Settled by migrants from Stratford and incorporated in 1711, Newtown residents had many business and trading ties with the English.

Late in the war, French General Rochambeau and his troops encamped there in 1781 during their celebrated march on their way to the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, which ended the Revolution.

[4] An important crossroads throughout its early history, the village of Hawleyville briefly emerged as a railroad center.

[5] Local industry has included the manufacture of furniture, tea bags, combs, fire hoses, folding boxes, buttons, and hats, as well as farming, and mica and feldspar mining.

The local newspaper, The Newtown Bee has been the hometown media outlet since June 1877, under Publisher John Pearce of Bethel.

The event reignited a debate regarding access to firearms by people with mental illness and gun laws in the United States.

[10] The state's fifth largest town in area, it is bordered by Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Easton, Monroe, Oxford, Redding and Southbury.

Numerous parks and fields offer playgrounds, swimming, tennis, softball, baseball, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, as well as a nature center and trails.

Dickinson park used to contain a swimming pool, which was a large asphalt-lined bowl-shaped depression surrounded by a grass "beach".

It was a uniquely safe design for children because there was no "deep end"; however, it lacked a formal filtration system and required attendants to periodically row out and manually add chlorine to the water.

The Borough of Newtown occupies about 1,252 acres (5.07 km2) (or roughly two square miles) in the central part of town.

Across from the flagpole is Newtown Meeting House, which served as the town's Congregational church for many years.

The rooster weather vane (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.

In 2008, the Newtown Youth Academy began to operate there; extracurricular amenities include a fitness section, basketball courts, and a turf field.

A gymnasium is used for community sports events, as well as private parties, and art or craft shows.

The "Live at the Edmond Town Hall" concert series was created by Newtown resident Hayden Bates in 2009.

Headliners have included The Low Anthem, The Bill Frisell and Sam Amidon Duo, Brown Bird and Phosphorescent.

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.

[19] Designed by Philip Sutherland, the building was considered one of the most modern libraries of its time, with several innovative features.

The building was fireproof, had cork floors and acoustic ceiling tiles to deaden sound, and had a built-in humidifying unit and a centralized vacuum cleaner.

It provides areas for meetings and displays of art and local historical artifacts from the library's large collection.