Newton

Formed February 9, 1836 (51^st county)

Newton County (21,293), Decatur (1,945), Newton (3,196)

The basic red brick and concrete Modern courthouse, built in 1972, is at the intersection of Broad Street and 4^th Avenue.  Mississippi State Highway 15 is two blocks west of the courthouse.  Charles P. McMullan and Associates are the architects.  The structure features marble walls and a memorial slab.  An 1877 and a 1912 version of the courthouse was also in Decatur, the only county seat.  Newton County was created on February 9, 1836 from Neshoba County as the 51^st county.  It is named for inventor Sir Isaac Newton.  The county seat is named for War of 1812 hero Stephen Decatur. 

Newton County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Supervisors.  One Chancery Court Judge serves Newton, Jasper, and Scott counties and Two District Court Judges serve Newton, Leake, Neshoba, and Scott counties.  Newton County is in eastern Mississippi.  Jackson, Mississippi is west and Birmingham, Alabama is northeast of the county.  The county center is 1.9 miles South-Southwest of Decatur.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Neshoba, Kemper, Lauderdale, Clarke, Jasper, Smith, Scott, and Leake counties. 

The area of the county is 578 square miles.  It is 40 out of 82 in the state.  It ranks 45 out of 82 in population in the state.  It has a density of 36.8 persons per square mile making it 46 out of 82 in the state.  Newton County has 34.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 20 crosses the county east to west from Lauderdale County to Scott County.  United States Highway 80 parallels Interstate Highway 20 from Lauderdale to Scott counties.  The county is a rectangle.  Decatur is in the northern third of the county.  Newton is in the southern quarter of the county.  Decatur is the county seat and Newton is the largest city.  Decatur is 9.1% of the county population while Newton is 15.0% of the county population.