalton are family names associated with Newtown. You will probably recognize some of these names as the names of the roads you drive upon. Usually the road was a dirt one and was identified by the family who lived on it.

Earnest Hawkins had a store at Old Alabama and Nesbit Ferry. It was a triangle then; the store sat in the middle and served as the post office. The Scotts grew cotton until the 50's on land now occupied by the Haynes Bridge Kroger. As a child Mr. Hawkins picked cotton there to earn money to go to the The Great Southeastern Fair (Lakewood). Jones Bridge was over the Chattahoochee but was not used much because it didn't hold up to flooding. Nesbitt Ferry was a ferry across the Chattahoochee beginning in Dunwoody. Mrs.Stephens' (Allen) family had a coal kiln in which they made charcoal. Mr. Brumbelow had a mill just east of Old Alabama in the 30's and 40's.

While some of the history of Newtown is documented, some is sketchy. There is one question for which we are seeking an answer. Why it is called Newtown? Could it be related to the Newtown which was the location for the first Cherokee Capital now called New Echota near Calhoun, GA? When the Cherokees migrated here did they bring it with them? As stated above the name appeared on a Civil War map of the area. It appeared on deeds in Old Milton County as well as the census. As our Newtown Park Community Foundation continues to reach out to the community to revitalize our "heart" we will continue to seek out the answer.

To experience the past today you can visit Autrey Mill Nature Center to see a tenant farmer's house or cotton renter's house. On Holcomb Bridge Road at the Chattahoochee, you can see the stone piles left from the McAfee Bridge that was burned during the siege of Atlanta. If you are really lucky you can find an "old-timer" to share their experiences.

Prepared by Susan Miller
Photo courtesy of Roswell Historical Society