Trails to Rails: Newton Past, Present and Future

Formed at the juncture of Native American trails and solidified through the railroad, Newton has a proud history as a thriving center of transportation.

Some of the earliest Western accounts of the people include notes from the Spanish explorer Coronado documenting grass house villages that he would refer to as "the Quivira". The trails through this land would be documented as a large pre-colonial settlement of Indigenous people that had been forced out of Kansas by the time the cattle drives would begin.

William Becknell would establish the Santa Fe Trail in 1821, which at 780 miles, was one of the longest commercial routes in the United States. Jesse Chisholm's name would be forever etched in history for scouting perhaps the most famous of the cattle trails, which would carry 5 million longhorns from Texas to Kansas. While Jesse didn't know that this trail would be used as such since his trail was originally used for trade with indigenous people and the military. In 1868, the mayor of Topeka, Cyrus K. Holiday, broke ground on a new railroad to run along the Santa Fe Trail -- the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe.

On an August morning in 1870, several men, including Judge RWP Muse and railroad representative D.L. Lakin, went out to find a spot for a spot to be the railhead. As they stopped at the banks of Sand Creek for lunch, they determined it was to be the spot. The first Santa Fe Depot was constructed in 1871, and the first train stopped here July 17, 1871. The original town was platted at the end of August 1871, being bordered by 12th Street to the north, 5th Street to the south, Ash to the west and Pine to the east. They would call the town Newton, after the city in Massachusetts where many Santa Fe stockholders lived. The settlement was incorporated as a city on February 22, 1872.

Today, we see the revitalization of the rail lines through expanded passenger rail and continued freight lines, keeping trains at the heart of our community. While our trails have changed in look and sometimes use, we continue to walk in the same paths as those before us - finding time to walk or bike along Sand Creek and seeing unlimited potential just as the founders once did.

Newton Historical Tour

If you would like to learn more about the history of Newton you can visit our historical tour. The tour is filled with details and pictures of historical events and happenings. You can also view the tour by downloading the Pocket Sights app on your phone. The tour on your phone will show you the history of the location that your at or lead you on a guided walking tour. 

Historic Newton Coloring & Activity Book

The Historic Newton Coloring & Activity Book is a great way to get children involved in learning the history of Newton. The book includes 9 historical sites to stop at, all in the downtown area, as well as information on the historical events that helped to found Newton as well as the cultural influences that have helped to shape the community. The activity book is designed for kids to enjoy hands-on learning along the route. It can be used as a companion to the Historic Newton Downtown Walking Tour. Both guides are available at various locations in downtown Newton and at City Hall.

Newton, KS named for Newton, MA

Thank you to the Fig City News in Newton, MA for the below information.

The railroad town of Newton, Kansas was in fact named for Newton, Massachusetts - the home of key investors and executives of the AT&SF Railroad that was key to the development of the town. 10 of the 14 AT&SF board members were from the Boston area, and 5 of those were prominent residents of Newton, MA:

• Thomas Nickerson, AT&SF President
• Alden Speare, AT&SF Director
• Isaac T. Burr, AT&SF Vice President & Director
• Charles W. Pierce, AT&SF Secretary
• George B. Wilbur, AT&SF Director

The Massachusetts investors in AT&SF ended up having considerable influence in Kansas: along the pat of the land grants, the Kansas towns Nicerson, Spearville, Burton, and Pierceville were named for the corresponding AT&SF Directors who resided in Newton, MA, and the towns of Cheney, Coolidge, Peabody, and Raymond were named for other Boston-based AT&SF board members/investors. Three of the first fifteen AT&SF locomotives were named for Newton, MA residents as well. The town of Newton, KS was named for the town of Newton, MA. Newton, KS was built on the site of the first depot of the Atchison, Topeka & Sant Fe (AT&SF) Railroad, were the railroad intersected with the great Texas cattle trail.

While Newton, MA was a town long before Newton, KS - they were not officially incorporated until two years after Newton, KS on January 5, 1874.

Newton History Timeline 

Newton's Beginnings

• The first people in what is now Newton were the Wichita and Pawnee
• 1541 - Coronado explored the area
• 1803 - Most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase
• 1830 - Indian Removal Act forced many eastern tribes to move west of the Mississippi including into present day Kansas
• 1854 - The Kansas Territory was organized
• 1855 - Kansas map surveyors noted a "Kaw Village" along the Arkansas River in what would become Harvey County
• 1861 - Kansas became the 34th U.S. state
• 1869 - Dr. T.S. Floyd becomes first settler
• 1871 - First town map plat
• August 1871 - 5 men killed at Perry Tuttle's Dance Hall, earning us the nickname "Bloody Newton"
• Main Street Business Boom
  • A. F. Horner store and supply store located at 5th and Main
  • March 1871 - Walton's Blacksmith Shop was located on what would become West 5th
  • Pioneer Store, owned and operated by Peter Luhn, was originally a wooden structure typical of the Western frontier style and would later be replaced by a larger stone building
• February 22, 1872 - Newton incorporated as a city
• August 22, 1872 - The first issue of the Newton Kansan is printed by Henry C. Ashbaugh
• September 2, 1872 - First school opens in Newton in the Ringolsky Building
• 1872 - Harvey County was founded (the county in which Newton is located)
• 1873 - First Bank of Newton established (now INTRUST Bank)

Rail Town Years

• 1880 - First Harvey County Jail built in the 800 block of Main
• 1880 - St. Mary's Catholic School established
• 1880's - Newton enjoyed a building boom and improvements
  • Prominent businessmen built large elaborate homes on East First Street
  • East Third was referred to as the "cut-glass row"
• 1882 - Second depot built
• 1886 - Warkentin Mill built
• 1886 - Newton Public Library opens in Carnegie building
• 1887 - Bethel Collee chartered
• 1887 - Axtell Hospital founded
• 1887 - Commercial club works to bring Santa Fe headquarters back to Newton
• 1890 - Financial panic from over-building and speculation results in bankruptcy of 3 Newton banks, the Newton Street Railway, the electric light company, the Newton Buggy Co. and personal losses for many of the community's wealthiest citizens
• 1892 - Anderson Office Supply founded
• February 6, 1893 - Chamber of Commerce established
• March 4, 1893 - Midland National Bank opens (now Union State Bank)

Beginning a New Century

• 1900 - Completion of the new SF&AT Railroad Depot and the Arcade Hotel
• 1903 - Bethel Deaconess Hospital founded
• 1904 - Carnegie Library built
• 1905 - First Mexican-American family settles in Newton
• 1906-07 - Courthouse constructed
• 1907 - Harvey County Historical Society established
• 1909 - Athletic Park opens as a public park
  • The park included a race track used for horse motorcycle, and automobile racing; ball fields; playgrounds; and picnic shelters
  • A zoo with several animals and a working small-scale railroad entertained a generation of children in the 1960s
  • Newtonians swan in Sand Creek at Athletic Park until the public swimming pool was built in 1934
• August 4, 1914 - Fire burns east side of Main between 5th and 6th Street
• January 1, 1915 - Ragsdale Opera House lost in fire
• 1914-1915 - Before and after downtown fires
• February 7, 1900 - Basketball introduced to the Newton community with a game between Newton Eagles Co. D and a team of civilians
  • The Newton Kansan noted that "It proved a very fascinating pastime and those who took part are quite enthusiastic over the sport."
• 1917 - Newton's first civic club, Rotary Club, is founded
• 1921 - Regent Theatre opens on Main Street
• 1926 - First Newton Dillon and Sons Grocery opens

A Modern Era

• 1930 - Arcade building torn down and new depot built
• 1935 - Fischer Field Stadium built in Athletic Park
• 1954 - Prairie View mental health center opens
• 1955 - Fox Theatre opens in Regent Theatre space
• 1965 - Flood 
• 1966 - New Courthouse built
• 1968 - Newton Fine Arts Association established
• 1971 - New library built in Military Park
• 1979 - Bunting Magnetics moves its headquarters to Newton from Chicago
• 1984 - Koehn Painting founded in Newton
• 1988 - Newton Medical Center established by the merger of Axtell and Bethel Deaconess hospitals
• 1995 - Santa Fe Railroad merges with Burlington Northern, forming BNSF Railway
• 2024 - New library opens