In the easternmost county of Texas, Newton was little more than a forest of oaks and beeches when it was laid out in 1853. Because of its central location, it was chosen as county seat that same year over Burkeville, the former county seat. Major John Moore, an early settler, built Newton's first house and its first courthouse, a two-story frame structure completed in 1856. The second and present courthouse was finished in 1903. After the Orange and Northwestern Railroad arrived in 1905, Newton began to grow, with its buildings increasing from four in 1859, consisting of two homes, a store, and a saloon, to 15 in 1913. The town was incorporated in 1935 and remains the county's only incorporated town. Formal education began with the W. H. Ford Male and Female College in 1889, and it became part of the public school system in 1906. Newton County Bank was established in 1906, and the Newton News was printed before 1920. Over the years, forest products formed the basis of the town's chief industries, with sawmills and plants producing baskets, turpentine, tool handles, and furniture, and Newton became the county's main trade center.