Newton County Map
By Jonnie Miller
Recently I have acquired a large 1905 map of Newton County with accompanying comprehensive history. Newton County is at 30.51 º north latitude and 93.45 º west longitude. The county is comprised of 950 square miles, mostly timberland. The county is known for longleaf and shortleaf pine, oak, magnolia, hickory and cypress trees. Indians were the earliest human inhabitants. The Caddo confederacy, mostly the Atakapa's whose name means "man-eaters" in Choctaw occupied the coastal regions around the Sabine River and and may have ventured into Newton County. The Coushatta's migration from lower East Texas also came through the county. One of the earliest trails through the area was known as the Coustta Trace. Newton County lands were included in Lorenzo de Zavala's 1829 grant from the Mexican government. At least 21 settlers received title to land now in the county. Most of the area was part of the Municipality of Liberty from 1831 to 1834 and the Municipality of Bevil (later Jasper County) from 1834 to 1846. Part of the county was within the Municipality of San Augustine in 1834 to 1835 and the Municipality of Sabine from 1835 to 1837 when it became a part of Jasper County. In 1846 the state legislature marked off Newton County from the eastern half of Jasper County and named it after John Newton, a veteran of the American Revolution.
I reported the issues of the county seat and courthouse in other writing on this site so I will not go into those. Other issues, such as the changing population, are also of interest. In 1880, the population of the county was 4,359. By 1930, it had grown to 12,395. Blacks made up over 1/3 of the almost all rural population. By 1940 the black population had grown to over 40 % but by 1980, the black population had fallen to just over 24%.
Most of the industry stemmed from the water-powered saw mills. Lumber industry was almost all the industry in the county. Lumbermen used animal teams or creeks to pull or float their cut timber to the Sabine where it was floated down to Orange. The giants of the timber industry in Newton County were A.J. Peavey, Henry Lutcher and John Henry Kirby. The lumbermen sought to link their forest holdings with their mills so the rail system was rapidly expanded. The Orange and Northwestern, The Sabine and Neches Valley and the Gulf and Northern were particularly important for the county. The Great Depression and depletion of available stands of timber had a severe impact on the county as it did in other areas. In 1940 public emergency work programs employed 468 persons, 10.7% of the total workforce and another 6.6% (302) were still idle and looking for work. Mill closings at Deweyville, Call, and Wiergate also hurt the county. Production fell 37% from 1930 to 1940 and there was a 21% decline in population from 1940 to 1950 and another 9.6% decline by 1960.
The only saving grace was the improving system of roadways. State Hwy. 87, north to south, and U.S. Hwy 190, east to west, allowed residents to live in the county and commute to work in Beaumont, Orange, and Louisiana plants and mills. Oil also helped the economy of the county. In 1938, the South Call Oil field began producing was joined by other oil and gas producers in the county later on.
Education also increased. In 1940 high school graduates in the 25 and up age population equaled about 1/10 of the county residents. By 1980 over 45% had a high school diploma and 4% had also completed 4 years of college. In 1990, the population had reached 13,569. The population has pretty much stayed in that area since.