[4] including the Muskegon River, which runs through the town and is often used for canoe trips, tubing, and fishing.

Newaygo is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.

[5] The Muskegon River flows through the north side of the town.

Newaygo's recorded history goes back to the 1600s and the French coureur des bois (independent trappers) and, later, fur company voyageurs that travelled by canoe via the Muskegon River.

It was ostensibly named after Chief Nuwagon, an Ojibwe leader who signed the Treaty of Saginaw in 1819,[6] or for an Algonquian word meaning "much water".

Proximity to the river made it a center for floating logs to the mills in Muskegon during the lumber boom of the late 1800s.

30.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.