Newton County, Mississippi

Newton County, Mississippi
Location in the state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location in the U.S.
Founded	1836
Seat	Decatur
Largest Town	Union
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	579.58 sq mi (1,501 km²) 578.03 sq mi (1,497 km²) 1.55 sq mi (4 km²), 0.27%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	21,720 39/sq mi (15/km²)

Newton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2010, the population was 21,720. Its county seat is Decatur^[1].

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 579.58 square miles (1,501.1 km²), of which 578.03 square miles (1,497.1 km²) (or 99.73%) is land and 1.55 square miles (4.0 km²) (or 0.27%) is water.^[2]

Major highways

• Interstate 20
• U.S. Highway 80
• Mississippi Highway 15

Adjacent counties

• Neshoba County (north)
• Lauderdale County (east)
• Jasper County (south)
• Scott County (west)

National protected area

• Bienville National Forest (part)

History

Newton County was formed in 1836. All sources say it was named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton, including the 1896 history of Newton County.

Newton County is adjacent to Jasper County, which was named for Sgt. William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero of the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Sgt. John Newton had a very similar history. Early in the 1800s, many places were named for these men. At least four other states, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri and Texas, have adjacent Jasper and Newton Counties. At least two states, Illinois and Iowa, have Newton as the county seat of Jasper County. In Arkansas, Jasper is the county seat of Newton County. The frequency of occurrence of these names in juxtaposition shows that the stories of Sgts. Jasper and Newton were widely known, and associated with each other at the time these counties were named.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	2,527		—
1850	4,465		76.7%
1860	9,661		116.4%
1870	10,067		4.2%
1880	13,436		33.5%
1890	16,625		23.7%
1900	19,708		18.5%
1910	23,085		17.1%
1920	20,727		−10.2%
1930	22,910		10.5%
1940	24,249		5.8%
1950	22,681		−6.5%
1960	19,517		−14.0%
1970	18,983		−2.7%
1980	19,944		5.1%
1990	20,291		1.7%
2000	21,838		7.6%
2010	21,720		−0.5%
MS Counties 1900-1990 GeoHive - 2000 & 2010 statistics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 21,838 people, 8,221 households, and 6,001 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 9,259 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 65.01% White, 30.37% Black or African American, 3.68% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. 0.91% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 8,221 households out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.00% were married couples living together, 16.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.00% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.20% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,735, and the median income for a family was $34,606. Males had a median income of $27,820 versus $20,757 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,008. About 16.40% of families and 19.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.30% of those under age 18 and 21.70% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

• Cities
  • Newton

• Towns
  • Chunky
  • Decatur
  • Hickory
  • Lake (mostly in Scott County)
  • Union (partly in Neshoba County)

• Census-designated places
  • Conehatta

• Unincorporated places
  • Duffee
  • Lawrence
  • Little Rock

See also

• Dry counties
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Newton County, Mississippi

External references

• History of Newton County

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

Coordinates: 32°25′N 89°07′W / 32.41°N 89.12°W / 32.41; -89.12