Newton, MS

Newton is a small town located in Newton County, MS. The population was just over 2,000 in the 2010 census. Newton is located on U.S. Highway 49 about 20 miles south of Jackson and 10 miles north of Greenwood.

The town was founded in 1836 by Drury C. Newton and his wife, Elizabeth (Baxter) Newton. The first buildings were constructed near the present-day courthouse square. The town grew rapidly due to its location on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad line which made it an important shipping point for cotton and other agricultural products during the antebellum period. In 1892, a fire destroyed most of the business district downtown, but new construction soon replaced it.

Today, Newton is a small town with a Main Street that features several businesses including a bank, grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store and several restaurants including two Mexican restaurants and one Chinese restaurant. There are also several churches in the town including Baptist, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian denominations as well as an Islamic mosque (the only one in Mississippi).

The economy of Newton has traditionally been based on agriculture (particularly cotton) and tourism although recent years have seen growth in businesses such as health care services and information technology services which are supported by nearby Jackson metropolitan area jobsites such as Intel Corporation's Mississippi Operations Center and Nissan North America's manufacturing plant near Greenwood