Newton

History

Newton is located near the headwaters of the east branch of the Paulins Kill, a tributary of the Delaware River. In October 1715, Colonial surveyor Samuel Green plotted a tract of at the head of the Paulins Kill, then known as the Tohokenetcunck River, on behalf of William Penn. This tract, which would not be settled for approximately 30–35 years, was part of the survey and division of the last acquisition of Native American land by the West Jersey Board of Proprietors. At the time of Green's survey, northwestern New Jersey was populated with bands of the Munsee, the northern branch of the Lenape Native Americans. The first recorded European settler within the boundaries of present-day Newton was a German Palatine immigrant named Henry Hairlocker who arrived sometime before 1751 when he appears in Morris County records as receiving a tavern license. The Newtown Precinct, a large township, was created in 1751, and Sussex County was created from Morris two years later on June 8, 1753. The township would be named Newtown after the colonial village of Newtown in Queens, New York from where the Pettit family originated (the six Pettit brothers, all prominent landowners and influential figures in early local government, settled in northwestern New Jersey in the 1740s) or from its status as a "new town". In 1762, Jonathan Hampton, of Elizabethtown, surveyed the location for a county courthouse and town green at the intersection of a military supply road he built during the French and Indian War and a major north–south artery called the King's Highway (present-day New Jersey Route 94). The construction of the courthouse was completed in 1765 and the village that developed around it became known as Sussex Court House. The county courthouse was the site of a raid by British…

Geography

Newton is located in the Kittatinny Valley, a segment of the Great Appalachian Valley. The Great Appalachian Valley is a gigantic trough—a chain of valley lowlands that stretches about from Quebec to Alabama and is the easternmost edge of Ridge and Valley Appalachians physiographic province. This physiographic province, one of five in New Jersey, occupies approximately two-thirds of the county's area (the county's western and central sections) dominated by Kittatinny Mountain and the Kittatinny Valley. This province's contour is characterized by long, even ridges with long, continuous valleys in between that generally run parallel from southwest to northeast. The features of the Ridge and Valley province were created approximately 300–400 million years ago during the Ordovician period and Appalachian orogeny—a period of tremendous pressure and rock thrusting that caused the creation of the Appalachian Mountains. This region is largely formed by sedimentary rock. Newton's land area drains into the watersheds of the Paulins Kill and Pequest River—two rivers that are tributaries of the Delaware River. These watersheds are separated by slate ridges that are part of the Martinsburg Formation. These slate ridges were quarried for slate for roofs and other industrial purposes beginning with a quarry opened by Elijah Blackwell in 1859 that operated under a series of different owners and commercial entities until 1930. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town had a total area of , including of land and of water (0.65%). Because of its location in the higher elevations of northwestern New Jersey's Appalachian mountains, Newton, as well as the rest of Sussex County, has a cooler humid continental climate or microthermal climate (Köppen climate classification…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,279
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  8,235
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,037
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,556
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,298
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  6,596
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,357
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  6,322

Largest nearby schools

• Sparta High School
  High · SPARTA · 1,071 students · 10.8:1 ratio
• Kittatinny Regional High School
  High · NEWTON · 781 students · 9.9:1 ratio
• Alpine Elementary School
  Elementary · SPARTA · 759 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Sparta Middle School
  Middle · SPARTA · 746 students · 9.6:1 ratio
• Newton High School
  High · NEWTON · 719 students · 12:1 ratio
• Sussex County Technical School
  High · Sparta · 679 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Lenape Valley Regional High School
  High · STANHOPE · 667 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Hopatcong High School
  High · Hopatcong · 520 students · 11.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2025-08-05
  1 km N of Hillsdale, New Jersey
• M 3 — 2025-08-03
  0 km W of Little Ferry, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-05-24
  6 km E of Califon, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-05-01
  1 km NW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.9 — 2024-04-27
  7 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey
• M 2.6 — 2024-04-10
  5 km WSW of Gladstone, New Jersey