Updated 10/2/13: The latest edition of The Piedmont Chronicles as seen in the pages of About Covington to Madison magazine is now available. This write-up, found in the October 2013 magazine talks about Newborn, GA. It covers some history and also some exciting things going on in the town. The online version also has some additional content with some of my personal recollections of living there back in the late 90's and early 2000's. Visit the link below to read:
The Lovely City of Newborn, GA
9/15/2013: Greetings! I'm going to be writing about the lovely city of Newborn, GA in my upcoming edition of The Piedmont Chronicles as featured in About Covington To Madison magazine. In the meantime, check out some of these links.
City of Newborn
Newborn Tour of Homes
Newborn Area Heritage Trust
Newton Citizen Article on the upcoming tour of homes and book release.
And here's an earlier write-up I did about Newborn for About Covington back in the Spring of 2009:
The Eastern Cities of Newton—Newborn & Mansfield
By Marshall McCart
Hey everybody! Hope all is well out there. Last month, we took a tour of
some of the prettiest towns and places in the Piedmont winding our way
from Salem to Buckhead. This month, we are going to cover two of my
favorite small Georgia towns—Newborn and Mansfield .
If you head out from Covington and hit 278 east and then pick up Hwy
142, you will eventually run into Newborn, GA. Originally named Sandtown
(or maybe Cross Road ), this area was first settled in 1819 making it
the oldest settlement in Newton Co. with the exception of Winton (later
Brick Store). Newborn holds a special place in my heart as I lived there
for four years after my Athens days. And I must say—I think of my time
in Newborn often and fondly.
On the left after you pass the railroad tracks is the Newborn Fertilizer
Building . Owned and operated for many years by Ralph Adams and
unmistakable in its appearance, it was the center of activity in this
town for many years. There was a time when Mrs. Adams would plant greens
in the field next to it and put out a sign out offering them free to
anyone who wished to pick ‘em. If you turn off of 142 on any of the side
streets and especially up and down Johnson Street , there are many fine
houses to be seen. Past the flashing caution light, you’ll see the
Newborn School House on the right. Once the site of the Palmyra
Institute and later Newborn High School , it is now a community center
and a music venue, The Newborn Opry, where on Saturday nights, you can
listen to some good old-timey country, bluegrass, and gospel.
Newborn’s history is full and ups and downs. There was a time when there
was a bank, hotels, multiple stores, and a thriving train depot. As is
the case with many old, small towns in Georgia , the railroad was its
lifeblood, and like so many southern towns, the boll weevil was its
biggest detriment. There was also a terrible tornado in 1866 that took
four souls as well as other tragedies. But through it all—Newborn
survived. With around 600 people today, Newborn retains its sleepy,
small-town charm.
Maybe a mile or so as the crow flies from Newborn is good ole’ Mansfield
, GA. Just a quick skip down Hwy 213, Mansfield is truly a fine,
southern town. The legend of how this town got its name is really cool.
The story goes like this—the Carmel Land Improvement Co., the real
estate venture that bought the land and laid out the town lots, decided
that the person who “remained sober at the celebration [following] the
sale of the lots”, would be the namesake for the new town. Well,
wouldn’t you know it; a “Mr. Mansfield” was apparently the only one who
laid off the sauce that day. I don’t know if the story is true, but I
sure hope it is!
Mansfield was a railroad town in the truest sense as it came about
because of the completion of the Middle Georgia & Atlantic Railroad.
According to records, the town started up around 1896 and received its
charter in 1903, making it much younger than Newborn. There was a time
when Mansfield had a hotel, multiple restaurants, a bank, an undertaker
and even a movie theatre. For years, the Prosser Brothers Store was a
major part of community. Not all was good however. The Bank of Mansfield
had an unfortunate knack of getting robbed as it happened five times
between 1954 and 1974 including the tragic killing of a cashier in 1971.
Like Newborn, the boll weevil and the depression greatly hurt this town
but did not kill it. Today, Mansfield is a beautiful city filled with
some of the finest folks around.