There are many people who have many memories about their lives and times in the Town of Newton. I have sat in several interviews, talked with lots of people who owns/owned a business in our town, and lots of folks via the email who have shared their memories and stories. It is also very interesting to be a part of the Newton High School reunions that are held each year. I have been actively involved with them since 2003 in setting up the sound and video presentations. I always have my ears open and a writing utensil close by.
In this section I wish to take each building that is located in downtown Newton and give a short history on it. These are histories that I have gathered so far. If you happen to have more information on any of them then please email me and I will include it with the rest of the information. The success and correctness of this information is only as good as the provider.
Very little is known about the original founding of Newton. We know from different writings that it goes way back to the early 1800's. On February 9, 1843 the Town of Newton became the county seat of Dale County. The town was the county seat until March 22, 1869 when the courthouse burned. After the fire the courthouse was moved to Ozark. In 1884 the courthouse burned in Ozark. The Southern Star newspaper for the year 1884 gives several accounts of much controversy in regards to folks trying to get the courthouse moved back to Newton. It was not to be so a new courthouse was built in Ozark and there it has remained. In fact, I have read that if the courthouse had been centrally located in accordance with the law it would have been built at what is now known as Klondyke Hill. On Sunday night, January 6th, 1889, the old town burned. The old buildings were made of wood and made for huge fire. When the buildings were rebuilt, they were built using brick and mortar as you see them today. It would later be stipulated in the zoning for the town that any building erected in the downtown district would be constructed with brick only. No wooden buildings would be allowed. Here is the transcribed recording as found in The Newton Messenger, O.C. Doster & Co. Publishers, dated 12 January 1889:
On Sunday night of the 6th, while our people were unconscious – inwrapt in slumbers sweet reprise, the fire fiend had slowly but none the less surely coiled its fiery fangs about them and enough almost with one fell swoop desolation in our once beautiful and prosperous little town. Between eleven and twelve o’clock Mrs. J.R. Kelly discovered the cruel invader preying upon the Wilkerson old hotel. She awoke Mr. Kelly, who immediately gave the alarm which was responded to from every portion of the town and immediate neighborhood. The flames soon enveloped the entire building which stood in a few paces of Mr. Kelly’s dwelling and also fronting the store of Matthew & Brother, the store and office of W.D. Grant and Dr. A.J. Morris, and the Poyner Brothers. Through a powerful effort and a miraculous providence Mr. Kelly’s dwelling was saved. From the old hotel, the fire was ignited to the store of Matthews & Bro., and when once in this building it was evident that all efforts to subdue the flames would be futile and the merchants working in dead earnest between human hands and the firery monster. Men, women and children worked with unrelenting fortitude. The flames, not to be outdone in their rampage of destruction loped from one store to the other, reaching upward and onward until the whole heavens were tinged with their glaring brightness, dying away in the distance when the substance upon which the monster could subsist had been exhausted, - Thus within a few hours the accumulations of years had been swept away and they had been turned into gloom with charred ruins to remind us of the once proud and most famous little town known to the heart of our people.
Sufferers, J.R. Kelly, $1,000, Kelly & Davis $1,000, Crim & Borland 1,000, J.D. Crim & Co., $1,000, Poyner Brothers $1,100, J.D. Yelverton $300, C.T. Kenedy $15, W.D. Grant $200, Mrs. Carrie Haley $100, Dr. A.J. Morris $800, Matthew & Brother $2000, Dr. J.F. Smisson $200, Thos. J. McIntyre $150, Wilkerson of Greenville about $800 or 1,000, O.A.C. Acree $500, Jones & Co., $1500, H.H. Hodges and the Masonic Hall $75, and E.A. Trawick $50. Jones & Co., O.A.C. Acree and Crim & Borland were partially covered with insurance.
It has long been a settled fact that Newton is one of the most progressive little towns in the South and from a business view, excells anything in Southeast Alabama. Her merchants are industrious and their fidelity, integrity and honesty stand unquestioned before the commercial world. It has been truthfully said by our contemporary, the Star, that a failure is unknown in Newton. As to the origin of the fire there is existing different opinions. Some believe it to have been accidental, while others believe it to have been the work of an incendiary, but this is a question never to be solved; and in view of this one fact let our people if possible forget terrors, of the past and look upon the brighter side of life.
Kelly & Davis moved their stock of goods into the old Masonic building, Crim & Borland is in the old Wilkerson building on the corner Poyner & Brothers, in the old Messenger office, Matthew & Brother are in the sample room joining the National hotel, Grant and Morris are in the side room joining the post office and C.T. Kenedy can be found snugly fitted up in the Carriage shop.
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