History of county’s municipalities

County’s municipalities, towns have illustrious histories

By TOM SPIGOLON

tspigolon@covnews.com

Cities in Newton County other than Covington also have rich histories.

Some became known as educational centers or commercial or transportation hubs during their beginnings in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Mansfield In eastern Newton County, Mansfield has flourished in agriculture and trade from about 1896.

The Middle Georgia & Atlantic Railroad from Gordon to Covington was completed in the 1890s. A group of businessmen subsequently organized the Carmel Land Improvement Co., which began purchasing land for the township later to be known as Mansfield, according to the book “History of Newton County, Georgia.”

“Legend has it that the businessmen pledged to name the town after whoever among the company was still sober after the celebration and barbecue following the sale of lots,” according to the 1988 book published by the Newton County Historical Society.

“Apparently little else is known of Mr. Mansfield other than he was there and he exercised temperance.”

Mansfield was incorporated as a city in 1903 and Moden Duke was the first mayor, according to the Historical Society. The Georgia General Assembly also approved a public school system for the town in 1907.

The Bank of Mansfield was established in 1904; and the town received its first electricity in 1914.

Some corporations on the books in 1918 included the Flemister Potts mercantile company, Mansfield Lumber and Construction Co., Mansfield Trading Co., and Newton County Gin Co.

But Mansfield’s economic fortunes took major hits in the 1920s when the boll weevil destroyed much of the area’s cotton crop and a fire caused $50,000 in damage in the town.

Still, Georgia Hwy. 11 was paved through Mansfield in 1936.

The town’s main industry now is Beaver Manufacturing Co. Inc. which was founded in early 1971 to supply chemically treated industrial yarns to the hose industry. It now offers numerous types of industrial fiber.

Mansfield also is home to several small commercial enterprises and Mansfield Elementary School.

“Numerous early 20th Century homes still stand and are beginning to attract newcomers to the area who appreciate the quiet, historic, small town life and are investing in renovations.”

Its 2020 population was 442, according to the federal census.

Newborn

Newborn, in easternmost Newton County was first known

Pictured is Newborn High School, circa 1912. A brick school house replaced the building in 1923.

Special Photo

as Crossroads or Sandtown and was settled around 1819 while still part of Jasper County. It was finally placed in Newton County around 1832.

A school known as Palmyra Institute was established in the town in 1859 and turned out such notable alumni as former Texas governor Richard Bennett “Dick” Hubbard Jr., who was a native of the area. He graduated from Mercer University and entered politics after his family moved to Texas. He served as governor of Texas from 1876 to 1879 and later as the U.S. ambassador to Japan.

The school operated until 1909 when it was converted to Newborn High School. The school closed in the early 1950s and its building now serves as the Newborn Community Center.

The Central of Georgia railroad was built through Newborn in 1893, and the Georgia General Assembly incorporated Newborn as a town in 1894.

The Bank of Newborn opened in 1903 but fell victim to a postWorld War I economic downturn. Newborn received its first electricity in 1913.

Newborn now has a population of 676, according to the 2020 census.

Oxford

Oxford was established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1839 to support Emory College, which was chartered in 1836 in the Newton County town. It was incorporated in 1914.

“The Oxford community was launched with the idea that the Emory students should have the most cultured and Christian environment possible,” according to information from the Newton County Historical Society.

In 1919, the college opened a second campus in DeKalb County near Atlanta and eventually moved its main campus there to become Emory University. The original campus is now called Emory Oxford College.

Its early mass transportation for students and residents to catch passenger trains at the Covington Train Depot was a mule-drawn rail car.

The town’s government has long placed an emphasis on protecting its tree canopy and the town council has long had a tree committee to oversee it. Its Lions Club was formed in 1951 and a Historical Marker Committee organized in 1964 to help identify markers in the city’s Historic Cemetery.

The Methodist Church, which founded Emory, also dominated the town until 1961 when the first Baptist church opened. The United Methodist Church declared Oxford a shrine in 1971, which was a unique honor.

Today, the town boasts a population of 2,308, according to the 2020 federal census. Its popula-

Oliver Porter and others helped form the Porterdale Mills in 1890. The mill building was converted to loft homes in 2006. File Photo

tion has increased by 13% since the 2010 census.

Porterdale

Porterdale was settled in the 1820s to establish the Cedar Shoals Manufacturing Co. on the Yellow River.

After changing hands many times, it went to Oliver Porter and others who helped form Porterdale Mills in 1890. Bibb Manufacturing bought the facility in 1898 and later built a mill that was the largest twine mill in the world in 1925.

The mill kept expanding and added more housing for its workers, bringing the number of houses to almost 600 by 1920. The first general store opened in 1923. The Oliver Porter Gym was built in 1938 and the first graduating class of the town’s new high school earned their degrees there in 1939.

A new bridge over the Yellow River was completed in 1943 to replace a wooden bridge that was so low mill workers could not cross it in times when the river was high.

Another prominent structure that still stands is the old Welaunee Hotel on Main Street north of the mill and downtown area. Bibb Manufacturing built it as a dormitory for young women working at the mill. It later operated as the Village Inn and Restaurant.

At the height of production from 1940 to 1970, 2,500 were employed at the Bibb mills. It was the state’s largest employer in the 1950s before it began a steady decline and was sold in 1998 as many clothing companies moved toward using cheaper labor in foreign countries.

The Porterdale mill closed and the massive structure on the banks of the Yellow River deteriorated over the decades, along with the town.

“What followed was a deterioration due to the sale of homes, many to landlords who allowed the homes to fall into decay,” the city website stated.

A developer then bought the mill building and converted it into loft homes in 2006 — sparking a wave of residents buying and renovating the old mill village houses.

The city government also took some landlords to court to force them to bring homes up to code. It also worked to clamp down on crime and drug use.

Now, large residential communities and new retail development are planned along its main routes, including Covington Bypass on its southern border and Crowell Road on its north end — both outside the town’s historic district..

The city’s 2020 population was 1,799, according to the federal census.

Social Circle

Social Circle was founded in 1820 and was centered at the junction of two Indian trails known today as Cherokee Road and Hightower Trail. It was incorporated in 1904 as a city.

A Supreme Court case shortly before the turn of the century highly publicized Social Circle’s name. The town became the center of a freight-rate controversy of national importance which the railroads challenged a finding of the then-relatively new Interstate Commerce Commission. The Court decision in this instance indirectly brought about another challenge of the Commission’s powers, with the result that Social Circle’s name was widely mentioned and repeated across the country for periods of years.