The town of Newtown, originally known as Quanneapague, was purchased from the Pohtatuck Indians in 1705. Settled from Stratford and incorporated in 1711, Newtown was a stronghold of Tory sentiment during the early Revolutionary War. French General Rochambeau and his troops encamped here in 1781 on their way to the siege of Yorktown, which ended the Revolution. An important crossroads throughout its early history, the village of Hawleyville briefly emerged as a railroad center and the town's population grew to over 4,000 circa 1881. In the following decades, the population dwindled to a low of 2,635 in 1930 before again growing. Newtown covers an area of approximately 60 square miles.
Local industry has included the manufacture of furniture, tea bags, combs, fire hose, folding boxes, buttons, and hats, as well as farming and mica and feldspar mining. The game of Scrabble was developed here by James Brunot.
Among notable residents have been James Purdy, an African American farmer who was part of the Underground Railroad, and Mary Elizabeth Hawley, Newtown's benefactress.
Newtown has a number of local landmarks. Perhaps the most famous is the flag pole, first erected in 1876. The Newtown Bee, the local weekly newspaper, has been serving the area since 1877, and owned (and operated) by the Smith family since 1881. Another important building, located across from the flagpole, is Newtown Meeting House, which served as the town's Congregational Church for many years. The rooster weathervane (a town symbol), located atop the meeting house is said to have been used as a target by French soldiers encamped here in 1781 during the Revolutionary War.
Hawley School is another old and famous landmark. Constructed in the 1920s, it has been used as a whole-town school, a high school, and an elementary school. It is currently an elementary school. Though it has been many different school functions, its original section has remained much the same. Two additions have been added since its construction.
Newtown is also home to the famous "Fairfield Hills" Mental Hospital which was erected in the 1930s. Fairfield Hills was a mental institution for many decades. It was closed in 1995. Fairfield Hills was used as the set of the juvenile facility in the movie Sleepers in 1995. Newtown recently purchased the property, and, as of 2007, the town is considering a somewhat controversial plan for its usage. The mental institution is believed by some to be haunted, and, to this day, attracts volumes of ghost hunters.
The building, completed in the 1930s, contains some town offices and has a variety of rooms for all occasions, including the Alexandria Room for weddings, parties and recitals; and a gymnasium for sports, parties and craft shows. Smaller meeting rooms are also present.
The Board of Managers is composed of six members serving six year terms. At each regular Town Election, two members are elected, both of whom may not be members of the same political party. According to Town Charter, the Board "shall have the exclusive care and maintenance of Edmond Town Hall and all grounds and buildings appurtenant thereto, together with all powers and duties prescribed for said Board by Special Act No. 98 of the 1931 session by which it was created, as amended by Special Act No. 517 of the 1953 session".
The architect for this building was Philip Sutherland, who also designed Cyrenius H. Booth Library.
The Edmond Town hall is also notable for its movie theater. The theater shows popular movies shortly after they leave mainstream theaters, and is the only $2 movie theater in Connecticut. It is a popular spot for middle school and high school students. The town hall was constructed for the community by a local benefactress Mary Elizabeth Hawley and dedicated in 1930. The building was named for Miss Hawley’s maternal great grandfather Judge William Edmond.
Newtown's public library was opened December 17, 1932 with a capacity for 25,000 volumes. The library is a posthumous gift of Mary Elizabeth Hawley and was named after her maternal grandfather, a doctor in town from 1820 until his death in 1871. Hawley's gift not only paid for construction of the building, but included a trust fund of about $250,000 which resulted in the town not financing the library until the 1980s.
Designed by Philip Sutherland, who also designed Newtown's Edmond Town Hall, the building was considered one of the most modern libraries of its time, with several innovative features. The building was fire proof, had cork floors and acoustic ceiling tiles to deaden sound, and had a built-in humidifying unit and a centralized vacuum cleaner.
In January 1998 an addition to the rear of the building was completed and officially opened. The expansion doubled the available floor space and provides areas for meetings and displays of art and local historical artifacts from the library's large collection.
The town of Newtown offers many programs for area residents and there are numerous parks and fields offering playgrounds, swimming, tennis, softball, baseball, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, as well as a nature center and trails. Prominent Newtown parks include Treadwell Park, Dickinson Park, and Collis P. Huntington State Park. Treadwell park, named after former selectman Timothy Treadwell, contains recreation facilitied and the town pool. Dickinson park used to contain a swimming pool, though it was basically a cememt-lined pond, lacking filtration and proper sanitation. It was removed and filled in in 2006.
