COMMUNITY
Pictured is the Bank of Covington and Opera House in downtown Covington in the late 1800s. Special Photo | Historical Society of Newton County
Newton was formed in 1821 from Henry, Jasper and Walton counties By TAYLOR BECK
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tbeck@covnews.com
ewton County was created due to the increasing population in its neighboring counties. Enacted by the Georgia General Assembly on Dec. 24, 1821, Newton County was formed from the three existing counties of Henry, Jasper and Walton. The action came nearly 33 years after Georgia was granted statehood on Jan.2, 1788. Newton was bordered by DeKalb, Henry, Jasper, Morgan and Walton counties until Butts County was formed from portions of Henry and Monroe
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BICENTENNIAL EDITION
counties in 1825 and Rockdale County was formed out of Newton and DeKalb in 1870. Newton County was named for Sgt. John Newton, a Revolutionary War soldier and companion of Sgt. William Jasper, who was the namesake for Jasper County. At the time, the State Constitution provided that when the population of a county reached a certain level, the General Assembly was to alter the county’s boundaries and create a new county. New counties were also created for other reasons, such as better maintaining law and order, regulating methods for legalizing land and deed records,
and promoting education. Newton County was first inhabited by the Creek Indians until 1813 when Governor Thorp negotiated a treaty in which the Creeks gave up their claim to the land. The yielding of Indian lands and the state land lotteries of 1805, 1807, 1820 and 1821 were very important in forming Newton County. The Creek Nation ceded the land distribution to the U.S. in a treaty held Nov. 14, 1805, which resulted in the 1807 land lottery. The last of the Creek Indians were banished to Oklahoma over the “Trail of Tears” after a decade. The first white settlers of THE COVINGTON NEWS
